Controversial Issue
The issue you choose to explore should be “controversial,” which, in this case, means a topic that includes at least two perspectives or two ways of thinking about it. In other words, you need to conceive of at least two groups of readers who would hold alternative views about the issue and position themselves differently.
When we discuss controversial issues, it is important to distinguish between issues – topics on which at least two groups of people disagree or have different perspectives – and informational questions, those research questions and answers that most (reasonable) people will agree with.
In other words, you won’t be arguing about informational questions, such as the following:
• When has the warmest temperature been recorded in Antarctica?
• What percentage of high-school students in the United States has reported eating
disorders?
• According to voter data in 2020, how many voters identify themselves as “white
nationalists”?
• What are the differences in standardized language test scores between different
demographic groups?
Instead, as you approach arguments, you’ll be thinking in terms of issues:
• Why has the U.S. government been slower than Scandinavian countries in recognizing the relationship of climate change and growing temperatures in Antarctica?
• What role does the fashion media have to play in eating disorders among adolescent
women in the United States?
