For highschool I did a persuasive paper on the fact that aliens exist -- surrounding the premise that we cannot prove that something does not exist, only that it does...
Here is the intro of another speech I did:
GMOs:
What Will the Future Hold?
Are we being used, not unlike guinea pigs, to test a technology that could benefit mankind? Or are we on the brink of disaster? Will Mother Nature have a positive or a negative reaction to this manipulation of the natural cycle of life? You may be wondering exactly what I am talking about. Genetically modified organisms, or GMOs, are organisms that have had their DNA directly modified in order to produce desirable traits. You may be thinking that this will in no way affect you, but consider this. A growing number of people are unknowingly eating genetically modified food, and while critics feel that there are many health and environment related consequences to this new technology, proponents say that the benefits far outweigh these modest and undocumented risks.
I also once wrote an argumentative speech on whether men or women were to blaim for todays high divorce rates: here is the intro and sources I used:
Who is to Blame?
“Woman is the gate of the devil, the path of wickedness, the sting of the serpent, in a word a perilous object.” That is what St. Jerome had to say about women in the fourth century (Women’s History, par. 2). He was not alone in these feelings. Throughout history, women have been considered the root of all evil. For example, in Greek mythology “it was a woman, Pandora, who opened the forbidden box and brought plagues and unhappiness to mankind” (Women’s History, par. 1). In the Bible, it was another woman, Eve, who persuaded Adam to eat from the Tree of Knowledge, thereby exiling him from the Garden of Eden and subjecting all humankind to sin and misery. More recently, in Salem in the late 1600s, women were again held responsible for the bad things that happened. This time, it was as witches that women could kill babies by looking at them or conjure up a magic spell over a boiling cauldron that would destroy the whole crop yields of their enemies. As time went on, people began to doubt the possibility of women having supernatural powers that allowed them to have control over nature, and the image of the woman as being evil began to change. The majority of society no longer thought these accusations reasonable. This did not change the fact that women were still held more responsible for their actions than men were. For example, a female prostitute was often sent to jail for her crime while her male client was usually sent free. If a woman were to shoot and kill her husband, she would be tried for homicide and typically sentenced to the maximum. A man who did the same could instead have his crime labeled a “passion shooting” (Women’s History, par. 16). One might think that, in today’s era of acceptance and fairness, attitudes toward women have changed. In a large part, they have, but some people still hold women responsible for the things that plague present-day society. This time, women are being blamed for the declining family structures of modern America. Part of society holds women exclusively accountable for the high divorce rates of modern times because of their years of struggling for equality with men; however, it is actually a combination of the actions of both women and men, as well as social and economic changes that are leading to these rising rates.
“Club.” Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia. 1993-2000.
Colombo, Gary, Robert Cullen, and Bonnie Lisle, eds. Rereading America: Cultural Contexts
for Critical Thinking and Writing. 5th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2001.
Colombo, Gary, Robert Cullen, and Bonnie Lisle. “True Women and Real Men: Myths of
Gender.” Colombo, Cullen, and Lisle 403-406.
Coontz, Stephanie. “What We Really Miss About the 1950s.” Colombo, Cullen, and Lisle 52-
68.
Crittenden, Danielle. “About Marriage.” Colombo, Cullen, and Lisle 69-74.
Devor, Holly. “Becoming Members of Society.” Colombo, Cullen, and Lisle 414-421.
“Divorce.” Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia. 1993-2000.
“Ford Motor Company.” Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia. 1993-2000.
Graff, E. J. “What Makes a Family?” Colombo, Cullen, and Lisle 26-37.
Klepp, Susan E. “United States (People).” Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia. 1993-2000.
Macionis, John J. Society: The Basics. 6th ed. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Education, 2002.
Porter, Glenn. “Industrial Revolution.” Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia. 1993-2000.
Schultheiss, Katrin. “Women’s Rights.” Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia. 1993-2000.
Watts, Michael. “United States (Economy).” Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia. 1993-2000.
Woloch, Nancy, and Paul E. Johnson. “United States (History).” Microsoft Encarta
Encyclopedia. 1993-2000.
Women’s History in America. Women’s International Center. 19 Oct. 2001
org/misc/history.htm>.
Womens Rights Movement. 19 Oct. 2001
movement.htm>.
Hope I helped!
2006-12-17 02:38:48
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answer #1
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answered by Anonymous
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