Question

I'm trying to form an arguement based on the following poem does anyone have any ideas on how I could do that effectively?

TO HELP THE MONKEY CROSS THE RIVER,

which he must
cross, by swimming, for fruit and nuts,
to help him
I sit, with my rifle, on a platform
high in a tree, same side of the river
as the hungry monkey.how does this assist
him? When he swims for it
I look first up river: predators move faster with
the current than against it.
If a crocodile is aimed from up river to eat the monkey
and an anaconda from down river burns
with the same ambition, I do
the math, algebra, angles, rate-of-monkey
croc and snake-speed, and if, if
it looks like the anaconda or the croc
will reach the monkey
before he attains the river’s far bank,
I raise my rifle and fire
one, two, three, even four times, into the river
just behind the monkey
to hurry him up a little.
Shoot the snake, the crocodile?
They’re just doing their jobs,
but the monkey, the monkey
has little hands, like a child’s
and the smart ones, in a cage, can be taught to smile.

Answer 1

What argument do you want to make?

Answer 2

Well I think the poem has a good meaning and is a joy to read. To me the writer is trying to show his love for the monkey but also make a point that it's not the anaconda's or crocodile's fault that they want to eat the monkey they just need food and the monkey isn't doing anything wrong because he wants food so instead of hurting any of the animals the guy uses his gun to scare the monkey into moving faster to prevent it from getting eaten. How could I make my opinion a valued argument?

Answer 3

I think your argument is a good one.

You may find these sites helpful.

http://www.jimpryor.net/teaching/vocab/validity.html

http://www.buowl.boun.edu.tr/students/types%20of%20essays/ARGUMENTATIVE%20ESSAY.htm