Essay, Biology
It should be required that Genetically Modified food products have labels

Project description
Paper & Debate Topics:

1. It should be required that Genetically Modified foods are labeled as GMO’s

Part I: The Position Paper (20 pts for each paper; 40 pts total)

Format: The paper is typed, grammatically correct, and presented in paragraph format. In-line citations have been used within the paper (examples here), and a complete APA style bibliography is provided at the end of the paper (examples here). It is typed using 11-12 point font with single spacing.

Each paper will include an unbiased introduction, major supporting arguments for, major supporting arguments against, and a conclusion paragraph with your personal position. You will organize your papers in this order, and it is preferred that each subject heading is underlined (as we have done below).

Unbiased Introduction

When you first received your debate topic you might have already had an opinion, or felt strongly for or against, one side of the argument. This is natural and difficult to avoid; however, the first part of this assignment is to investigate your debate topic from an unbiased point of view (without taking a particular side). Gathering unbiased information can be a challenge because many sources of information are being presented to us in a biased fashion. For example, a company like Monsanto (a major manufacturer of GMO products) will most likely present information on GMO soy crops with a point of view that supports the use of their products. Therefore, you will want to visit a variety of internet sites (at least 2), read what is being presented, and try to identify if they are motivated to present information from a particular point of view. While you are visiting these sites, this is when you can start compiling for and against arguments on your topic. In fact, you might find it easier to prepare the unbiased introduction after you have investigated both sides of the argument. Be sure to record any websites, author names, and sources as you collect information as you will be required to include this in your papers.

The unbiased introduction should be approximately a paragraph to a half page in length and will include a general background of the topic. Below are recommendations of what to include in this introduction (each topic may be approached differently, but the goal is to provide a general overview).

Define any terms (Green tax, GMO, etc.)
Relevant history (Green taxes have been applied to …., GMO’s were first introduced…., etc.)
Current events (Green taxes are currently being proposed…, GMO’s are in the headlines …, etc.)
Examples of who is in favor and against (Major proponents of green taxes are……, whereas groups such as …….. are not in favor green taxes. Try to avoid making pro and con arguments here. You will focus on those in the rest of the paper).

Supporting Arguments For & Against

Each assigned debate topic may have a varying number of supporting arguments, but you should try to find 3-5 of the most widely used and strongest arguments for each side. You will be allowed to use your finished paper for the debate; therefore, you will want to include enough information on each of the points being presented so that you can use your work as a reference. Keep this part of your paper focused on the arguments, and avoid injecting personal opinions for now.

You are required to use at least two different sources to compile your FOR arguments, and two different sources to compile your AGAINST arguments. Use your best judgment to report information from reputable websites and sources that will carry weight to the arguments. For example, If I were to start a statement by saying “According to Wikipedia, Green Taxes are……” you would be right to immediately question the validity of my argument. Look for sources that end with a .gov, .edu, or are from peer reviewed journals. These will be the more reliable and unbiased sources of information.

When conducting your online research make sure to also record the citation information for every for and against argument you use in your paper. We will be using in-line citations during this assignment. An in-line citation includes the author and date at the end of the sentence (Smith, 2014), and the full matching citation is listed in a bibliography at the end of the paper.

Conclusion & Personal Opinion

The conclusion statement is where you take a personal position on the topic, and the goal is to support your position with specific examples and evidence. You do not have to cite the evidence in this part of the paper. For example, “I believe that green taxes should be implemented on all gasoline purchases. The primary reason for my position is that green taxes would help to offset the environmental impacts associated with the extraction of oil, refining process into gasoline, and the air pollution from burning gasoline. In addition, the money generated from these taxes could be used to explore alternative energies.” Your final position may or may not be the same as when you first saw the topics of this assignment, but our goal is for you to base your position on the information you obtained from your research. This is not just to practice for the debates, but also a good way to approach the process of decision making in the future.