I’ve been resisting this for a while, but now I’m down to the wire and I still have nothing.
I have to write an argumentative paper for school. It’s short- two and a half to three pages.
I don’t want to do anything super popular that everyone else has done a bazillion times. So no abortion, gay marriage, or uniforms in schools.
I don’t want to do anything super-political. Nothing about specific people, the role of sexism or racism in the election, whether the electoral college is out of date, etc.
I don’t want to do anything really boring.
The only two I’ve really come up with are based around my pet cause/interest.
First, personhood for apes. This has a few problems- first of all, I think people on both sides of the issue are a little nuts, so while I think the issue is fascinating, I have trouble writing a rah-rah argumentative paper advocating either argument. Also, we have to have to have resources and I’m having some trouble finding anything really good.
Second, the bushmeat trade and its effect on apes. This one isn’t great because it’s a very complex problem and one most people aren’t really that familiar with. So it would be difficult to explain it in two and a half pages, much less explain it and present an argument. Also, the main argument would be “this is important and people need to pay attention and help,” but I don’t want to do that unless I have some ideas of HOW people can help. Plus it’s such a heartwrenching and difficult subject that I’m not sure it’s worth the tears and the late-night breakdowns to my best friend (which bores the crap out of her. She could not care less about gorillas or Africa.) all for a stupid paper.
So if anybody has any ideas, I’d love to hear them. I’ve been reading a lot about bushmeat and trying to find a way to mold it into a proper short paper and am feeling really angry, drained, and helpless right now, so if you have any ideas that could not in any way involve the word “horrific,” that would be ideal.