Argumentative Essays

Your assignment:

Write an essay on a controversial topic. For example, do you wish to argue about a more ethical treatment of animals? Do you wish to argue for or against fast food?

Below are some websites that can help you discover ideas for an argumentative essay topic.  Also, you can use the library databases listed in the Finding Articles section of this guide.

• Decide on a topic. If you are having trouble selecting one, look at our databases CQ Researcher and Opposing Viewpoints (see links under "Finding Articles"). They contain topics that are timely, and often controversial.
• Once you've selected a topic, formulate a search strategy to find supporting articles. For example, if you want to argue the benefits of fast food, use search terms such as fast food (or convenience food) and benefits.  You can also try the word "healthy" with fast food or convenience food.  Using the terms - fast food and healthy - in our Quick Search retrieves this article: