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Mieke, I would certainly not have become so upset if I were ignorant of the context in which this assignment was made. This assignment did not form part of instruction on the genre of debate; nor were students asked to anticipate, in order to respond to, the possible objections of people holding different views. Rather, this was the assignment for "the persuasive essay." It followed the assignment for "the narrative essay," and will be followed shortly by the assignment for "the research essay." Call me crazy but I don't think that it is responsible for anyone, including "the beleaguered highschool teacher" to warn students that persuasion prohibits the use of "reasoned moderate argument." Judy