How to write a good discussion.
Now look at this example.
Was it better to be rich or poor in Tudor times?
In Tudor Britain, 500 years ago, people were rich or poor. There were three different levels of being poor. There were poor people who couldn’t help being poor as they were elderly or disabled. The rich people would often give charity to these people. There were poor people like vagrants and criminals who were despised. There were poor who worked for the rich earning money to buy food and so having a place to live. Whichever type of poor you were in Tudor times, life was very much different to the lives of those who were considered rich. So was it better to be rich or poor?
Some people argue that it was much better to be rich. The quality of life for a rich person was far superior to that of a poor person. The rich could afford better food, clothes and houses. Rich children were educated and did not have to work to earn money for their families.
The food may have been better for a rich person, but was it healthy? There were no fridges in Tudor times, so Tudors would have to use a lot of salt on their meat to preserve it. To cover up the taste of salt, they would then cover their food in herbs! We now know that too much salt is bad for your heart and can cause heart disease. In Tudor times sugar was very expensive and only the rich could afford it. If a person ate too much sugar they would suffer from tooth decay and have black and rotten teeth. Even if a person was not rich enough to eat lots of sugar, they would still blacken their teeth to make it look like they were rotten.
However, at least the poor people had a choice of food. The poor would only eat what they could grow or catch. To make their food taste sweet, they would use honey as they could get that from bees. Their diet was very plain and was not as varied as it should have been, although they did eat plenty of fruit and vegetables if they were available.
Some people may think that the fashion worn by rich Tudors was better. As well as the colour of their teeth, rich people also considered the colour of their skin. If a person was poor, they would spend time outside in the sun working the land, doing chores or buying food from the markets. This would give them a sun tan. Rich people would only go outside if they needed to walk for exercise, so their skin was always fair. Rich people would wear white powder on their faces to make them look paler. The powder they used was made of lead which is a highly poisonous metal. We now know that many Tudors, including Queen Elizabeth, suffered from lead poisoning caused by their make up. They wore clothes made from fine silks and beautifully embroidered.
On the other hand, poor people would spend most of their day exposed to too much sun. We now know that too much sun is bad for you and can cause heat stroke and skin cancer if the body is not covered up. The clothes worn by the poor, was made from wool which was much heavier and more itchy than the fine clothes worn by the rich.
Naturally, in Tudor times rich and poor children were treated differently too. Rich children were educated and encouraged to think and take part in intellectual activities. They had time, to play games and take part in favourite Tudor activities like singing. Poor children had to spend time working or helping their parents. They had very little time to play and were very rarely given the chance to learn to read and write. They then grew up uneducated and could only work in hard jobs like their parents.
So, was it better to be rich or poor in Tudor times? The rich people certainly had better things and more choices. This would have given them a better quality of life although it was not actually healthy. The poor people, lacked choices and good fashion and food, yet they were not exposed to the disadvantages these luxuries bring.
Now read these questions and discuss them with your parents.
What is each paragraph about?
Which words are used to introduce the opposite point of view?
How many reasons are used for and against?