Argue Both Sides
Write the best possible case for something you disagree with.
2 weeks✏️ Writing📚 Reading🌍 Social Studies
What you need
- a contested question
- at least three sources
Nothing to buy and nothing to print — if you do not have one of these, swap it for whatever you do have.
The steps
Day 1
Pick a real question
Choose something genuinely contested, where reasonable people disagree.
✍️ Write a few sentences
Day 2
Find three sources
Find three. At least one must disagree with you.
📋 Make a list
Day 4
The side you hold
Write your own case. 400 words, with evidence.
✍️ Write a few sentences
Day 7
The other side
Write the opposing case as well as you possibly can. No straw men.
✍️ Write a few sentences
Say this: “If the other side would not sign it, you have not written it.”
Day 9
Which was harder
Write a short note on which was harder to write, and what that tells you.
✍️ Write a few sentences
Day 10
Read it out
Read the opposing case aloud to someone. Ask if it convinced them.
How to score it
You score this, not us. Pick the description that actually matches what they did.
Steelmanning
- 1. Straw man
- 2. Fair but thin
- 3. Fair and substantial
- 4. So fair that someone on that side would sign it
Evidence
- 1. Assertion only
- 2. One source
- 3. Sources on both sides
- 4. Sources on both sides, cited where used
Reflection
- 1. No note
- 2. Said which was harder
- 3. Said which was harder and why
- 4. Said which was harder, why, and what it revealed about their own view
What goes in the portfolio
Two essays of roughly equal length arguing opposite sides, plus a short note on which was harder and why.