Okay so I have decided to write about "Banning the use of telephones while driving(including calls/texts)"

This is my last shot at the final to earn a B in this class and possibly an A.

My opinion on this subject is that I believe that there should be a ban on the use of telephones while driving because it can not only be harmful to the driver but to the pedestrians and other drivers too.

Now having this opinion how can I incorporate

Research
Comparison
Illustration
And argument in this essay?

Example for Research yes I can collect statistical date to support the number of deaths and accidents caused by people on the phone.

But what do I compare it with?

How do I illustrate it?

How do I produce an argument.

Help.

Another skill would be Critique.. That is the most difficult as well.. how do I incorporate it into my essay?

http://www.powa.org/

Be sure to go through this website thoroughly, using the tabbed topics across the top (Discovering, Organizing, etc.).

Some ideas:
~If you can find these kinds of data, compare the latest statistics on accidents with texting/calling drivers, including fatalities to data you gather about accidents (fatal and non-fatal) in which cell phones were not a factor.

~You might even try to find data on accidents involving drivers age 16-25 now and in 1980 (or any year before car phones or cell phones were in use).

This site will also have good ideas about researching and the steps in writing up your research:
http://www.ipl.org/div/aplus/

The ideas in these sites might help, too:
http://www.chesapeake.edu/asc/CritiqueHandout.pdf
and
http://academic.luzerne.edu/wcamp/new_page_1.htm

If you are to critique your own work, then that will probably go into the conclusion.

Topic: Banning the use of cellphones while driving ( including calls and texts)

Opinion: Ban the use, number of statistics that prove the consequences of use of cellphones in anyway is harmful to the driver itself, other drivers and sometimes even pedestrians.

Critique : To see if solution which is the use of hands free phones reduces risks or does not (statistics to back it up). How a phone call whether hands free or handsheld can change your emotional state, which is also important in attention of driving.

Research : Statistics of crashes/accidents/deaths of drivers while using cellphones. Fact that is it the most distracting. (texting needs undivded attention)

Comparison: Compare the date of the time when cellphones were not invented to the current day and cellphone users.
Compare hands held phone to hands free phone.

Illustration: Provide an emotional story of someone losing someone in a car accident due to usage of cellphone while driving.

Argument : There is no reason to why using cellphone while driving should stay legal since the statistics provided only show that there is more harm than any benefit.
There are many things that add to a drivers distraction while driving, kids, time limit, emotional state, etc but you can only control these things to an extent.. but what you can control is the amount of distraction that is added further by the use of a cellphone.
Example of another country taking an initiate to reducing accidents by monitoring the whole city. Their goal for the end of 2012 is to complettely diminish the causes of road accidents from which the most popular and continuous cause is Driving while using a cellphone. By monitoring the city they will ensure that each person who attends a phone call on a handsheld phone while driving will get a fine that will teach them a lesson to not attend their phone while driving again.

Conclusion: From all these facts it is obvious that there is absolutely no reason why there should not be a ban on using cellphones whilst driving. While there maybe many other innnovative ways of writing a text and attending calls on a hands free phone there is still risk involved since it is not only about the electronic but about the responsibility of undivided attention that the driver has while driving. Moreover it is vivid that countries who have that ban show great drops in number of accidents then we should really take an initiative as well. There maybe me many violations of the law in the beginning but if awareness and a good fine that make violators pockets lighter, it will teach them a lesson. Remember driving while using a cellphone is not only putting your self in danger, but even a seconds glance on your telephone might hurt the other drivers and pedestrians as well.

How does this look for an initial draft?

It looks pretty good.

In this section, I'd omit the second sentence; that's your conclusion, the results of your research, not the research itself.
Research : Statistics of crashes/accidents/deaths of drivers while using cellphones. Fact that is it the most distracting. (texting needs undivded attention)

If you are writing a true argument, you'll need to have some opposition to counter. (In formal argument terminology, that's called your refutation.) Let me know if you need something to refute, and I'll give you an idea.

I could use the idea of hands held and hands free .. but would that not be going off topic?

Sure thank you

Where should I place the example of another country using the ban?

In critique or illustration.

A little help here..