"Anna! Guess what!"

Her blonde accomplice rushed into her room, tossing pages of scribble aside. "You know the lesson we were supposed to do on how to write arguments?"

She was led to a soap-box platform, and a sign which read:

Matt and Anna Present:

Writing Realistic Arguments

"Instead of telling them what to do," Matt continued, "We can show them an argument!" Anna's face lit up to the idea. Her friend stood on the platform, anxiously muttering.

"What do you have in mind?" said Anna.

Matt cleared his throat and dawned an ancient pair of glasses. "I, Matt, believe that the red apple is the best apple."

"You mean the Red Delicious," Anna added. Her opponent glanced at her. "Unless ya mean all red apples. And if that's the case, why didn't ya just say, 'red apples are the-'"

"Exactly! All red apples are the best apples."

"What d'ya mean by 'best'? Different apples give ya different nutrition, and they all have distinct colors n' structures."

"By taste, of course."

"So you've tasted all kinds of red apples?"

"Of course I have."

"Name five."

Matt leaned back and pinched his chin. Drops of sweat crept onto his glorious brow. "Well, there's the Delicious, and Granny Smith, uh..."

"Matt, how can you base yer argument this little knowledge?"

"Well, if you're such an apple expert," shouted Matt, "Why don't you tell me what the best apple is?"

Silence filled the room. He saw Anna, retreating from her vehement opponent. Matt took a deep breath and sat on his soap-box. Anna joined him, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Sorry bud," Matt responded. "Guess I took the argument too far."

"It was a pointless argument," she added. "Look, it's good to have arguments. But ya need to understand what you're goin' up against."

"It just seemed like a good point when I thought of it."

"Well, that's because you were debating with yourself. You should get a lot of other opinions 'fore you fight against them. And only then will your efforts bear fruit."