Name: _____________________________________ Period: ______________
Drinking Age Debate Assignment
Your assignment is to find two articles related to the debate over what the legal drinking age
should be in America. Please write the author’s name and the article title below.
Once you find these two articles, please read them carefully. Then select two or three quotes,
statistics, or anecdotes from these articles that best support your opinion on this topic. When you
have finished reading and notating these articles, you will then be asked to write a paragraph
that answers the question: What should the minimum legal drinking age be in the U.S.?
You will be asked to use a title, a topic sentence, one supporting example (from a source), one
rebuttal example (from a source), one counter argument statement (either from a source or your
own logic), and a conclusion with a lasting impression. Please compose your paragraph using at
least two different sources (you may use both of the articles you found online, or you may use one
of those and the procon.org article for your other source).
Please handwrite a rough draft on this paper. We will then go to TLC on Thursday 2/18 to type or
upload these paragraphs to turnitin.com. You will also be asked to create a Works Cited page for
the sources you use. You may use easybib.com.
Step One
Article 1
Author(s):________________________________________________________________________________
Article Title: _____________________________________________________________________________
1.
Key stat, argument, rebuttal, or anecdote:
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2. Key stat, argument, rebuttal, or anecdote:
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3. Key stat, argument, rebuttal, or anecdote:
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Article 2
Author(s):__________________________________________________________________________________
Article Title: ________________________________________________________________________________
1.
Key stat, argument, rebuttal, or anecdote:
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2. Key stat, argument, rebuttal, or anecdote:
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3. Key stat, argument, rebuttal, or anecdote:
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Scoring Rubric
9-10
5-8
0-4
Citations
Highlighted and correct
number and use of
citations and Works Cited
page
Incorrect number and/or
No citations or huge citation
use of citations and/or no
errors and/or no Works Cited
highlights and/or no Works page
Cited page
Content
Clear Argument, Counter
Argument, & Rebuttal
Mostly clear or missing
some Argument, Counter
Argument, & Rebuttal
Unclear or illogical Argument,
Counter Argument, & Rebuttal
Style &
Grammar
Minimal grammatical
errors, no use of first or
second person, strong
word choices, no
contractions.
Some grammatical errors,
or some use of first or
second person, or average
word choices
Some grammatical errors, and/or
some use of first or second person,
and/or below average word
choices (e.g. “a lot,” “kinda,” “I
believe,” “in conclusion,” etc.)
Step Two
Paragraph Rough Draft: What should the minimum legal drinking age be in the U.S.?
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