<p>*Prompt 2
Think carefully about the issue presented in the following excerpt and the assignment below. Our determination to pursue truth by setting up a fight between two sides leads us to believe that every issue has two sides: no more, no less. If we know both sides of an issue, all of the relevant information will emerge, and the best case will be made for each side. But this process does not always lead to the truth. Often the truth is somewhere in the complex middle, not the oversimplified extremes. Adapted from Deborah Tannen, The Argument Culture</p>
<p>Assignment:</p>
<h2>Should people choose one of two opposing sides of an issue, or is the truth usually found "in the middle"? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your point of view on this issue. Support your position with reasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies, experience, or observations. *</h2>
<p>Truth rarely falls in the extreme regions; it usually makes it home closer to the middle of the spectrum. There are two sides to every issue, and rarely will one seem completely right to everyone involved. </p>
<p>A good example comes from Shakespear's Romeo and Juliet. One could these two as right for following their hearts and bucking tradition--Juliet goes so far as to pretend to kill herself! Conversely, once could see them as hormonal teenagers in the wrong--young adults who, in the throes of passion, end of getting themselves and their friends killed. Most people agree at least partially to both views: Romeo and Juliet's actions are only somewhat justifiable by their love for one another--they are still misguided, rebellious teenagers.</p>
<p>The American Revolution and its causes present another example of truth falling on neither extreme. Although Revolution-era colonists believed the king's and Parliament's tyranny fully justified the revolutionary war, later historians maintain the colonists were "whiny babies" for staging a revolution over something as minor as a tax to pay for a war defending them, especially considering the citizens of England proper were paying twice as much as a group and probably many times as much as individuals. The colonists aren't completely right.</p>
<p>Abortion rights present a more current example of truth being a gray area, not starkly black or white, one side completely right and the other completely wrong. Yes, abortion is the termination of a pregnancy that may have produced a viable infant. That infant's rights would be protected if it had already been born; why is it not protected by law from murder IN the womb, before its birth? Conversely, why should a mother be forced to raise a child she doesn't want? Studies show these children are much more likely to end up neglected and imprisoned. And what if the baby was conceived through rape? It's not the mother's fault; she shouldn't have to keep the baby.</p>
<h2>As one can see, there are always two sides to an issue and most of the time, neither is completely right. One side may be more justifiable, but the other position has its merits. As Tannen put it, "Truth falls in the complex middle, not oversimplified extremes."</h2>
<p>A little short on time, so conclusion may be a little weak. Quote at the end from prompt. I know there's some awkward phrasing.</p>