Argument Paper #2: The Truth We Never Tell

“We don’t tell each other the truth about dying, as a people. Not real dying. Real dying, regular and mundane dying, is so hard and so ugly that it becomes the worst thing of all...No one ever told me the truth about it, not once” (Teague 278).

PROMPT: For your Second Argument Paper, I want you to enter into a discussion about something no one ever “told you the truth about” in your own life. It should be something important to you and your identity: school, your job, your future career, your personal identity, your relationships, your faith, your family, etc. In other words, something you had to experience and learn by trial and error, even though someone could have told you the “truth” and saved you a lot of heartache. Assume that your readers don’t understand your identity or experience...explain it to them in detail and use other sources to help compare your experience to theirs. Make sure we understand that this is a conversation that many people have, even though our society might not be having it correctly or honestly.

NAYSAYER: For this paper, I also want you to add a “naysayer” into the work. This is someone who disagrees or shows another side to your discussion, and in this case, is the person who might not tell the truth about your experience. What do other people say about this identity or experience? What did people tell you which turned out to be slightly untrue or an outright lie? Why did they do this? Make sure we see the other side of the conversation so we understand where you’re coming from—and why you want us to see a different “truth.”

FOR EXAMPLE: The Truth/Lies of Teaching... “When I was first becoming a teacher, no one told me that the work never ends. As a student, you have a lot of work, but you eventually finish it (eventually!). As a teacher, however, you always have something to do, you are always grading, planning, reading, learning, writing, attending meetings, and then doing it all over again. You always have homework, and you’re never doing enough of it. So when people say “teachers are lazy, they get three months off,” etc., they don’t see the ‘truth’ that goes on behind the scenes, when teachers are up at one in the morning trying to plan an eight o’clock class.”

REQUIREMENTS:

• At least 3-4 sources, which can be any of the essays in the book (esp. the ones by Armstrong/Miller and Teague) and/or outside sources that inform your conversation.
• Remember that you can use an essay about rape and not write about rape—the ideas in the essay could help you discuss/express your own.
• At least 4-5 pages double spaced, though you can do more
• You must have a conversation: quote and respond to the articles, and introduce a Naysayer into your paper
• DUE THURSDAY, OCTOBER 26th BY 5pm