Writing Standards: Advanced Argument Writing with Counterclaims (CCSS.W.11-12.1) Practice Test

Policymakers seeking to decarbonize face a choice between carbon taxes and cap-and-trade. A carbon tax is superior because it provides price certainty that encourages firms to invest in cleaner technology, whereas cap-and-trade systems invite gaming and volatile permit markets. Economists often favor taxes for their simplicity, and countries that price carbon seem to reduce emissions without collapsing growth. Critics argue carbon taxes are regressive, but any policy has distributional effects; the political will to recycle revenues can address equity concerns. Moreover, as climate damages accelerate, we should prefer mechanisms that send a clear signal rather than rely on bureaucratic allocation of permits. Opponents also claim that taxes might drive industry abroad, yet globalization is complex and firms adapt. Ultimately, a policy that aligns incentives will perform better than one that distributes compliance tickets. While both approaches aim at the same outcome, it is more coherent to pick the tool that minimizes administrative discretion and embeds long-run certainty into investment decisions.

In Toni Morrison's Beloved, the novel's spectral presence is not merely gothic ornamentation but a narrative engine that reorders time and ethics. The text's recursive returns to "rememory" suggest that historical trauma resists containment within linear chronology, yet the argument for this claim often leans on general impressions rather than sustained analysis. Beloved's disruptions arguably create an ethics of attention whereby characters and readers are compelled to listen to what official archives omit. However, the link between form and ethics remains asserted more than demonstrated. Some readers contend that the hauntings paralyze the community, implying that dwelling on the past hinders agency. The novel's polyphonic structure complicates such a reading, but the current draft does not fully engage it or explain how narrative technique distributes authority among voices. To persuade, an argument must move beyond summary toward close reading that shows how syntax, focalization, and temporal shifts enact its moral claims, while acknowledging, and answering, compelling alternative interpretations.