Pick a controversial issue - something people clearly agree or disagree with it strongly.

Decide which side you will take - do you agree or disagree with it? This will be your opinion.

Get as much information as you can in order to defend your point of view - you will need facts to support your point, examples of why your opinion is the correct one.

Find out as much as you can about opinions that are different from yours - get as much information about the other side as you can.

Be ready to change your main idea if your research shows you that your thoughts were not correct to begin with!

Make sure your main idea - your opinion about the subject - is clear and well stated. For example:

Classes that start at or before 8 o'clock in the morning are not scheduled at the best time to benefit the majority of the students who have to take them.

Transition into the body of the paragraph - For example:

There are many, many reasons for this.

Give your second strongest reason to support this idea. For example:

Most of the students are pretty young and stay up until late at night working or socializing. They don't know how to manage their time well enough yet.

Give a specific example or statistics to support this statement. For example:

Look at statistics from college campus studies on this subject - say something similar to this -  A study done by _____________, from the _________ reports that University of ________ freshman students work_______ hours in the evenings, and then socialize for _________ hours. They only get an average of ______ hours of sleep.

Give your weakest reason to support this idea. For example:

People have a difficult time getting up too early in the morning.

Give an example to support this statement too. For example:

describe how difficult it is for someone you know to get up and be ready in time. (look around your classroom, at the students in the cafeteria - how many look tired and not ready for the day's work yet?)

Give your strongest reason to support this idea. For example:

People learn best when they have rested long enough, and are awake and ready to learn.

Explain and give an example of someone you know, or statistics you have found to support this thought. For example:

The ________ study conducted by  ________ concluded that _____% of the students who had not rested long enough, or well enough, fail their courses which are scheduled early in the morning, and the average grades from early courses are ____ lower than grades fro the same course scheduled for later in the day.

Give the strongest reason that others who do not agree with you have. For example:

Some people think that it is important to get your classes done and over with early in the morning, so there is time for other activities during the day.

Refute this argument - prove that it is not really the correct view. For example:

This is true, early courses do free the people up for other activities later, but what is the point of sacrificing learning, hurting chances for success, in order to be able to play during a longer period of the day?

Finish with a good concluding sentence. For example:

Even though early courses are good for a few people who are at their best in the early morning, they are not helpful to the majority of the students.