Basic advises...for Clep Essay

I am scheduled to take the English Comp w/ Essay and I would like to ask for tips for writing an aggree/disagree without coming across too much one way or the other.

I tend to be a very black/white person, either you are right or you are wrong
and I am worried about my response being too strong.

Any tips or general guidelines are appreciated.

Thanks
Kris

First, it's perfectly acceptable, if asked whether you agree or disagree, to choose one position and argue it strongly. That's what you should do, if that's what comes naturally to you. This can, but need not, include raising and refuting an argument for the other position.

Only if specifically asked to explain both sides of a question are you required to do so. In that case, simply list for yourself all of the arguments you can think of on each side. Then, one way to structure the essay is to fully explain the strongest argument from each side, listing the other arguments briefly. Then you may (unless instructed not to pick a side) use a paragraph to explain why you feel one side or the other has the stronger argument.

I just wrote an essay that I am still trying to get critiqued, but the subject was pro/con of a controversial issue without taking a side. People here helped me look at the issues by deciding what is the actual line that devides each side. Each side may have a reason for its arguments, but there is a fundamental difference between the two sides. That is how I stayed neutral as well. I only talked about the issues and their relation to one another rather than my feelings about either.

Best of luck!

I agree with Simone -- there is no reason you can't argue one side of the issue very strongly, if you are permitted to do so. Generally, it is a good idea to raise some of the main objections to your argument, so that you can demolish them, if you hope to be truly persuasive. Of course, for the test, you may only care about creating a solid essay in a short amount of time, in which case, raising the opposing point of view is unnecessary.

If you really want to remain neutral, though, either because you have to or because you have decided you want to, then the idea would be to present argument, counter-argument, counter-counter-argument, and so on, until you reach the point where people have to agree to disagree because the issue has been reduced to a matter of principle or of personal preference. Put another way, you would start by presenting both sides of the issue, then break each one down until you found the point where their premises diverged.

Thank you for your responses.

I believe most of the Clep essays are agree/disagree and I am worried about my alienating the people scoring the essay with my tendency to be one-way (my husband would say stubborn, I prefer strong-willed). However, this may, work to my advantage...

Thank you again,

Kris

Again, agree/disagree means that you must agree or disagree, not do both. Please read the question carefully. If you are asked to "agree/disagree" with something, that means "agree or disagree." Only if the question says something like, "some people feel... other people feel... explain both positions" are you required to give both positions.

Whenever you get an agree/disagree essay, you must call to mind the words of wisdom once uttered by the 79th attorney general of the United States:

"There are two things you find in the middle of the road: a moderate and a dead skunk, and I don't want to be either."--John Ashcroft