Category: The Act of Writing

  • A Job You Have Had

    Think of a job you have had. Write a page of rough notes about it, then, looking these over, decide how socially useful or useless the job was. Now write an inductive argument showing the evidence for your conclusion. After a rapid first draft, examine what you have said: Do the examples support your thesis?…

  • High-Tech Invention

    Choose one high-tech invention that you have used, and write an inductive essay that praises or condemns it. First freewrite on your subject for at least five minutes – automatically, never letting your pencil or keyboard stop – then look over what you have produced in order to learn your point of view. Now, take…

  • Simplify, simplify

    The American author and philosopher Henry David Thoreau, who left town life for his cabin by Walden Pond, wrote, “Our life is frittered away by detail. … Simplify, simplify.” In your opinion, has technology simplified or complicated our lives? Defend you answer with personal examples.

  • Technophobe

    Are you a technophobe? Or do you rejoice in high technology? Defend your answers with examples.

  • American Influence in Canadian Life

    What degree of American influence do you detect in these aspects of Canadian life. Computer software Eating habits Fashions Film distribution Foreign policy Hockey Inflation Interest rates Language Pollution Popular music Social services Television programming Textbooks

  • Government Cutbacks

    Choose one example of governmental spending which has been or soon will be “cut back.” Produce a page of notes, then conclude from them whether you favour or oppose the cutback. Now write an inductive essay to support your opinion. Apply at least three techniques of persuasion. After a quick “discovery draft,” check to see…

  • Canadian Government: More or Less?

    Canadians who want more government had their way in the sixties and seventies, while those who want less government are having their way now. Which do you favour, and why? Do you believe cutbacks and privatization are enhancing or threatening your well-being in the present? In the future? Defend your view with examples.

  • A Group That Has Been Poorly Treated

    Identify a group that you believe has been poorly treated by Canadian society (for example the handicapped or disabled, the elderly, native peoples, farmers, immigrants, refugees, single parents, etc.). Take notes, then write an inductive argument in which you present the evidence that led to your belief. In your next draft revise to seek an…

  • Argumentation and Persuasion

    Develop one of the following topics into an essay of argumentation and/or persuasion, choosing the side you wish to take. (See also the guidelines that follow.) 1. Companies (should/should not) be held liable for their own pollution. 2. Adopted children (should/should not) be told who their “birth parents” are. 3. The government (should/should not) require…

  • Process Analysis

    Tell your reader how to perform one of these processes. (See also the guidelines that follow.) 1. How to avoid debt 2. How to survive driving in city traffic 3. How to windsurf 4. How the average person can help to reduce pollution 5. How to choose your style in clothing 6. How to avoid…