How do you get through writing a paragraph or essay for English class that you care absolutely nothing about?

Why not say that in the paragraph. I have done that with a introductory sentence like, “I am writing this under duress because I found the story completely without merit.” Sometimes that work, other times not so much. It depends on whether your teacher expects original thinking or conformity. If the teacher expects conformity, try to get your classes switched.
I don’t believe you are required to LIKE all of your reading assignments.

Fake it. I had to write once about a walking initiative that I at all didn’t think would help the obesity epidemic in NYC impoverished neighborhoods – but I pretended that I was a lobotomized cheap politician and that this band-aid approach was the ‘answer’.

I hate it when that happens, but I’m good at bullshitting.

And I want the grade, so I still write as best as I can. I write so that I know I am working towards a quality essay and one that will bring a B or better. It doesn’t mean I have to care about it, but I still don’t want to get a bad grade. I think in terms of the essay and I drop all my prejudices and disinterest (as best as I can). Of course, when I do care about the topic, then I do even better and I truly enjoy writing it. It would be nice if it was always like that, but that’s not always going to happen. Because it’s pretty much guaranteed that part of life is going to be doing things you don’t want to do. You just have to tough through them.

You get though it the same way you get through any other thing that you don’t want to do, but have to. I think it’s called biting the bullet (or something like that). You will have many other instances where you have to do something that you dont care anything about.

@Ron_C – I strongly believe my teacher would flip if I wrote something like that, but do believe me I have been thinking about that.

@Simone_De_Beauvoir – I’m trying to. I have to respond in a detailed paragraph to an article about why I agree or disagree that all calls should have an option to go straight to an answering machine. I do agree that they should but any thought beyond that doesn’t exist, ha ha.

@LeopardGecko I have always found that starting a controversy was a good way to add interest to a boring subject. At least your teacher will know that you actually did the reading assignment. Of course I was there to learn things and wasn’t too concerned about the grades.

There is a building on campus that is always overcrowded, about 100 degrees too hot, and is so old it’s practically falling apart. I hate it there. So, whenever I had a paper that I didn’t care about and didn’t want to write, I would go to that building and tell myself that I wouldn’t leave until it was done. I learned how to get the shitty english papers done quick.

Although I was an English Honors Major in university, I never really liked writing essays, and I know exactly how you feel. One trick that worked for me was to “take a position” on the topic itself, and “defend” or “argue” about it in your essay. It could be the most boring topic given to you by your professor or teacher, but if you take a “stance” and argue about it with facts to support your position, you actually start getting into it, and you will eventually develop an interest for your essay. Think of yourself as a defendant or a prosecutor as you compose your essay, trying to convince your teacher how well you can support your facts and defend your hypothesis. Your essay is your “baby” so to speak, and treat it as your great creative work. You are like a detective doing research, and you are aiming to convince your teacher of how good a detective you are in your writing. That’s what spurred me on to write essays, and it got me through 3 years of old English, Victorian English, and Modern English courses! Lol. Good luck.

@LeopardGecko what a horrid assignment. that’s an insult to your intelligence. bs something about containing a person’s message within a technological medium in order to later interact with it – include something about communication being able to be put on hold and resumed later on through an external object.

@jeffgoldblumsprivatefacilities original but masochist response to a problem. Good answer!

You pick a side and defend it. I once wrote a 5 page essay arguing for something that I didn’t care about one way or the other. My boyfriend’s computer ate it – I swear. long story, old computer I stayed up all night rewriting it, but that time my inspiration was to argue against it. Both papers were equally good.

This assignment isn’t about your opinion – it is about your ability to make a logical, well-written argument.

@LeopardGecko buy the way I always push 0 even if it is not on the menu. In the majority of the times you get a live person. I truly hate those automatic operators and try to deal with companies that don’t use them.

Often, teachers will be interested in whether you thought the source material was quality or not, but in this assignment I’m not sure whether that’s relevant. They just want to read a well-written argument. Try setting out your paragraph like this: 1. Topic 2. First Point 3. Second Point 4. Any Other Points 5. Conclusion. In each point you provide evidence from the text, and explain how it relates to your argument, plus any counterarguments if they arise. The conclusion should have a deeper bent that relates to 21st century society as a whole.

As @Simone_De_Beauvoir said, pretend you’re a cheap, lobotomised politician.

You can either approach an essay from the perspective of explaining why you think a certain way about it, or you can demonstrate an understanding of how the reading reading ties back to the subject of the class, or the theme under which the reading was assigned. What is important about the reading that resulted in it being assigned?

If you keep in mind that the purpose of the reading is to provide subject matter for the assignment of demonstrating written reasoning, and not to write a “review” of the article, it’s easier to get through. Sometimes you can find the basis a good essay by examining what’s important about the content of the reading.