Did you know that California is a death penalty state? We voted a few years ago to make it one; however, Governor Newsom has implemented a moratorium on executions in CA, meaning that death row inmates in our state will not be executed until the moratorium is ended.

Your essay will satisfy the research component of this class by asking you to identify a contemporary issue that has at least two sides and use Aristotle, Toulmin, and Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs to analyze two different articles representing opposing sides. Using terms from our class, you will analyze the articles the way you have for the essays; then, you will consult our handout on Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and use terms from that to discuss reasons why the two sides continue to disagree. As always, your work is NOT to take a stand on the issue but to analyze it from an objective perspective using the tools we have worked with in class. Once you have identified the issue you want to research, find two credible articles, and then read and evaluate them using terms from our class. The articles should be of equal length and equal quality. As you read them, identify appeals to ethos, pathos, and logos, types of claims, warrants, and other important aspects of each article. You should develop a sense of the key elements of each article and be able to discuss it as you have discussed articles in the first two essays. Once you feel comfortable with that part of the work, return to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and begin working through each discussion with that framework in mind. When we have two sides of an argument and people cannot agree, referring to Maslow can help us understand why. Your essay should offer a meaningful discussion of how each side might view their needs differently as it attempts to discuss why reasonable people view solutions to the issues differently.

A quick example of different sides having different hierarchies of needs is the death penalty. Did you know that California is a death penalty state? We voted a few years ago to make it one; however, Governor Newsom has implemented a moratorium on executions in CA, meaning that death row inmates in our state will not be executed until the moratorium is ended. This situation makes two things clear: the will of the voters was to execute capital offenders based on certain values and beliefs; however, our top administrator (the governor) has opposing beliefs on this subject that are strong enough for him to block the implementation of that vote. A person using this topic for the assignment would first discuss their articles in favor of and in opposition to the death penalty, and then they would use Maslow to discuss the differing values and needs and explain how those prevent both sides from reaching an agreement. NOTE: this is NOT a position paper! Your work is to analyze the arguments, treat each one fairly, and be objective about the position the article takes as you use our terms to discuss them.

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