A Pseudo-Argument

Pseudo-arguments are arguments that are never solved; the issue is just kicked around until someone decides to allow the other arguer to win. Pseudo-arguments are usually created when a stubborn person refuses to even acknowledge the other arguer’s side. Both sides end up spewing opinions, and nothing is resolved and no one walks away enlightened.
I’ve engaged in a pseudo-argument. One of my friends is extremely conservative-minded. This is not a bad thing, per se; it’s just that she absolutely refuses to even contemplate my side of an issue. She shoots down my opinions before they are even fully explained. One time, in eighth grade, we were discussing a paper we had to write for English. In the paper, we had to take a stance for or against a controversial topic. I, being the mild feminist I am, was writing a passionate paper about abortion. My friend was also writing about abortion, except she was arguing against abortion. We had exchanged our rough drafts and were correcting them. On her paper, I simply corrected grammatical errors and wrote in commas where she had forgotten to place them. I handed her paper back to her, and she gave my paper back to me. On mine, there was a large “NO” and marks everywhere. Instead of merely correctly grammatical errors, she had decided to correct what she thought were moral errors. “So you’d kill babies?” she commented after one paragraph. This, I thought, was shocking and unprofessional, and I told her so. Thus ensued a long, tiring pseudo-argument. She was arguing why abortion should be made illegal, and I was advocating the opposite. Actually, it was more like she would yell, and I would try to reason with her religious zeal. Nothing came of this argument except bad moods and anger. If she had been more willing to listen to me and had not been so concerned with what she saw as the only choice, a more productive argument would have resulted.