Examples that show the thinking.
534 examples and lessons to explore. Find an approach, follow the thinking, and try it in your own writing.
Should Every College Student Study Abroad for a Semester?
A qualified argument that international study can deepen learning, but a semester abroad should be an option rather than a universal requirement.
GRE Argument: Do Social Groups Primarily Define Personal Identity?
A qualified argument that social groups shape identity by supplying belonging, roles, and shared histories, but do not wholly define people: individual experience, personal commitments, and unequal power affect how group identities are lived and contested.
Why Online Popularity Is Not the Same as Reliable Information
An evidence-based explanation of why likes, repetition, and social approval cannot establish that online information is true, and how readers can check claims more carefully.
Arts Funding During Hunger and Unemployment
An evidence-based argument that governments should prioritize immediate material needs during severe hardship without automatically suspending every cultural program. It proposes a concrete test for deciding when arts cuts are justified.
Housing Affordability in the United States: Why Rent Burden Matters
Rent burden is a useful measure of housing affordability because it shows how much household income goes toward housing. Census Bureau data reveal the scale and unequal distribution of that pressure, while the measure’s limits show why a percentage cannot capture every household’s choices or explain the causes of high costs.
The Fourteenth Amendment and Reconstruction, 1865–1877
An explanatory essay on how the Fourteenth Amendment shifted responsibility for protecting individual rights toward the federal government during Reconstruction, while leaving enforcement and political conflicts unresolved.
Should Parents Be Required to Volunteer at Their Children’s Schools?
A qualified argument that schools should actively welcome and organize family participation, but should not require every parent to volunteer hours on campus.
The Teacher Who Taught Me to Listen
An illustrative personal narrative about a student who learns to pause, listen, and question their first assumptions.
Selfies as Visual Diaries: Evaluating J Wortham’s Claim
An argumentative essay evaluating how selfies can preserve personal memories and affirm presence, while explaining why a camera image alone cannot guarantee either meaningful remembrance or recognition.
King Lear and Justice: Is There a Moral Order in the Play?
An analysis of how King Lear tests the possibility of justice against political power, human cruelty, suffering, and chance.
Working from Home in the United States: Benefits and Tradeoffs
An explanatory essay weighing the flexibility and commuting benefits of working from home against the limits of job tasks and unequal access to remote work.
Federal Power Debates in Early America, 1763–1840
An explanatory essay tracing how disputes over British authority, the Constitution’s allocation of federal power, and the federal judiciary’s response in Marbury reshaped arguments about national authority between 1763 and 1840.