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Am I depressed, or are my surroundings (political, social, or phsycial) just depressing?

If my surroundings are whats depressing me, what can be done about that

Is it enough to wait for others to improve my surroundings for things that are out of my control, or is there something I can do about them that I've failed to consider?
Part 1–Clarity and Comprehension
The project, at face value, wants us to "Follow a question we actually care about." It's goal is to have us explore concepts we're interested in without neccisarily focusing on finding an "answer". It will act as an insight into one's own thought process, explore formats other than structured essays, and seeks to have us consider our audience more closely than we might originally.

I've had research projects in the past that required presentations, but that's about as far as my experience goes with "multimodal compositions". Even website design is pretty novel to me outside the scope of this class, and is only possible with my leaning on tools and references, and having clear ideas in mind for each page. Part of that intimidates me. I've already gotten stuck in a sort of choice paralysis in deciding what my topic should be. I really do detest writing when it's mandated instead of it coming from genuine inspiration on my part, or collaboration with a co-writer. If I pick something by throwing a dart at a board, I'll hate the topic the whole time I'm writing, and that will surely come through in the final product. But even with the week (and a half, by this point) I've had to consider it, there's just no question I can think of that I'd really enjoy researching and making a "multimodal" product about. I'm already tired of this assignment and it hasn't even begun. That might just be the shitty week I've had and general lack of sleep talking, but it follows the general theme of "if you force someone to do something they like, they'll end up hating it." Maybe that should be my question then. "Why does forcing someone to do something they like make them hate it?"

I'll be honest with you, I don't think this is really going to change anything fundamental about how I view academic writing or assignments. I'd really like it if there was some reason to be passionate about what I was writing like it so clearly wants me to be, and I find some deeper lesson to get out of it. But to my currently jaded mind it just feels like another in a long line of obstacles preventing me from continuing on with the development of the actual career skills that I'm here for.

Part 2–Possibilities and Opportunities
As my previous carrying on may have suggested, I'm at a loss for this one. My brain is currently busy protesting and rebuking any prompt I can come up with. Questions like "What is the actual scale of the universe?" and "Why is there cruelty in the world?" feel very "I'm 13 and this is deep." But questions on a smaller scale either don't interest me, have set answers that I'm already mostly aware of, or just feel like "what is my favorite ice-cream flavor." I'm hoping after this brain fog clears up a little I'll have more questions or less mental hangups.
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"I'm a man's man. The only thing I fear is a frank discussion about my feelings."

'It's held together by integrity, and I'm all about integrity'
'You are?' Farrah asked
'Yep, when I sell out my principles, they stay sold,'
'although if I sold out that principle, then they wouldnt stay sold because that principle is no longer in effect, which means my principles would get unsold, meaning that particular principle was in effect? Which would mean...'
'Ethics is hard...'

“I am not largely an advocate for ignorance,” Shade said, “but in this instance, I offer with all goodwill my hope that you retain yours in perpetuity.“

"I tried mourning for him once. Total waste of time. turns out he just went to visit his mom"

“This is Colin,” Jason said.
“He needs a moment to gather himself together. When a super god was trying to possess me, he’s the one who had my back. He’s been with me from almost the very start and he has two purposes in life: adorable little dances and devouring every living thing on a planet.”

"Adventuring isn't about killing monsters, Humphrey. It's about how you look while killing monsters. And you have to admit... I make this look good."
He who fights with monsters; A litRPG adventure.
Written by 'Shirtaloon'
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But the youngest Princess did not want to go near the table or to open the book. Her elder sisters however left her no peace, and will she, nill she, they dragged her up to the table, and in fear and trembling she turned over the page and read: ‘The youngest daughter of this King will be married to a pig from the North.’ Now if a thunderbolt had fallen upon her from heaven it would not have frightened her more.

‘Come, people all!
Poor and wretched, one and all!
Blind and crippled though ye be,
Mount your steeds or come by sea.’

‘I feel as if I were the daughter of some great king.’
‘And would you be glad if you were?’ said the Fairy.
‘Indeed I should,’ answered she.
‘Ah, well,’ said the Fairy, ‘to-morrow I may have some pleasant news for you.’

‘I have caught a dove,’ answered he.
‘Oh! do give it to me,’ said the Princess, ‘and I will keep it and take care of it.’
‘I can hardly do that,’ said he, ‘for, to speak more plainly, I mean that I met the Duchess Grumbly, and have promised to marry her.’
‘And you call her a dove?’ cried the Princess. ‘I should have called her a screech owl.’

‘And now,’ said he after the ceremony, ‘ladies and gentlemen, let’s go to supper. I am so hungry!’
The Red Fairy Book
Edited by Andrew Lang
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“...The pain didn't bother me. In fact, I welcome it: It meant I was alive. ”

"If I drank a human’s blood, there was no going back. I’d be a vampire for life. If I avoided it, I might become a human again."

“Underneath me, Sam Grest - who'd been my friend and saved my life - lay perfectly still and slipped further and further into the final sleep of an unfair and horrible death.”

"When we die, if we have lived good lives, our spirits float free of the earth, cross the stars and galaxies, and come at last to a wonderful world at the other side of the universe — Paradise."

"By draining a person’s blood, we absorb some of that person’s memories and feelings... they become part of us."

"If a kid wants to open a candy factory, let him open one," Sam stormed.
"If he wants to become a football star, fine. If he wants to be an explorer and set off for strange, cannibal-populated islands, okay!"

"Everybody has a place where they belong. This is ours."

"This life isn’t for everyone."
The Vampire's Assistant
Written by Darren Shan