I'm in year nine and I have a MASSIVE assignment coming up. It has to be VCE standard and therefore the topic can't be too broad. I want to do it on something to do with animal cruelty. It has to have a contention. eg. "Is animal testing unethical?"
Even that could be too broad. Can anyone think of some good ideas for this assignment?
It's not until next term so they haven't explained much to us yet ans we don't know the criteria... we can do it on pretty much anything we're passionate about. We have to do a presentation too, so I'll ask animals australia if they can send me some stuff.
Your contention should be a statement, not a question e.g. "Animal testing is unethical".
Maybe you could talk about animal testing for medical purposes i.e. medicine and contend whether or not it is ethical to use animals to save human life.
"Cosmetic animal testing is unethical." - that isn't as broad.
"The live animal trade is unethical." - you could talk about how much better it would be to slaughter the animals in Australia under Australian animal welfare laws (Not some middle eastern country's laws). You could then branch out by saying how Australian jobs would be created through this scheme.
At school, you need to target that particular age group ie animal testing for cosmetics (rather than household products) and dairy farm abuse perhaps link to weight issues (but have to be careful not to go too extreme there!). Maybe also leather, silk etc?
Perhaps do a link on human/animal bonding and talk about zoos/circuses/abandonment/abuse/farm animals.
I'll also need to choose something that I can show the other side in, even though my aim is to prove it wrong. Animal testing might be a bit difficult, as it is hidden not made to seem like a good thing.
If you get what I'm saying...?
You'll find heaps of info on animal testing on the net. They usually ramble on about why animal testing is best.
Also, most charities still use animal testing. Check out www.aahr.asn.au which lists charities that don't support animal testing.
Stick some info in there on veg friendly shops (even if it's popular shops like Lush or The Body Shop) and shops that are completely vegan... check out www.choosecrueltyfree.org.au
Animal rights contention.
hmm, well if you want to keep it general you could always do
"animal cruelty is unethical"
or here are some other topic suggestions that i quickly conjured for you. Remember, if its to do with contention, then you could argue either FOR or AGAINST the subject.
-animal cruelty is more prevalent than we think
-vegetarianism will solve the worlds major problems
-cosmetic testing for animals is unneccesary
-there should be higher standards of animal welfare
-live animal export degrades australia's reputation
I must also add that I am extremely jealous that you received a free topic assignment! Put alot of effort into it and make sure your passionate, because in yrs 10-12 there are practically no tasks like that.
