Persuasive Essay: Bigfoot
English 102
21 Sep 2005
Bigfoot: Finally A Reasonable Scientific Inquiry?
If you ask anyone on the street, they will almost always have an opinion. Does Bigfoot exist? That question has brought much laughter and skepticism in the last fifty years. throughout European history in this country Americans have been presented with eyewitness accounts of hairy wild men, roaming the deepest parts of the forest. Numerous foot and hand print castings have been made, and home movies shot. Unfortunately, the majority of the population chooses to not believe in Bigfoot. In reality, they choose to not look at the evidence.
Media has been the real culprit in setting the tone for Bigfoot perceptions. In fact the name Bigfoot was coined by a newspaper. The myth that grew in the 50’s went something like this: Bigfoot, a lone monster, roamed the forests of the continental west. This creature was afforded the ability to walk with his feet backwards, throw full 55 gallon drums of grease 150 feet and become invisible, among others. Bigfoot was always written of as something to mock, a jest. Those who stepped forward with sightings were quickly ridiculed, discredited and marginalized. Those witnesses who had ample credibility, such as policemen, biologists or other professionals were simply not brought up by the media. (Napier 79)
Fast forward to today. The same “joke at the end of the hour” still pervades most media, and people’s perceptions haven’t changed much about the subject. The real crime here is that while public sentiment has remained static, the field of Bigfoot research has continued to progress, with some powerful new evidence, analysis and reasoning.
To begin, some basic facts and beliefs need to be ironed out. First and foremost, Bigfoot is not an individual. Modern scientists who further this work are looking for a small, endangered breeding population. Bigfoot does not have human emotions and thought processes. Media and human nature have painted
21 Sep 2005
Bigfoot: Finally A Reasonable Scientific Inquiry?
If you ask anyone on the street, they will almost always have an opinion. Does Bigfoot exist? That question has brought much laughter and skepticism in the last fifty years. throughout European history in this country Americans have been presented with eyewitness accounts of hairy wild men, roaming the deepest parts of the forest. Numerous foot and hand print castings have been made, and home movies shot. Unfortunately, the majority of the population chooses to not believe in Bigfoot. In reality, they choose to not look at the evidence.
Media has been the real culprit in setting the tone for Bigfoot perceptions. In fact the name Bigfoot was coined by a newspaper. The myth that grew in the 50’s went something like this: Bigfoot, a lone monster, roamed the forests of the continental west. This creature was afforded the ability to walk with his feet backwards, throw full 55 gallon drums of grease 150 feet and become invisible, among others. Bigfoot was always written of as something to mock, a jest. Those who stepped forward with sightings were quickly ridiculed, discredited and marginalized. Those witnesses who had ample credibility, such as policemen, biologists or other professionals were simply not brought up by the media. (Napier 79)
Fast forward to today. The same “joke at the end of the hour” still pervades most media, and people’s perceptions haven’t changed much about the subject. The real crime here is that while public sentiment has remained static, the field of Bigfoot research has continued to progress, with some powerful new evidence, analysis and reasoning.
To begin, some basic facts and beliefs need to be ironed out. First and foremost, Bigfoot is not an individual. Modern scientists who further this work are looking for a small, endangered breeding population. Bigfoot does not have human emotions and thought processes. Media and human nature have painted
Cited: Napier, John Bigfoot: The Yeti and Sasquatch in Myth and Reality. New York; EP Dutton & Co., 1973 Krantz, Grover S. Big Footprints, a Scientific Inquiry Into the Reality of Sasquatch. Boulder, Johnson Books, 1992 Barnett, S.A. Instinct and Intelligence: Behavior of Animals and Man. New Jersey, Prentice Hall Inc., 1967 Bourne, Geoffrey H. Primate Odyssey. New York, G.P. Putnam & Sons, 1974 Meldrum, Dr. Jeff, Evaluation of Alleged Sasquatch Footprints… University of Idaho, 20 Sep 2005 (http://www.isu.edu/~meldd/fxnlmorph.html) Meldrum, Dr. Jeff, Press Release, Idaho State University, 20 Sep 2005 (http://www.bfro.net/news/bodycast/ISU_press_rel_cast.asp) Houston Chronicle, Bigfoot Fingerprints. Houston Chronicle, 20 Sep 2005 (http://www.texasbigfoot.com/houstonchron1.html)