An argument/persuasive essay is one that attempts to persuade the reader to accept the writer's point of view. The writer can either be serious or funny, but always tries to convince the reader of the validity of his or her opinion.

Remember that you don't need to take an extreme view on a topic. Assemble your evidence and decide where you fit on the the whole range of opinions on the issue between two extremes. Another way to focus is to decide whether you are going to take a whole policy issue or just take a part of it by focusing on a question of fact or a question of value. Example of different ways to focus the topic of household pets:

Informative: Animal shelters routinely euthanize cats which are not readily placed in homes.

Persuasive value: Spaying and neutering of domestic cats is humane.

Persuasive policy: The state should require that domestic cats be spayed or neutered.

STEP 1: Find Books

STEP 2: Find articles

DIRECTIONS to find articles: 1) Go to Library homepage.  2) Click on Databases A-Z.  3) Select a database.  Note: if you use one of these databases from a remote location, you must enter your campus username and password.

• General Onefile - database of articles from magazines and journals.

• CQ Researcher - Excellent for political, social, family, education and health issues.

• Opposing viewpoints - controversial issues.