25+ points Prompt: Later in this course, you will write an argumentative essay. Choose ONE of the following prompts: There is an old saying, “The pen is mightier than the sword.” Consider: What does this metaphor mean? How does it apply to George Orwell’s novel Animal Farm? How does it apply to other political/social writers, too? In your argumentative essay, provide at least three examples from literary texts and/or real life, that support the saying, “The pen is mightier than the sword” or disprove it. People are inherently good or evil. Consider: What makes some people good and what makes others evil? Is there an ongoing battle in our world between the weak and the strong? How does this apply to Animal Farm? Where do you see examples of goodness or evil in your world? In your essay, provide at least three examples, from literary texts and/or real life, that support the saying, “People are inherently good or evil,” or disprove it. SUBMIT: After choosing one prompt from above, write a thesis statement for your essay in the textbox below. Your teacher will approve the thesis before you start researching and writing your outline. Example: The pen truly is mightier than the sword because journalists bring down powerful, corrupt politicians, shine light on injustices with the judicial system, and provide valuable truths that provide people important knowledge. People are capable of both good and evil, but humanity’s capacity for good outweighs evil and can be seen by everyday acts of kindness, an increase in charitable organizations, and real-life happy endings.

In just over one hundred years, between 1701 and 1810, 252,500 enslaved africans were brought to barbados—an island that occupies only 166 square miles (making it, today, one of the smallest countries in the world). the english then set out to conquer more sugar islands, starting with jamaica, which they took from spain in 1655. in the same period that the 252,500 africans were brought to barbados, 662,400 africans were taken to jamaica. thus, sugar drove more than 900,000 people into slavery, across the atlantic, to barbados and jamaica—and these were just two of the sugar islands. the english were eagerly filling antigua, nevis, saint kitts, and montserrat with slaves and sugar mills. they took over much of dutch guiana for the same reason. seeing the fortunes being made in sugar, the french started their own scramble to turn the half of the island of hispaniola that they controlled (which is now haiti), as well as martinique, guadeloupe, and french guiana (along the south american coast near dutch guiana), into their own sugar colonies, which were filled with hundreds of thousands more african slaves. by 1753, british ships were taking average of 34,250 slaves from africa every year, and by 1768, that number had reached 53,100. –sugar changed the world, marc aronson and marina budhos how do the authors use historical evidence to support their claim? x(a) they use secondary sources to show how french and english monarchs were indifferent to enslaved people. x(b)they use secondary sources to show that enslaved people often fought for their freedom after arriving in the caribbean. the answer is: (c)they use facts from primary sources to show how countries increased the number of enslaved people to produce more sugar. x(d)they use primary source interviews to show that countries could make more money in trading sugar without using enslaved people.