Students will produce a persuasive analysis essay as a top psychiatrist assessing the mental health of a defendent accused of murder in order to see if he can avoid the death penalty by pleading insanity.  ** This performance assessment was developed by a collaborative team of teachers and division staff from Middlesex, Poquoson, and West Point school divisions.

This resource provides ideas for how students can engage with a variety of sources that tackle controversial issues as they work to consider and support their own opinion. It provides scaffolding for the original resource from which it is remixed to help students prepare to write an argument essay on a controversial topic.