Toulmin Essay. Should the wealthy be taxed more? Essay
his essay should be between 800 and 1000 words, excluding the required annotated bibliography.
The Toulmin essay will help you practice what you have learned so far in this course. First, you will choose a topic of interest. Make sure that you choose a public debate with clear sides and staked. Then, you need to research that debate in order to narrow the topic’s scope, so it can be easily discussed in 1000 word essay. For example, you may be interested in learning more about traffic issues in the United States. However, that topic is too large to cover in a 1000 word essay. After researching peer reviewed articles that discuss US traffic issues in general, you may discover that the metro system in the District of Columbia is underfunded and underutilized. Through your research, you found that you could make a claim that more funds should be made available in order to upgrade the metro system, which would improve traffic issues in the District of Columbia. This would make for a stronger, specific argument. Attached below is a PDF on sides and stakes that can help with this process.
This should be a thesis-driven essay, and it should be in the third person.
This essay must include a minimum of five sources. Three should be peer-reviewed sources, preferably from the APUS databases. From the library welcome page, click on Advanced Search at the bottom of the page and then check the "peer reviewed" sources box filter.
This video will hopefully clarify the term, "peer-reviewed". You may use eBooks; however, as discussed in your textbook, books generally are not as current as peer-reviewed articles. You may also use primary sources (interviews, statistics, etc); however, these primary sources should be obtained from experts within that field. If you cannot find strong sources for your chosen topic, then change your topic. If you have a question about the validity of a source, please email me, or post your question to the open forum.
Note: Consider your audience as laymen in the field with only general knowledge of your topic.
Make sure to include the following sections in your essay:
an introduction and claim,
background,
body,
and a conclusion.
Within the body of your essay, make sure to include the following in any order:
support for your claim,
opposing or alternate views,
the strengths and weaknesses of your opponents' claims,
and your rebuttals of their claims.
After you have written your essay, please make sure to revise the content of your essay. Lastly, be sure to edit your essay by checking grammar, format, and smaller technical details. Please make sure your essay is written in third person.
The Annotated Bibliography
An annotated Bibliography (AB) is due with your Toulmin essay. Using the MLA guide, list each source as it will appear on the Works Cited page of your essay. Summarize each source in two or three grammatically-correct sentences, and indicate how it will be useful to your project. These short discussions are the "annotations."
The following is a sample of an annotated bibliography entry
Clark, Irene L. The Genre of Argument. Fort Worth, TX: Harcourt Brace, 1998. Print.
Clark's textbook identifies the major steps to developing a well-researched and well-written argumentative essay. It is older, but still contains much useful material on process. Professional essays are included in the text as models. It will help me mostly with writing and organization, since internet research has changed since 1998.
Professor’s Name:
Course:
Due Date:
Should the wealthy be taxed more?
In the United States, several topics often touch people’s nerves and many offer their contributions. One such topic that attracts the attention and comments of millions is whether the rich should pay more taxes. The above debate arose as a result of the increase in both income and wealth inequality. Those arguing for more taxation of the rich believe that the rich pay fewer taxes than they ought to. Those against the decision to tax them higher indicate that this is a recipe for disaster because it would lead to reduced investments and innovative ideas of tax avoidance. Regardless of the positions people take, the absolute truth is that “the richest 1% of Americans own 35% of the nation’s wealth” (Americans for Tax Fairness). Additionally, as reported by Fieldhouse (2013), nearly 30 percent of the current income inequality is a result of the government’s cuts to benefits and services. Another absolute truth is that “the ratio of CEO to worker compensation is far higher than it was in the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, or 1990s” (Mishel and Davis). All these facts continue to increase income and wealth inequality in the country. Changes in wages, tax policies, as well as capital income also greatly contribute to inequality in a country. Based on the above, this article thus posits the rich should pay more taxes because their income has increased at a significantly higher rate, and taxing them more helps to lower inequality.
In his research, Hungerford (2) investigates how changes in wages, capital income, and tax policies have helped ensure that the rich continue getting richer. He notes that high-income inequality greatly affects nations as it affects access to necessities like healthcare. While focusing his research between 1991 and 2006, Hungerford (2) notes that “during this period, there were changes in the sources of income that differed by income category and their many changes in tax policy.” His sentiments are echoed by Wessel (2019) also claims that the rich have has their income increase by great proportions compared to the poor. For the 1% of American households that hold the largest amount of wealth, Wessel notes that they “saw their inflation-adjust incomes before taxes nearly triple between 1979 and 2016; the next best-off 9% saw theirs grow by 75% while everyone else saw their pre-tax incomes rise by 33%.” With such increments, it makes little sense that the rich continue to partake in the benefits of tax cuts that the government offers them. During the Bush tenure, they reaped a lot of benefits from his move to have their taxes reduced. Two changes occurred as Hungerford indicates. These include the “Omnibus Budget and Reconciliation Act of 1993” and the “2001 and 2003 Bush tax cuts.” These two lead to the increase of the “top marginal tax rate from 31 percent to 39.6 percent” and a reduction...
👀 Other Visitors are Viewing These APA Essay Samples:
-
Civil Liberties - Korematsu Case Discussion Essay.
1 page/≈275 words | No Sources | MLA | Literature & Language | Essay |
-
Textual Anlysis. Analysis of the Border Patrol State.
5 pages/≈1375 words | No Sources | MLA | Literature & Language | Essay |
-
In what ways do systems shape individuals, and in what ways do individuals shape systems?
5 pages/≈1375 words | No Sources | MLA | Literature & Language | Essay |