Writing About Issues
1. Think of a time when you or someone you care about was treated unfairly or unkindly. Describe the incident. Discuss why this incident represents a bigger social problem such as racial prejudice, ageism, homophobia, greed, environmental indifference, child abuse, political corruption. Come back to the incident at the end of the essay.
2. What worries you? keeps you awake at night? Write about it. Try to figure out why you are troubled and what you or others can do about it.
3. Is there a policy at school or work which you think should be changed? Describe the problem. Write a letter to administrators or whoever is in charge explaining why the policy is wrong and how it could be changed.
4. Read columns in magazines or newspapers by writers with strong opinions and voices. These might be local columnists or syndicated ones. They might be columns about gardening, books, raising kids, sports, politics or history. Look at how the writer’s passion comes through. Respond to a particular column with a column of your own on the same subject or imitate the columnist’s style with an essay on any subject.
5. Write about a time you changed your mind. Explain the change. Explain why readers should agree with your new position.
Adapted from: True Stories: Guidelines for Writing From
Your Life by Rebecca Rule and Susan Wheeler