Friday, August 19, 2011

What is your opinion on year-round education? Write your answer in one short paragraph.

This
appears to be a writing prompt for a persuasive paragraph or essay. The topic is open for you to
be for year-round schooling or against it. My recommendation is to do one of three things. Pick
the argument that you are truly more in favor of. This works well for a persuasive paragraph
because your writing tends to feel more authentic and passionate to your reader. You also tend
to have more arguments for something you believe in rather than against something you don't
believe in.

The second option is to pick the argument that your reader likely
already supports. This is a smart choice because it automatically creates a positive reader.
They are likely to agree with your reasons because your audience already supports your initial
statement. The third option is to pick whichever argument is going to be easier to support with
existing evidence. If there are mountains of data that show year-round school correlates with
lower student achievement, then you should most definitely support traditional
schooling.

Once you have figured out which argument your paper is going to
support, then you have to craft a guiding thesis statement. This will be a single sentence that
makes an argument and guides the following supporting paragraphs. I truly do recommend at least
two paragraphs for this situation because it allows you to briefly discuss the other side of the
argument and explain why it isn't a solid option. For example:


Although many districts are attempting year-round schooling, the evidence
overwhelmingly supports that traditional schooling is better for student learning.


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