Clean Water Laws Are Neglected, at a Cost in Suffering (New York Times) by Charles Duhigg

DRINKING WATER:
Please choose one of the following options and write your essay:
Option 1: Write a six paragraph essay about what you consider to be the four most important facts encountered in this week’s readings. Be sure to explain why each fact is so important. Devote a paragraph to each of the four facts, and add an introduction and conclusion, to make six total paragraphs. At least 80 percent of the evidence supporting your position must come from this week’s readings.
Option 2: Write a six paragraph essay that defends the following position: “Americans have good reason to be concerned about their drinking water.” At least 80 percent of the evidence supporting your position must come from this week’s readings.
Option 3: Come up with your own clear position about the topic and defend it in a six paragraph essay, utilizing this week’s readings. At least 80 percent of the evidence supporting your position must come from this week’s readings.
Extra Credit Option: (The following is optional, not obligatory.)
If you choose one and only one paragraph from your essay, and successfully only use Type 1 and Type 2 sentences in that paragraph, I will add 10 points to your essay grade, enough to move you from a B to an A, for example. Please place that paragraph in bold and indicate the sentence type behind each sentence. For example: “After each sentence, do this. (Type 2)”
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PLEASE BE SURE TO KEEP THE FOLLOWING IN MIND:
1 Do not use long quotations. For the purposes of this class, given how short the essays are, no quotation should be longer than two lines. Do not use more than two quotations per essay. Most of the information from sources should be paraphrased (put in your own words). However, even when you put information from a source in your own words, you must still give that source credit. After such a sentence, simply put an abbreviated form of the title in brackets like this. (“Drinking water”) This should suffice. Short essays do not have to be in MLA format.
2 Do not use the words “you” or “your” in academic writing. You may use “I”.
3 Do not use words like “big” or “huge” as synonyms for “important” or “critical” or “serious”. Avoid sentences like this: “Drinking water is a huge problem in the U.S.”
4 Remember, each paragraph has to have at least four sentences, preferably more.
5 Remember that the paper MUST be submitted in PDF format only