pet peeve argumentative essay

The New York Times

The learning network | can’t complain writing about pet peeves.

Can’t Complain? Writing About Pet Peeves

Academic Skills

Teaching ideas based on New York Times content.

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Overview | How can students express their complaints in articulate and constructive ways? In this lesson, students read The New York Times “Complaint Box” series and use descriptive and persuasive writing strategies to communicate their own pet peeves succinctly and productively.

Materials | Computers with Internet access (if available)

Warm-up | As students assemble, visibly and obviously act out one or more of your biggest pet peeves, like squeaking the chalk or your nails on the board; talking with a mouth full of food or chewing gum; brushing your hair, applying cosmetics or clipping your nails; or talking on your cellphone or texting.

When students express confusion, horror or surprise, write the term “pet peeve” on the board and have them identify which pet peeves you were just acting out. Ask: Why do you (students) think these behaviors bother me (the teacher)? What would the school atmosphere be like if students and teachers often did these things?

Next, ask them to brainstorm a list of eight to 10 behaviors that they find most irksome. What are their personal “pet peeves”? What makes them jump out of their skin? Whip around the room and as students share, compile a master list of the things that make your students boil. Wrap up the warm-up by having students choose one item from the list and freewrite for five minutes about why this behavior annoys them.

Related | In “Complaint Box: Public Grooming,” Lion Calandra gripes about the very public ways in which commuters on public transportation attend to their personal hygiene:

These days, if someone seated near me on my morning ride is putting on makeup, someone else is clipping his fingernails (and, on one odd occasion this summer, a toenail). Or they’re plucking eyebrows, tying ties, squeezing pimples, even spraying perfume. There are those who just have to bathe themselves in lotion. Others are brushing their hair. It’s the full monty, commuter style.

Questions | For discussion and reading comprehension:

• What do you think about “public grooming”? Is it one of your own “pet peeves,” or do you think it is acceptable? Why?
• What do you think the author’s tone of voice was when he said “Maybe tomorrow you can shave your legs on the train” to the woman who had just finished flossing her teeth? How can you tell?
• What connection does the author make between public grooming and modern media, like YouTube and reality television? Do you agree or disagree?
• Have you ever groomed yourself in public? If so, would you think twice about doing so after reading this essay?

Related Resources

From the learning network.

• Lesson: Care to Comment: Considering Internet Discussion Protocol
• Lesson: Responding in Kind
• Teaching Topics: 10 Personal Writing Ideas

From NYTimes.com

• City Room: “Public Grooming Stirs Vigorous Debate”
• Schott’s Vocab: “Weekend: Pet Peeves and Vocab Vexations”
• Diner’s Journal: “The Peeves of Others”

Around the Web

• Read Write Think: Analyzing Grammar Pet Peeves
• GetAnnoyed.com: The Web’s Largest List of Pet Peeves

Activity | Explain to students that they will now prepare to write their own 500-word persuasive and descriptive essays about one of their pet peeves, inspired by the “Complaint Box” series .

Begin by having a discussion on what “worked” in Lion Calandra’s essay and what makes essays like this one interesting to read in general. You might prompt students to consider vivid description, colorful language, strong imagery, specific examples and details, dialogue, etc. They should also consider structure. Ask: How does the writer “hook” the reader from the beginning? How does the middle of the essay proceed? How does the author end the piece?

Ask students to return to the pet peeve they did the freewrite about from the warm-up (or to choose a different one) and do some more writing about it, using the following prompts:

• Write a few descriptive sentences about why this particular thing really irks you.
• Think of one to three examples of times when you observed someone engaging in this behavior. When did it happen? Where did it take place? What exactly did the person do? Describe the scene as vividly as you can.
• Have you ever addressed the person doing this thing directly? If so, what did you say, and what happened? If not, why not?
• What are some reasons why people engage in this behavior? Are they aware that it is bothersome to others?
• What factors might foster this behavior? How might people be dissuaded from engaging in this behavior?

When students are finished drafting, ask for volunteers who are willing to share their writing.

Alternatively or in addition, encourage students to share their pet peeves publicly in response to the Learning Network Student Opinion post “What Are Your Pet Peeves?” . Remind students that blogs are public and their comments – if approved – will be posted in perpetuity. They should take care in writing their responses and must identify themselves by first name only. They should also pay attention to The Learning Network’s commenting guidelines and rules and follow general Web posting etiquette .)

Next, split the class into pairs or small groups, and assign each one to read another “Complaint Box” post. Suggestions: “Immobile on the Phone” (about people who stand still, blocking the sidewalk, while on their cell phones), “iPod Volume” (about having to listen to others’ music because the volume on their iPod is turned up too loudly), “I See London” (about men wearing their pants so that their underwear is visible), “Counter Culture” (about rude or inattentive sales clerks) or “No More Cheeks to Turn” (about kids picking on a girl at camp). Or, have groups choose a post from the entire series .

In their groups, students should fill out the sheet Opening Up the Complaint Box (PDF) as they read their chosen post.

When they are finished, have each pair or group should share their findings with the group, discussing the parts of the essay that they feel were successful and sharing their favorite parts. Afterward, ask the class: What can we learn from what works (and what doesn’t) in these essays? Make a list of writing strategies and techniques on the board.

Students should then write a full rough draft of a “Complaint Box”-style essay about their own peeve. Once they are finished, they should hold peer or student and teacher conferences and then revise the draft for a final version.

Going further | When all essays are complete, hold an “author’s chair” or “sharing day,” in which students have the opportunity to share their work. You might also consider compiling the essays into a literary magazine of complaints or submitting them to the school newspaper. Alternatively, create an online blog or wiki space to which students can contribute more complaint essays on an ongoing basis.

Standards | From McREL , for grades 6-12:

Writing 1-Uses the general skill and strategies of the writing process 2-Uses the stylistic and rhetorical aspects of writing 3-Uses grammatical and mechanical conventions in written composition

Arts and Communication 4- Understands ways in which the human experience is transmitted and reflected in the arts and communication

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I love it~I was just looking for some fresh ideas for persuasive writing. I’ll take a cue from you!

Wonderful! Sometimes I get so bogged down with lesson plans, grading, and keeping my head above water that I lose sight of experiential ways to teach students practical and formal writing.

Unfortunately I find this new website confusing. How can I access the website for lessons plans by narrowing my search using key terms and clicking the subject. It seems that with this new website i would have to go through hundreds of lesson plans before i find what im looking for.

My biggest pet-peeve is when People chew with their mouth full. The scene of meshed up food being tossed around in a person’s mouth is not pleasant. The sound of the food being crunched up to be digested is annoying with the smack of the mouth and the clatter of the teeth. Both of these combined makes it even worse,and results in me becoming aggravated with the disgusting person. People should take the time to view their surroundings and realized that they must be aware of others surroundings and that they should shut their lips when there is food inside their mouths.

Public Cracking Knuckles Screaming Annoying Behavior

Public “Knuckle Cracking” brings the hair on the back of my neck stand up. It triggers the same reaction as running ones finger nails over a caulk board to me. It’s either a nervous habit some people develop when they are younger, with out concern to the destructive behaver it has on their joints years later. This annoying sound people create each time they do it, with out concern or not realizing the effect it may have on the surrounding people . A little public curtsy would be appreciated, grow your awareness of your behavior and make corrective changes before permanent damage is done.

One of my pet peeves is when you are eating and can hear a person chewing from across the table, can they not hear themselves????? Another one would be when people talk on the phone during movies, ugh that ticks me off and i just want to go and break their phone!!!!!

boring but gave me a lot of information.

You wanna know what my pet peeve is? Bullies. I hate bullies,like seriously why make someones life depressing because their either Ugly,Fat,or by the way they dress? Why do you have the right to judge or label someone? everyone is perfect in their own way.

Leaving a mean comment just to mess with someone,thats like when a 3 year old gets a new toy and forgets about it 2 days later.But the person who recieves the mean comments,thats gonna stick with them for the rest of their life no doubt.

I can remember being bullied in 4th,5th,and 6th grade.Why? because the things people would say to me were so horrible yet it still effects me today.

The internet is used for bullying as well,which is called Cyber bullying.The internet to me has turned into a huge social network to hurt others.Youtube,facebook,myspace,or any other social website has bullies on it,theres always someone looking to hurt other,words hurt.Most drama starts on Facebook,then usually ends up with bullying.

What can bullying cause? bullying can cause suicide,suicidel thoughts,and depression. Why would someone want others to feel pain?

Just about this…How hard is it not to press send?

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Pet Peeves Essays - Free Sample

Type of paper: Essay

Topic: Theater , Cinema , Pets , Movies , Time , Control , People , Line

Published: 02/22/2020

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This essay will be a discussion of my top two pet peeves. These pet peeves are really irritating to me. While other people may consider these pet peeves as minor annoyances, my pet peeves are enough to spoil my day. My first pet peeve is when people talk so loud inside the movie theaters. These people probably think that they are just whispering but actually their comments can be heard even when someone is several rows away. Some moviegoers ask questions to their seatmates while others cannot stop commenting on every scene of the movie. But what I abhor the most is when someone who watched the movie for the second time goes and watches it again. Of course, that is fine provided he does not say what happens in the next scene, but that is usually not the case. Sometimes I have this dream that someday, movie theaters will just put up a signage that says, “No talking while the movie is on-going!” This will definitely be a welcome relief. My second pet peeve is when people ignore lines in stores and just try to maneuver their way in front of the cashier. The lack of proper decorum is very irritating. The act of not falling in line, when there is a line is an utter disrespect of a person’s right. If a person in line patiently waited for his turn and spent time standing up, there is no reason others cannot. While other people may find my pet peeves as behaviors that can be tolerated, I really feel annoyed when encountering such actions. If there is a lesson learned about pet peeves, it is self-control. When faced with my pet peeves, I try to control my mind and emotions. I try not to be upset because my pet peeves may after all, be normal and acceptable to some people.

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My Speech Class

Public Speaking Tips & Speech Topics

Pet Peeve Speech Topics

Jim Peterson has over 20 years experience on speech writing. He wrote over 300 free speech topic ideas and how-to guides for any kind of public speaking and speech writing assignments at My Speech Class.

Pet peeve speech topics list on consultants bugbears, fashion trends grievances, and groans on promo spots plus three ways to find good public speaking input for things that get on your nerves.

On people who render peevish reactions amongst other persons:

• Drivers that do not look in their car mirrors when they change lanes.
• Slow drivers in the fast lane. This is one of the biggest gripes in traffic.
• Rude acting sports fans in front of television cameras.
• Slow service at a restaurant or having to wait too long for the bill.
• Consultants who tell you what to do because your boss do not dare.
• Parents that do not parent their shouting and screaming kids in public areas.

More pet peeve speech topics on awful and unpleasant people:

• who lock their animals in a car.
• who do not think for themselves and follow all bad fashion trends.
• who let their children scream and shout in the playground.
• who talk on their cell phones and are texting messages while driving.
• who think they own the world and act arrogant.
• who talk during movies at the movie theater.
• who are overly optimistic and happy.
• who say  cool  all the time.
• who network themselves in a better position by bowing and scraping to please the boss and kicking to low level workers.
• who are making a scene in public.
• who don’t turn off their cell phone at the movies.

And three pet peeve speech topics about companies:

• that raise the pay of chief executives in bad economic times.
• that refuse to return calls of job applicants.
• who blame you for their own mistakes.

Objects and situations are great sources for a pet peeve list on things that irritate you and make you groan and moan:

• Suv and Hummer drivers.
• Awful kid names – tell me is it a girl or a boy?
• Cliches of sports athletes.
• Inescapable pervasive spam with graphics and blinking texts without a clear situated closing cross.
• Britney Spears’ attitude to her honest fans.
• Customer service people that don’t understand what service is.
• Higer gas prices because of natural disasters.
• Complaints about a nipple but not on murders on televison.
• Promo spots in news programs, and teaser advertorials after each fifteen minutes in a television movie series. program.
• Automatic paper towel dispensers that are packed too tight.

This is a list of speech topics that get on my nerves and I can’t stand. Take them if you like. Or find your own bugbear:

Can We Write Your Speech?

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• Look around and select a situation or an object that vexes, or a person you feel strongly about.
• Read a newspaper or magazine and choose a current controversial event , for example an election candidate or so. Note your opinion – who causes you so much aggravation when she or he speaks?
• Think about things you like and that are threatened by for example government regulation. Those issues can be very good and effective for oral addresses on personal bugbears.

Narrative Speech [With Topics and Examples]

Graduation Speech [20 Examples + Template]

1 thought on “Pet Peeve Speech Topics”

Loud chewing people and chew with their mouth open.

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Humane Society  of the Palouse

"helping those who cannot help themselves.".

Our Mission:

 The Humane Society of the Palouse is a no-kill animal shelter located in Moscow ID, founded in 1978.  Our mission is to ensure the humane treatment, welfare and safety of companion animals in Moscow and Latah County.  We strive to prevent cruelty to animals, to ensure companion animals are adopted by responsible and caring owners, to promote spaying/neutering, to educate the public regarding responsible pet ownership, and to minimize euthanasia.

     The HSoP is administered by an elected volunteer board of directors. These are citizens of the Palouse who are interested in animal protection, adoption and education.  These working directors donate time and experience to direct and help fund the shelter.

Our Vision:

Create a welcoming, caring and informed environment for all HSoP patrons. Be that staff, volunteers, potential adopters and owners needing to relinquish their pets.

Promote community wellbeing through our programs: SNAP, TNR, our pet supply pantry, and pet identification (microchips and name tags). 

Develop innovative programs to promote humane education in aims to reduce the need for owners to relinquish their pets due to behavior problems. 

To grow in our community through gaining and maintaining strong partnerships.

For HSoP to be short-term, temporary housing until the homeless animals under HSoP care find their forever homes.

To provide the animals under HSoP care with the best health care possible within HSoP’s abilities.

HSoP Core Values:

Help those who cannot help themselves.

Golden Rule: To treat all living things as we ourselves would wish to be treated.

Kindness: To demonstrate compassion and respect for all living creatures.

Positive influence: To judge our effectiveness by the extent to which animal lives are saved and improved, and by the positive experience of the people we touch.

Leadership: To lead by example, developing, promoting and sharing great new ideas and programs to help animals.

Authenticity: To do what we say we do.

Transparency: To be open and honest in our relationships .

The Humane Society of the Palouse was founded in 1978.  The city of Moscow had a pound facility and the two organizations teamed up together for the betterment of animal welfare for animals residing within the Moscow city limits, as well as for those residing in Latah County.

HSoP has a long history in our local pet community.  We have been uniting pets with their forever homes for 45 years.  We are dedicated to our mission and believe whole-heatedly in our practices.  From a safe place that provides food, shelter and preventive care, to providing lifesaving surgeries, HSoP gives second chances to pets in need. 

The City of Moscow owns and maintains the HSoP facility.  HSoP is directed under the Chief of Police and reports directly to a designated captain.  The City of Moscow pays for HSoP utilities such as water, sewer and electrical.  They also provide us with $2400.00 each fiscal year for facility upkeep and maintenance. The City of Moscow also provides the funds for one pay period per month.  The City of Moscow provides 22% of our yearly budget. 

Latah County provides HSoP with 10% of our yearly budget.  35% of our annual operating budget comes from our generous community support through donations.  For our 2016/2017 fiscal year, fundraising made up 8% and adoption fees contributed 10% of our budget.

HSoP is a community center striving to provide humane education for local pet owners.  HSoP with the assistance of volunteer dog trainers, provide our community with training classes that focus on positive reinforcement and learning how to communicate with your canine friends.  HSoP also has a Facebook page and Website section dedicated to humane education.

HSoP has a strict spay and neuter policy for any animals adopted from our organization. HSoP encourages national and local initiatives that reduce pet homelessness and resulting euthanasia.  We believe programs like SNAP, as well as a strict spay/neuter requirement for animals adopted from HSoP, promote responsible pet ownership by reducing unwanted or accidental litters that contribute to the pet overpopulation crisis being experienced nationwide.  An average cat has 1-8 kittens per litter and 2-3 litters per year. During her productive life, one female cat could have more than 100 kittens. A single pair of cats and their kittens can produce as many as 420,000 kittens in just 7 years.

We receive grants that are contingent on HSoP maintaining a strict spay and neuter program. Grants make up 13% of our yearly budget. 

Humane Society of the Palouse

PO Box 8847

2019 E White Ave

Moscow, ID 83843

[email protected] (208) 883-1166  

We try to be as responsive as possible. The shelter is staffed from 1-6 pm Monday through Saturday, so we'll respond as soon as we're able to!

Success! Message received.

Project Pawsitivity

A Sitting For a Cause Blog Featuring All Things Pet-Related

Subway Strays: The Dogs of Moscow’s Metro

Despite the collapse of the Soviet Union, the stray dogs in Moscow have a surprisingly well-documented history which animal behaviorists have been paying close attention to for several decades. During the Soviet period in Russia the packs of wild (or stray) dogs in were regulated. Only the clever canines who learned to stay in isolation were able to survive. Usually, these dogs would remain on the outskirts of the city hunting in wild packs, as the living in the city was dangerous and food scarce.  After the fall of the Soviet Union quality of life in Russia began to slowly improve and with it more street vendors and food collecting in busy neighborhoods. This began to bring some the stray dogs out of the suburbs into the city.

Today, there are nearly 35,000 stray dogs that call Moscow home. Out of these 35,000 stray dogs there are about 500 that have taken to living underground. Out of these dogs, there are a few that have started thinking outside the box and inside the boxcar. They have begun the slow move underground to stay out of the cold (Russian winters reach an average of -5 degrees every day). Many of the Russian commuters embraced the dog’s underground migration by petting them or giving them food.

Though these claims may seem like the made up type of internet misinformation that we have learned to be skeptical of these days, it is actually sourced to a Russian biologist by the name of  Dr. Andrey Poyarkov , a highly regarded scientist in his field of study. As it turns out Poyarkov has been studying these dogs for the last thirty years and told news sources back in 2010 that he suspected a small fraction of these underground dogs had actually learned to use the subway in order to beg for food in bustling urban areas where food is more plentiful.

Andrei Neuronov , an animal behaviorist, says much like you train your dogs at home to respond to verbal commands like “sit” or “stay,” the Moscow metro dogs are using audio cues from the subway stops they have learned. The dogs memorize the names of the stops to navigate the subway systems in order to take them to heavily populated places during the day and get food.  Then, they return to their more secluded corners of the suburbs at night where they are less likely to be bothered by people.  Here is a story ABC did back in 2011, talking about this very thing.

Do you have any information on how to help these dogs?  Please share and comment below.

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Published: Feb 12, 2019

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