87 4. Examples of Past Timed Writing Prompts
Here are some examples of past timed-writing prompts. Notice how they are organized and written. Topics typically deal with current-event issues or concepts of interest to college students in school and the community. When you see this semester’s prompts, take the time to decide which one you feel most confident and comfortable with.
1. In our society, it has always been understood that the parent’s job is to teach a child right from wrong. Doing this successfully requires discipline, which in the past has included physical discipline (spanking, for instance) as well as verbal discipline. Today, however, many people believe that physical punishment should be legally and socially unacceptable.
Should parents have the right to discipline their child in a manner they feel suitable, or are some disciplinary measures inappropriate?
2. School extracurricular activities take place outside the traditional classroom setting and range from athletics and student government to clubs and social activities. In both high school and college, students are always encouraged to get involved in extracurricular activities.
What are some of the benefits of involvement in extracurricular activities?
3. Cell phones are a part of American culture. However, since no rules seem to cover the etiquette of using cell phones, some people find their use inappropriate. For example, a recent survey asked people when they felt the use of cell phones was appropriate. Results showed that fifty-three percent thought cell phone use was acceptable in the supermarket while six percent thought it was all right to use cell phones in a movie theater.
If you were put in charge of writing guidelines for using cell phones, what would you include and why?
4. Americans are bombarded by advertising. No matter where we go or what we do, it seems that advertising follows us. It’s on TV, over the Internet and in the paper. It’s on billboards and the sides of buses and even pasted on walls of empty buildings. Each day we are probably exposed to a thousand ads.
What kind of influence has advertising had on your life? Is it something that promotes you to buy products or turns you away from products?
5. Plagiarism is on the rise in America among high-school and college students as well as scholars and professionals. It seems that stealing someone else’s ideas is the “easy way out” for many.
Why is there such an increase in plagiarism, especially among students?
1. Body piercing is a booming but largely unregulated business. Because of the dangers associated with piercing, ranging from life-threatening infections to damage to tooth enamel, some states are considering enacting laws requiring parental permission for anyone under 18 to have piercing done.
Would you agree that such laws would be a good idea, or would you oppose them? Why?
2. Clinton Community College received a visit this semester from the Middle States Accreditation Team, which looked at the str