Brainstorming Arguments Outlining
Monday's Class Examples of Arguments
Assignment for Wednesday, November 8
Brainstorming for the TV Essay
First you must choose a position for your essay. You must decide if TV is bad or good. However, you can't just say it is generally bad or good because that is not accurate. You must take a specific position on who it is bad or good for.
How do you get to this point?
 | Brainstorm: webs, tables, lists |
| Outlines |
| Talk about it to other people |
| Newspapers and magazines |
| Internet |
| Watch TV: take notes |
Here are some positions you might take:
|
TV is good/bad for children |
|
TV is good/bad for adults |
|
TV is good/bad for the elderly |
|
TV is good/bad for students |
Once you have a position, you must decide what three points you will focus on to support your position.
For example:
TV is Bad for children:
| Parents need to explain tv violence to children |
| Parents need to monitor children’s tv |
| Parents need to limit children’s time watching tv |
TV is a waste of time for children:
| Prevents them from exercises |
| Isolates them |
| Prevents them from doing homework |
TV is generally a waste of time for adults unless you are learning something, then TV is good:
| Learn English from shows |
| Learn culture from shows |
| Learn current events from news |
TV is bad for family life because
| Waste of time |
| Takes time away from being together |
| Encourage bad behavior from the children |
TV encourages bad behavior from children
| Bad language |
| violence |
| overly sexual behavior |
TV is good for family life
| It is entertainment the family can enjoy together |
| It is inexpensive entertainment for the whole family |
| The family can be informed about current events so they can have things to talk about together. |