Read a few online articles on the assignment prompt: Should cigarettes be outlawed in the United States? (Some example articles are linked below.)

2. Take a stand: (Yes or No,) cigarettes (should/should not) be outlawed in the United States.  Keep your thesis simple.

3. Decide on two clear reasons to support your thesis. Write your reasons as complete sentences, not as phrases and not as questions. (These reasons will become the topic sentences for your W2 paper.) A few examples of reasons on either side of the argument are included below. You do NOT need to use these: I simply want to provide you examples of a clear topic sentence.

Yes:
•Cigarette smoking endangers the health of both smokers and non-smokers.
•Outlawing cigarettes will reduce litter caused by discarded cigarette butts and packaging.
•Outlawing cigarette smoking will lower cancer rates in the U.S.

No:
•Outlawing smoking infringes upon the rights of people who choose to smoke.
•A smoking ban will be difficult to enforce.
•If cigarettes are made illegal, they will still be sold on the black market, thus benefitting organized crime.
•If cigarettes are outlawed, the government will lose a major source of tax revenue

4. Write your thesis and topic sentences, and label them as such. (See attached W1 template.)
•Thesis sentence: (Do not include any reasons in this statement. Simply state whether or not you believe cigarettes should or should not be banned in the US.)
•Topic/Reasons sentence one: (Write your first topic/reason sentence)
•Topic/Reason sentence two: (Write your second topic/reason sentence)

5. Save the document as a Word file with the following file name: YourLastName W1
6. Upload your thesis and topic sentences to the Dropbox in the W1 folder

A few resources on either side of the argument are linked below. You are not required to use these, but you may, and you are encouraged to find additional online resources on your own. If these sites no longer are available, seek others to support your thesis.

In favor of banning cigarettes: (In your paper, be sure to indent the second line of your references.)

Author. “Title.” Web Site. Publisher of site, date of publication. Web. Date of Access.

Chew, Norma. “Three Reasons Why Smoking Should Be Banned.” LiveStrong.com. Demand Media, 16 Aug. 2013. Web. 27 May 2015. <http://www.livestrong.com/article/207919-three-reasons-why-smoking-should-be-banned/>.

Proctor, Robert N. “Why Ban the Sale of cigarettes? The Case for Abolition.” Tobacco Control  22.1 (2013): n. pag. Web. 27 May 2015. <http://tobaccocontrol.bmj.com/content/22/suppl_1/i27.full>.

Rettner, Rachael. “Should Cigarettes Be Illegal?” Live Science. Purch, 24 Jan. 2013. Web. 27 May 2015. <http://www.livescience.com/26580-cigarettes-illegal.html>.