In the beginning of November 2017, Mr. Phillips assigned the AP Language and Composition class a research paper with foreign focus. It did not take long for me to decide what my general topic should be; I wanted to research the environment. This choice comes from, most obviously, my care for the environment. However, I decided also on a basis of what I did not want to research. I normally follow current events about the same amount as a child would eat their brussels sprouts, so I chose not to research something dark or gritty such as any current fighting between countries. I also previously wrote a paper about social welfare programs, and based on that experience I prefer a less loaded topic. This past summer, though, I read several books in preparation for AP Environmental Science. I felt confident that I could pull knowledge from those books to aid in my inception of a research question as well as the subsequent researching for said question. Drawing conclusions mainly from This Changes Everything by Naomi Klein, I focused in on capitalism - namely, the use of money for environmental benefit. What better way to look at a changing foreign economy, I thought, than to see how badly the environment will be damaged by Britain shedding themselves of strict environmental laws the European Union passes?
Writing this narrative after completing the paper, I can say with reasonable affirmation that there could have been a better way. I submitted my question to Mr. Phillips, received approval for its research, then thought nothing of it for a month. The end of November rolled around, and our class took a brief vacation from the classroom to peruse online resources in the library. I sat down in the hall of books that first day, eager to find this wealth of information that supports my hypothesis and reaffirms my beliefs. I left with the pit of my stomach ten feet under, completely at a loss for what to do next. Everywhere I looked, there were articles about trade relations and bickering, about legal jargon and frantic scrambling. Sure, there were articles about Brexit's effect on the environment, but that had nothing to do with my question. My question pertained to the prevalent environmental activism in Europe. That first day I found only one article that had anything remotely similar to the claims I wanted to make in my essay. Funnily enough, that article did not even make it into the paper.
Its rejection from my essay came about two days later. I had stumbled aimlessly throughout the databases for the past several class periods until I finally decided that I can't bend the world to fit my needs. I needed to change if I wanted to overcome this obstacle. I tweaked my thesis, deciding instead to focus on the lack of effect Brexit will have on environmental activism. The research I did then I regard as some of the most productive and profound research I have ever done. I found claims and counterclaims, information and progression, and ultimately felt reassured about the future of our planet, thanks to Britain's effort in this sometimes frustratingly industrial time. I wrote the paper and turned it in, relieved that this ordeal had finally come to an end.
Writing this narrative after completing the paper, I can say with reasonable affirmation that there could have been a better way. I submitted my question to Mr. Phillips, received approval for its research, then thought nothing of it for a month. The end of November rolled around, and our class took a brief vacation from the classroom to peruse online resources in the library. I sat down in the hall of books that first day, eager to find this wealth of information that supports my hypothesis and reaffirms my beliefs. I left with the pit of my stomach ten feet under, completely at a loss for what to do next. Everywhere I looked, there were articles about trade relations and bickering, about legal jargon and frantic scrambling. Sure, there were articles about Brexit's effect on the environment, but that had nothing to do with my question. My question pertained to the prevalent environmental activism in Europe. That first day I found only one article that had anything remotely similar to the claims I wanted to make in my essay. Funnily enough, that article did not even make it into the paper.
Its rejection from my essay came about two days later. I had stumbled aimlessly throughout the databases for the past several class periods until I finally decided that I can't bend the world to fit my needs. I needed to change if I wanted to overcome this obstacle. I tweaked my thesis, deciding instead to focus on the lack of effect Brexit will have on environmental activism. The research I did then I regard as some of the most productive and profound research I have ever done. I found claims and counterclaims, information and progression, and ultimately felt reassured about the future of our planet, thanks to Britain's effort in this sometimes frustratingly industrial time. I wrote the paper and turned it in, relieved that this ordeal had finally come to an end.
Top image borrowed from "UNC School of Medicine"
Bottom image borrowed from "XiNature.com"
Bottom image borrowed from "XiNature.com"