The Greeks believed in paideia, a word that might be loosely translated as “general education.” In First Democracy, Paul Woodruff explains that this type of education is “less than expert training, because it will not prepare a citizen to compete with an expert in her field. But paideia should give a citizen the wisdom to judge what he is told by people who do claim to be experts” (191). In other words, paideia is the kind of education that prepares students to understand, participate in, and judge the debates and discussions that are vital to every community.
“judge what you are told be people who claim to be experts” by researching and writing an argument about a current issue in your community. Of course, you are a member of many communities—we all are. You may choose an issue that is relevant to any of the many communities of which you are a part. These communities might include the community of your peers, the community of your city, or even the community of your country. However, as your assignment is to write a research-based argument, you must choose a meaningful issue that is currently up for debate, and it should be a topic that you can research without an inordinate amount of difficulty.