Question: I need to write a persuasive essay on a controversial topic.
Resource Ideas
First, you need to think about what you’re interested in. If you
don’t like your topic, doing the research is going to pretty much stink!
One of the best places to look for a topic is the newspaper or nearest
magazine. Even Sports
Illustrated will have controversy. . . look at Pete Rose. Or, better
yet, think about your own life. Should you be able to get a tattoo
in Tulsa? Should you be able to wear whatever you want to school, or not?
If you still haven’t found a topic that jumps out at you, take a look
at EBSCO
TopicSearch. Here is a reliable source that’s pulled together materials
on some of the hottest issues going right now. Simply click on the
drop-down menu of current events and have a look. Magazines, newspapers and
viewpoints of those involved in the controversy can be perused right there
from home, school or at your local library.
You may have a topic in mind already, but it’s a bit overwhelming. The Middle East is obviously ripe for study and opinion. But, gosh do you really want to attempt to cover everything in 10 pages? Ten pages may seem like a lot but some liner notes are longer than that. The most helpful tool in this situation is a specialized encyclopedia. If you’ve been to the Research Center at Central, you know that we have much more than World Book; we have an encyclopedia of everything . . . Stephen King, monsters, UFO’s. We also have the Encyclopedia of the Modern Middle East where you can browse for sub-topics and close in on the argument you actually want to make.
So, you have your topic, and you’ve narrowed it down. What’s next? Well, you’re going to need to look at it from both sides now. If you’ve picked a topic that’s important to you, you probably are leaning to one side. You have an opinion! That’s a good thing. But, it’s also important to “know your enemy.” It isn’t possible to truly argue a topic until you have a grasp of the logic, facts, and passions behind what the other guy feels. Why does he believe that way? Why is that wrong, or maybe even right? We have the perfect source for this in CQ Researcher; this database is also available in print form in the Research Center. It is available at all library locations and from home – and you can email articles to yourself at home or school once you find something good. CQ Researcher takes a new hot topic each week and looks at it in depth from all sides. Hazing, the future of the music industry, and media ownership are recent issues covered by CQ. It gives a nice summary report and then also provides a chronology, in other words a timeline of what’s been going on as well as where it’s going. Most importantly, it provides pros and cons for both or many sides of the issue as well as contact information for usually around ten organizations and/or experts on the topics- - like the following for hazing:
Center for the Prevention of School Violence
1801 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC 27699-1801
(800) 299-6054
www.ncdjjdp.org/cpsv.
A resource center run by the North Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, dedicated to promoting school safety and “positive youth development.”
Center for the Study of the College Fraternity
Franklin Hall 206, University of Indiana, Bloomington, IN 47405
(812) 855-1228
www.indiana.edu/~cscf.
In CQ Researcher, a bibliography is also provided for more print and online resources for information.
The library also has print editions of CQ Researcher and other issue-specialty books like Information Plus are available in the Research Center so come visit the real live librarians too. They’ll help you.
Guess what! If you’ve been following me, you now have around four sources already. Isn’t that something. Plus, all this stuff provides bibs for even more stuff. Help! I can’t stop. How much is enough. Well, remember some folks spend their lives studying this stuff. But your teacher has probably told you how many sources are required and what kind, whether it’s specialized encyclopedias, newspapers, magazines, interviews . . . hey, we have all that stuff. Cool, huh?
Well, you have to write the paper now. Here are a few tips for writing persuasively. If you need more, I’ve listed a few books about persuasive arguments you can check out as well.
Just a few things to remember…
If TCCL doesn’t have books and other materials you need for your paper you can Interlibrary Loan them, which means we borrow them from another library system for you. If you choose to do this, request the materials as soon as possible because it sometimes takes several weeks for them to come in.
Once you have all materials for your paper, it’s time to start writing. If you need some help the library has many writing manuals; the Primary Source Page lists a few of them and there are several Writing pathfinders you might find useful as well.
f you have any questions, contact your local library or ask a librarian!