"BUt that's the way we've always done it!" Thesis and Essay

The topic in my AP English class I was given today is as follows:
"Write an essay in which you present a situation which a change was overdue but any proposal to improve it was met with "But that's the way we've always done it!"

Being the gay activist I am I decided I wanted to write it on gay marriage. I really need help starting it. I've never been any good with introductory paragraphs and thesis.

You could start out with a quick look at marriage--betrothal between toddlers, arranged marriages , dowries, veils to hide the bride's face lest the groom get a glimpse and flee. Marriage used to be much more of a church thing where now it is more secular in nature. You could even bring in the (Louisiana?) official who refused to marry an inter-racial couple (it was in the news recently). Then relate these antiquated notions of marriage to gay marriage. Once we accept marriage as a contractual and societal relationship between two consenting adults, what is the reason to limit that relationship to heterosexual couples?

Or you could start out with story about a gay couple emphasizing their commitment and desire to be married. You could give them androgynous names even to trick the reader into thinking that "Nic" and "Chris" are a regular couple.

Nov 4, 09, 03:16pm - Attached on merging:
"That's the way we've always done it!" Essay

I am really unhappy with this.... But this is my essay. I could use some serious revising help.

Prompt: "Write an essay in which you present a situation which a change was overdue but any proposal to improve it was met with "But that's the way we've always done it!" I chose to do it on the US government's attempts to change from the US standard measurements to the metric system.


Kilometer, millimeter, meter, Kelvin, ampere: all measurements of the International System of Units (also known as metric system), used all over the world except in the United States of America. As a country we are not particularly resistant to change. We went from the horse and buggy to cars without much fuss, and we even went from only white presidents to electing a black president. The metric system, however, is something that we could simply not get used to. On December 23, 1975, US President Gerald Ford signed The Metric Conversion Act, an Act of Congress that declared the metric system "the preferred system of weights and measures for United States trade and commerce". It was at this time that the government tried to push the metric system onto the citizens of the United States of America with no success.
The United States of America, along with Burma and Liberia, is the only country on the planet whose official standard of measurement is not metric. The United States uses what we call the standard system, but is officially called "Unites States customary units", these are feet, inches, pounds, etc. Based on the Imperial system brought over from Britain, it is the system of measurement that we have always used. Some thirty years ago the government attempted to change this because the need and want to have the same system as other countries was so overwhelming. They funded a program to switch the United states customary units to the metric system by creating metric highway signs, gas pumps and thermometers. People reacted by boycotting metric products and gas stations and they wrote to their representatives in Congress to demand an end to the plan to change signs and maps to foreign units. The United States has used it's system of measurement for over two hundred years and it is not something we are willing to change despite the increasing need. It's the way we've always done things.
The United States is a closed minded, but at the same time open minded country. We are willing to change some of our ways, but most are simply unchangeable. For at least two centuries the United States has used the United States customary units of measurement while the rest of the world has used or adopted the metric system. Attempts to change our "tradition" have been met with extreme opposition and public outcry. For longer than anyone can remember we have had our system and, despite the need for change to be standard with other countries, we have still refused. It is probably the only thing we are unwilling to change because it's the way we've always done things.

Hi Amber!

This part may feel wrong because the sentence about the horse, buggy, and black president distract the reader, but if you merge the sentences it is easier to follow:
We went from the horse and buggy to cars without much fuss, and we even went from only white presidents to electing a black president, so why are we taking so long to adopt the metric system?

This sentence has errors involving number agreement:

Aside from Burma and Liberia, the United States of America is the only country on the planet whose an official standard of measurement that is not metric. ----> there, that is better!

How about this:
The United States is in some ways very open-minded, but in other ways we are simply unwilling to change.

Good luck!!!!

Thank you!

maybe you could write about the other side and why its wrong? just a suggestion Is there a word limit?

It has to be 3 pages or less and that is about 2.5 pages.

Does your essay need to be double spaced because I find it to be very short. Maybe you could give a background about both systems of measurement. Because America was a British colony it is reasonable to assume that the colonists were more comfortable with British customs. I'd also like to comment that America is in fact a very stubborn Nation. Americans have suffered from conflicting political views since before its metamorphosis from colony to free state. There has always been a struggle over conformity and change. This is true with the construction of the constitution, the underlying reasons for the civil war (contract v. compact, the Mason-Dixon Line), and of course recent human right debates. We've only gained as much social freedoms as we have during the last half century. I'd say the United States is very close minded. Hope this helps in some way.