HELP

[some_stars]

okay, guys, I have a problem and I require help. It's for an assignment, so I'm only asking for a certain narrow definition of help, but I really really need it.

So I'm stuck in this freshman comp class in order to graduate, and the second main assignment is due--well, today, but I'm not even trying to be on time in this class since I have two other much more demanding ones. The assignment itself is super easy but choosing topics is driving me insane, potentially literally.

We have to write two 'persuasive letters'--suggestions on the handout include 'letter to congressman about important issue,' 'letter to the editor about a recent article,' 'write to organization or agency to propose an idea,' 'letter of complaint to a company,' 'letter to friend convincing them to, ex. watch your favorite tv show, try being vegetarian for a week, etc.' So I'm having two problems:

1. Picking ideas out of thin air is not how my brain works. When I was taking non-dead language classes, I was sometimes driven to actual tears by those writing assignments with incredibly vague prompts like 'discuss an idea that has changed the world' or 'what does community mean to you?' Obviously there, as here, the assignment is just trying to get you to write without worrying about what you're saying, but I CAN'T DO THAT. And it's not like I'm reading literature and thinking up ideas about it--I have nothing to start from here. It is basically the most horrible academic situation I could possibly be in.

2. I absolutely cannot write about something actually important to me. This is also a problem with the assignment we just got for the final paper, which can be on the same topic as one of these letters--we're supposed to "argue about a problem in one of the following categories: popular culture, science and technology, gender, or politics and public policy." Writing an argument about gender or politics or public policy will mean looking up counterarguments, to say nothing of having to sit there and write an argument for, say, why women are really truly people. There's a reason I quit reading all the progressive and feminist blogs I used to follow and no longer keep up with politics of any kind. I am just way too fragile and I seriously can't deal with that kind of thing.

The problem is, when I try to think up something to argue, obviously all I can think of are things that are important to me. So what I need are topic suggestions--for either the letter-format assignment or the regular paper or both--to the following specifications:

1. The two letters need to be about 2 pages each; the final paper is 5-7 pages.
2. They have to be about nonfictional issues since I need to incorporate evidence.
3. Topics must have absolutely nothing to do with social justice/kyriarchy, economic inequality and public policy relating thereunto, climate change or other science-denialism issues, or anything else that would fill me with helpless rage.

Obviously I'm not asking for any assistance beyond "what the fuck do I write about that won't send me spiraling down into a week-long depressive episode?" But honestly, if I keep trying and failing to think of SOMETHING, I really will end up in bed for a week. Having to choose an item or idea out of a nearly-infinite, un-indexed array of possibilities with absolutely no rules or guidelines to narrow down the selection is one of my oldest and strongest anxiety triggers, and these assignments are hitting it so hard.

(I also get really, really upset by questions about "what's your favorite [some incredibly broad category]?" when I have to answer them on the spot and only choose one and not equivocate at great length. Actually just thinking about that is making my stomach turn over right now.)


--you know what might be perfect, actually, would be something about a slightly obscure industry or hobby or craft/trade/art, some debate over standards or regulations or practices. Something where the data and the standards for judging that data are specific and localized and distanced, a little, from popular/general public issues.

Comments

[giandujakiss]

Why don't you pick a product where you just dislike how it functions? I mean, Livejournal? Or Microsoft Internet Explorer? Or take the TV show idea - pick a TV show that you think is awesomecakes and then you can write about the politics without being filled with rage?

[chalcopyrite]

Ugh, I hear you on the anxiety produced by "write about something in this incredibly broad category!" I hated those assignments.

Could a letter be about something factual, but completely lightweight? For instance, persuading a friend why handknitted socks are better (or not)? Or, IDK, angling, and buying pre-tied flies vs. making your own? (Though that might be something harder to get actual data on, as opposed to anecdata.) Why This Book Is Awesome?

[mecurtin]

Mars rovers and why/how they are awesome.

[aris_tgd]

Maybe hormesis? It's gotten some attention in the news recently because Ann Coulter, of all people, went on O'Reilly's show to argue in favor of it (while completely missing the distinction between chronic and acute doses of radiation, natch.) Hormesis is the theory that low doses of radiation actually improve health over long periods of time, and there's lots of work out there talking about it because it's the sort of topic that tends to result in fistfights between health physicists at conventions.

Good luck with stuff.

[lilacsigil]

For the final paper, can you write about something like bandwidth caps in Canada? It's topical and political, there's lots of press on it, it's not a social justice issue and it's interesting (to me, anyway!)

[brownbetty]

Okay, I know you said you can't write about things that matter, but what about “Dear Betty: A show I think you should be watching”?

Possibly too far from what the prof wants.