Tuesday, September 18 in class

A few modes of opinion essay, as reflected by purpose-announcing titles

·     “In defense of…” (as in Judith Drake’s 1696 long essay, An Essay in Defence of the Female Sex)

·     “An Apology for…” (as in R.L. Stevenson’s 1877 essay “An Apology for Idlers”)

·     “In Praise of…” (as in Bertrand Russell’s 1935 essay, “In Praise of Idleness”)

·     “In Celebration of…” or “A Celebration of…” (as in “A Celebration of Life”by Rene Dubos)

·     “Against…” (as in Susan Sontag’s 1966 essay “Against Interpretation”)

·     “A Critique of…” (as in Emmanuel Kant’s 1781 workCritique of Pure Reason)

Claim: A single, debatable assertion, expressing a particular “take” on or an informed opinion on a topic or issue. A claim is an essential element of every point you make, and of the argument as a whole. You can’t make a point without making a claim.

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Choose a claim from Hazlitt’s “On the Pleasure of Hating” or Stevenson’s “An Apology for Idlers” and write three paragraphs agreeing and expanding on it (and/or updating it for the twenty-first century) OR disagreeing with and disproving it (and/or suggesting why it isn’t relevant in the twenty-first century)