Journal assignment: See all sides

From time to time I will provide you one of your topics for your journals. This is all in preparation for your next Major Writing Assignment. For this one just follow the directions below. I will post your next assignment soon. 

Here is the journal assignment:

With some topics, the conversation will be presented as a series of arguments while in others it might be presented as a series of questions. Your job in this journal is to describe the debates or questions that comprise your topic.

You have probably heard the old cliché that every argument has two sides. This is not the best way to approach a topic, since most arguments have more than two sides. Think about something like the abortion debate. Are there only two sides—those for it and those against it? Hardly. There are people who want it to be illegal in any circumstance. Others argue it should be illegal except in cases of rape, incest, or when there is a threat to the life of the mother. There are people who want it to be legal but want to provide disincentives (e.g. mandatory counseling) to women considering one. Some people want it to be legal only in the first trimester, while some who want it to be legal want to make sure it happens very rarely. There are people who want it to be legal without restriction.  

Do you see how there are many sides to this debate? Do you see how these sides can translate into groups or camps who all take part in the discussion? 

In this journal assignment, discuss the various debates or questions associated with your topic. You will need to describe how the conversation is made up of multiple camps and sub-topics reflecting the variety of opinion on this topic.

This journal will prepare you for the more in-depth discussion of commentary, like we will do for our next major writing assignment. 

I will post the assignment details for the 2nd Major Writing Assignment soon.