This is more of a rant and my curiosity of what people will think...-shrinks away-
For my Senior English research paper I choose to research about the acceptance of Homosexuality of the past and present, of course my English teacher was…surprised. When I talked to her a little bit about it she stated that it was a good topic but what got to me was that she kept referring it as ‘that’.
That brought me back to my freshman year in which I joined my first GSLBTQ (Gay Straight Lesbian Bisexual Transgender and Questioning) club. At first I was terrified of what people would think of me because I was going to a meeting that generally had ‘queers’ in it. God forbid anyone think I was gay. I ended up getting so worked up about it that I quit and lost several friends in the process.
When I think about it now, I think “Wow, what an idiot” because I had gotten so worked up about something that seemed…stupid. Why should I care about what people thought of me?
Oh right, because being gay is bad and if people think I’m gay then they won’t talk to me. Not.
I rejoined and re-friended all lost friends and ended up having a blast in the club.
Okay well back to my research paper. I began to read book after book and article after article and while reading I began to get angry. Reason? I can’t stand close-minded people but that’s because they don’t share my view of ‘everyone should be free to love who they want to love, yadda, yadda, yadda.’ Thus I began to worry that if I got to deep I would begin to rant so, my question now is should I still do it?
I’m worried I might go off on a rant but I’m also worried that my teacher will deem things inappropriate because it’s considered an ‘untouched’ topic.
You should totally go for it. Who cares what your teacher thinks? There is no progress where people don't speak out. And if you go off into a rant...well, get someone to read over it for you and help you make it less rant-ish.
And that's comin' at ya' from yer local redneck hippie.
Haha, I'm really, really passionate about the subject. The only reason why I worry what my teacher thinks is because unfortunately I need to do it 'correct' to graduate.
But thank you so much for the support <3
Geez, this is a tough one. On one hand, it's a bold move and if you don't stand up for the right to be heard about this topic, then who will?
Also, don't think about the negative comments people might say. Think about the people who will admire you for having the guts to stand up and talk about such a taboo topic. I personally am not homosexual, but I've got a bunch of friends that are, and they're some of the coolest people I've ever met. I believe that if they find love, they should be able to celebrate it just like normal people do.
Ok, since I'm starting on a rant here, I'm gonna end this comment here and write a blog about it. I support your idea, kid. However, it may not be appropriate for a school paper. I don't know. I think it would be fine to post a topic on here about it, but I dunno... schools tend to be really anal about taboo subjects. If I were you, I'd have a topic to fall back on just in case you decide not to do it.
“Your vision will become clear only when you look into your heart ... Who looks outside, dreams. Who looks inside, awakens.” -Carl Jung
Avoid ranting. Make it about facts. Charts and graphs would be good to keep it on that. Subtly insert your own opinion in the intro and conclusion, but keep it short and brief. Concentrate on what HAPPENED not on what SHOULD have happened. You can emphasize the crappy treatment of homosexuals, of course. Matthew Shepard has to be in there somewhere. And there are so many stories that deserve justice.
Make sure you put in the fact that GSA's and GSLBTQ Club's are becoming more prominent in schools and provide a safe haven. I go to a hick school in Wisconsin and we have more than seventy people in our GSA. Not that they ever show up for a meeting... *sigh*
Great advice.
Also, the teacher shouldn't be grading you on the paper based on her own opinion. She should be grading you on whether or not your writing was good.
First draft to final product....
Rant...find facts to support or defend...edit into coherance...repeat till no rant and only fact and perfection remains.
Some people call brainstorming a rant...if you can take the rock and polish it until it is a beautiful statue who cares what it looked like from the begining.
DO IT...bet you could post it here for feed back too
~T
All truths are easy to understand once discovered; The point is to discover them ~Galileo