These are two one-page essays that make an argument for and against a stand on important news issues.
For example, today is June 26, 2009 and Michael Jackson’s death is in the news. You might write a one page essay arguing that “Michael Jackson received poor medical care” and a second, opposite, one page essay “Michael Jackson received good medical care.” Also in the news: Iranian election fraud/protests. You could also do “Obama should toughen up against the Iranian election results” (one page) and “Obama is handling the Iranian election results effectively (one page).”
For each essay:
The first paragraph
of the essay must not only introduce the topic but also must make an argument
for the significance/importance of the question being asked.
In Extemp, the student is given three questions and their intro needs to show that the question they choose is the most important question of the day. This paragraph is designed to give students the info they will need to make this argument.
The next three
paragraphs are simply three, distinct, and well developed reasons that the
thesis of the article is true. These paragraphs are typically highly footnoted
and use short, direct quotations from the movers and shakers on the topic.