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I would like some suggestions for a topic for a Persuasive speech. If there is one thing thats been nagging you to give a speech about give me the topic and I would like to try and make one. Sadly I'm at a loss of ideas (even though this site probably has a million)

 

I thought about stem cell research but it might be a little to controversial for a Sophomore English Honors Class. I'm afraid of offending someone. (Which is in my opinion one of the Society's biggest problems) Again, We live in a Fahrenheit 451 world but I need a topic irregardless. What do you guys think? Should I risk it? It does interest me. And all the information is staring me in the face right here so I can use this site because it's perfect.

 

Ugh, English how i loathe you.

 

Regards :hihi:

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I'm afraid of offending someone. (Which is in my opinion one of the Society's biggest problems)

Why not use that as your topic? How society uses rules of politeness to avoid harsh realities. Something like that? [sarcasm]As a fallback you could talk about how society is so prissy about people who promote genocide when it is obviously for the greater good.[/sarcasm]

 

Bill

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I would like some suggestions for a topic for a Persuasive speech. ...

Again, We live in a Fahrenheit 451 world but I need a topic irregardless. What do you guys think? Should I risk it? It does interest me. And all the information is staring me in the face right here so I can use this site because it's perfect.

 

Ugh, English how i loathe you.

 

Regards :cup:

 

English...love it or leave it. :cup: At any rate, the part of your quote I boldened looks like a thesis statement for a persuasive speech to me as I see no convincing evidence of it. :)

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- Global warming - man made or natural cycle (or does it even exist?)...

 

- Saving a species - but at what costs (loss of farmland/jobs/etc.)...

 

- Terrorism (or Revolution?) - one man's terrorist, another man's freedom fighter...

 

Choose the point of view you prefer. :shrug:

 

moo

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English...love it or leave it. :D At any rate, the part of your quote I boldened looks like a thesis statement for a persuasive speech to me as I see no convincing evidence of it. :doh:

 

not sure if that was sarcasm or a genuine suggestion. Would've been easier ifyou had done what TheBigDog did but if you were being serious I suppose that would be a good topic.

 

I'm thinking I may go with Stem Cell research though. The whole Fahrenheit 451 idea, it's been used a lot in my school thanks to a very...Eccentric, teacher of ours.

 

Regards

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not sure if that was sarcasm or a genuine suggestion. Would've been easier ifyou had done what TheBigDog did but if you were being serious I suppose that would be a good topic.

 

I'm thinking I may go with Stem Cell research though. The whole Fahrenheit 451 idea, it's been used a lot in my school thanks to a very...Eccentric, teacher of ours.

 

Regards

 

Surprisingly, it was a genuine suggestion. :doh: Moreover, I am genuinely curious about the Fahrenheit 451 comments inasmuch as I have yet to hear any reports of firefighters burning books. :D

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lol... well i dont mean literally of course. In Ray Bradbury's book Fahrenheit 451 it explains why the firefighters became book burners. Minorities and factions of people in debates were offended by certain ideas (which thus led to offended by books). Wanting peace, the government sanctioned the obliteration of those ideas and "banning" of books. Free speech eventually became infringed upon and this led to fighting. America seperated from the rest of the world and war was waged. As the people in America are controlled by lack of thought (they are all.."encouraged"... to think one way only) they are oblivious to the entire war.

 

SPOILER WARNING:

 

The book ends with the main characters city being bombed and he is travelling with a few "human books" or people that have remembered book texts for the sole purpose of teaching others after the war is over.

 

What i meant by Fahrenheit 451 world is already people are banning books... here in the U.S. and im sure in other countries as well. I'm too lazy at the moment to find a direct link but i did read it in several newspaper articles (about 5 of them).

 

The problem is that when they ban these books they are halting the natural flow of ideas... for all of you who are having brain farts right now thats bad.:D

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lol... well i dont mean literally of course. In Ray Bradbury's book Fahrenheit 451 it explains why the firefighters became book burners. Minorities and factions of people in debates were offended by certain ideas (which thus led to offended by books). Wanting peace, the government sanctioned the obliteration of those ideas and "banning" of books. Free speech eventually became infringed upon and this led to fighting. America seperated from the rest of the world and war was waged. As the people in America are controlled by lack of thought (they are all.."encouraged"... to think one way only) they are oblivious to the entire war.

 

SPOILER WARNING:

 

The book ends with the main characters city being bombed and he is travelling with a few "human books" or people that have remembered book texts for the sole purpose of teaching others after the war is over.

 

What i meant by Fahrenheit 451 world is already people are banning books... here in the U.S. and im sure in other countries as well. I'm too lazy at the moment to find a direct link but i did read it in several newspaper articles (about 5 of them).

 

The problem is that when they ban these books they are halting the natural flow of ideas... for all of you who are having brain farts right now thats bad.:sun:

You will find that "book banning" is typically localized and cyclic. And you will also find that it is often taken far out of context.

 

Librarians "ban" books every day of the year when they decide what to remove from the limited shelf space as new books arrive.

 

Bill

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Offensive? Erm.. how so? Maybe I missed something. I thought I was describing the book.

 

And TheBigDog, you are right about that. It's mostly local and not too common, but little steps lead to big leaps.:Guns: And to me any book thrown away is a whole world thrown away.

 

I certainly hope something like that never happens. I love books.

 

And yes it is true librarians remove books from shelves daily, but I dont believe they do it for the same purpose do they? And anyways, those books have not been obliterated. They can still be found. Thats what Library book sales are for (My father and I always go to those and buy books there). I have numerous library books bought from such sales. They aren't banned or obliterated; merely relocated.

 

But anyway this is pretty off topic. I chose my speech topic... Stem Cell Research... highly controversial I know... maybe it wasnt intelligent but i chose it. Started it and everything... hmm... i guess this thread was kinda wasted. it can be closed now if needed. Sorry for taking up time.

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I chose my speech topic... Stem Cell Research... highly controversial I know... maybe it wasnt intelligent but i chose it. Started it and everything... hmm... i guess this thread was kinda wasted. it can be closed now if needed. Sorry for taking up time.

Post the report here when you are done. I'd like to see how it turns out.

 

Bill

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OK... Please realize this is FAR from my best work. I did it in a rush Wednesday and had an hour to work on it today. This is the final copy of my Speech. It was not very well researched but luckily my english teacher won't know that :teeth: :beer: :beer:.

 

Please don't flame me on incorrect information because I already know most of it is either incorrect or incomplete. I just did this to sound good. It's not a speech I'd give to the regular public. God help me if I did. :beer:

 

My Regards,

 

IMAMONKEY!

 

 

 

Persuasive Speech: Stem Cell Research

 

 

There are over 93,000 people at this very moment whose heart is missing beats; whose lungs are not breathing quite right; whose kidneys aren’t cleansing their body of pollutants and wastes. 93,000 people who can’t live life as it should be lived. 93,000 held back by a dearth. A lack. A scarcity of lungs, hearts, and kidneys. And even as I was researching for a topic to discuss with all of you I witnessed three people die. Three off the list right like that. Do you know what it said? Deceased. Too late. Not enough organs. Too few donors. Every day there will be a person dying because out of 93,000 people waiting, only 17,172 organs have been gathered over the course of 6 months.

This lack of organs can be fixed. State donor laws allow people to subject themselves to organ donation posthumously. Families can give consent for a loved one’s organs to be donated after a death. Yet even with the generosity of humanity, disease claims lives and causes unnecessary suffering every minute of every day. Paralysis claims victims and ends chances to achieve greatness. People can cope with these situations and there are paraplegics that achieve some amazing things. The courage that such people have inspires others to better themselves and it all works in a cycle! And yet even so those people deserve a second chance. They deserve to live their life to the fullest. They say that necessity is the mother of invention. Well HERE IS A NECCESITY! People talk about how much they would love to cure all diseases like cancer and AIDS, and yet they shun the possibility of using stem cells for a cure.

To understand the argument one must understand the subject matter of it. Stem cells are primal cells that retain the ability to renew themselves through cell division and can differentiate into a wide range of specialized cell types. They can form new kidney cells, new liver cells, new heart cells and blood cells. Scientists have even speculated that they can form brain cells and nerve cells. The extraction of stem cells is fairly straightforward. There are two kinds of stem cells. Embryonic and Adult stem cells. The philosophical arguments and ethics issues lie in embryonic stem cell extraction. A blastocyst or 4 day old fetus is removed from the womb and ES cells are extracted and stimulated to form new tissues. These generally consist of one hundred to two hundred cells. When extracted the stem cells can keep dividing and remain unchanged for a while. These are then stimulated and begin to form into any of the ES cell possible 200 adult cell types.

The problem with ES Cell Replication is when injected in a host the cells can be rejected. This can be solved through therapeutic cloning which involves using a genetically identical blastocyst to produce ES cells.

The debate of the ethics of stem cell research has been fueled by the fact that when ES cells are extracted from the blastocyst, the blastocyst is destroyed. No big deal right? After all it’s just 250 cells and about as big as the end of a thumbnail. It doesn’t have a brain, it doesn’t have nerve cells, and it doesn’t have a heart, so it’s morally ethical to use it to save lives right? Some people think otherwise. Pope John Paul II himself addressed the issue as being immoral and obtrusive upon a human’s right to live. But how can it be immoral if the group of cells can’t feel, think, hear, see, or smell. It has not even the slightest grasp of intelligence! It lacks any sense of life so is it not in fact inanimate? I pose these arguments as questions because logic dictates you will find the right answer on your own.

The potential of stem cells is amazing. Such medical advancements could lead to treatments of diseases we thought incurable. Organs can be replaced. Nerve cells repaired. An injury to the spinal cord could be healed by stem cell transplanting. But the only thing holding the necessary research back is a lack of support and funding. Bush limited federal funding to almost nil a few years ago. Public funding is disallowed and the research is waning. Pretty soon the only research being done for stem cells will be in basements and homebuilt laboratories. The idea will have vanished and quite possibly a thousand cures with it.

Stem cells have already been proven to have worked. Dr. Robert Lanza of Worcester Massachusetts and a team produced a set of mini-organs for a cow that had failing kidneys. These mini-kidneys performed the same functions as regular ones and did it successfully. The organs were not rejected because they were produced through therapeutic cloning and possessed the exact same genetic makeup. I find this amazing and see it as another way Stem Cells can save lives.

Another incentive to get you thinking on the subject is not just the 93,000 without organs in the USA, but the countless millions in other countries where acquiring an organ transplant is almost impossible and even so almost always illegal. Hundreds die each day because of the lack in their countries as well as ours. Global Black markets for organ donations have arisen and people are constantly giving up organs in other countries to pay off debts. Yes that is a fact. People are giving away kidneys to criminals who will sell the organs at extremely high prices and often scam others. In China political prisoners are executed and have their organs harvested by the government without permission from their families. The bodies are never returned.

The whole of the argument starts with religion. The pope stated that the point at which the sperm and egg join is conception of the soul being infused with the body. But what is a soul? Is it the thing that allows us to feel and have emotions? Webster defines the soul as “the immaterial essence, animating principle, or actuating cause of an individual life”. So is a soul merely just what makes us alive? What makes us feel angry and happy and sad and excited? But science shows us that those are merely chemical reactions in your brain through the dissolving of certain enzymes. So if a blastocyst doesn’t have a brain or enzymes, than how can it feel? How can it think and make decisions? The answer is it can’t. It does not yet have life. It is true that it has the potential to life but so does everything else. What we refer to as life is merely an organized structure of specialized cells grouped together to perform specific functions. I’m not downplaying life’s importance. But the lives and well-being of several millions of people is on the line. Is the existence of a group of cells more important than a living person’s life?

I believe Stem Cell research holds enormous potential for those that are injured and dying. People ask for a cure and here it is; a cure for mankind’s age-old maladies that have never been overcome. Until now. Write your congressman, or protest in your fashion. But if something is not done this chapter of medical science may be closed for good. By a government that’s more interested in pleasing the mob rather than healing its wounds.

 

also please note that I agree (kinda sorta maybe) with using embryonic stem cells for finding cures for cancer and such life-threatening diseases IF it is the only option open to us. However I do also believe adult stem cell research may be a little more beneficial and less controversial. But for the sake of making my speech seem more important I led the audience to believe i agreed more with embryonic.

 

Just thought I'd throw that out there.

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Well if it was a public speech to a huge audience ya i wouldve spent a lot more time on it but as such it wasnt for a huge crowd it was for a group of idiot high schoolers whom i despise. As you can probably tell i wasnt motivated to do my best in this instance. :shrug:

 

Other than that, ya this thread is done for. u can close it now

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