What issues do you care most about? What topics do you find yourself discussing passionately, whether online, at the dinner table, in the classroom or with your friends?
In Unit 5 of our free yearlong writing curriculum and related Student Editorial Contest, we invite students to research and write about the issues that matter to them, whether that’s Shakespeare, health care, standardized testing or being messy.
But with so many possibilities, where does one even begin? Try our student writing prompts.
In 2017, we compiled a list of 401 argumentative writing prompts, all drawn from our daily Student Opinion column. Now, we’re rounding up 130 more we’ve published since then (available here as a PDF). Each prompt links to a free Times article as well as additional subquestions that can help you think more deeply about it.
You might use this list to inspire your own writing and to find links to reliable resources about the issues that intrigue you. But even if you’re not participating in our contest, you can use these prompts to practice the kind of low-stakes writing that can help you hone your argumentation skills.