Considering Audience, Purpose, and Structure

My partners answers matched up almost exactly to what I had written down. My partner’s impression of my essay is exactly what I wanted. As a result of the responses I think that I could narrow down the audience of my essay. My partner stated that the audience of my essay was for anyone interesting, but I think that I would like to make my paper more focused toward a specific group of people.

It's Time To Grow Up-Later

The argument that is being presented in this article is that nowadays young adults are taking longer to finish school, leave home, get married, have children, and financial independence. The writer makes this argument by using real life examples of people that are not in a hurry to settle down after they graduate college. The author also uses statical data, and analysis from sociologists. I think that the author was able to argue her point convincing and clear to the audience. Personally I was really able to relate to the article, because I was able to find many similarities between the arguments she presented and my plans for the future. For example she stated that young adults are now waiting longer to get married, compared to 1960 when couple would get married as soon as they graduated school.
I really liked how the article was informative, and was also supported by many reliable sources. I also liked how she separated the article by adding titles to the different sections of the article. When I write an article I usually only have one title, but next time I might try and use more that one head to break up my article. I also liked the graphs that were added to the article. I believe that the graphs helped the readers visualize her argument, and helped break up all of the words in the article.

Exploring A Genre

The genre that I am writing is a journal. To be honest I did not put much thought into what type of font and color my paper should be written in. I began my paper with a heading that included my name, date, subject, and topic. I did this, because of habit. In high school I was taught to head my paper his way, so now it is just second nature. Then I created a title that was centered and in a large font compared to the rest of my paper. I did this, because I wanted the title to stand out, and catch the reader's attention. For the rest of my paper I wrote in font size 12 in roman numerial. I chose this font, because my journal is supposed to be scholarly and professional, as a result I used the most traditional font and size. I wanted my journal to look as standard and traditional as possible, so I also kept the margin size the same and I didn't change them as I was writing. Overall I choose these options for my journal, because my audience expects scholarly journals to be professional and scholarly. A majority of people that would read my journal are either scholars or people that are educated and wanted to know more about global warming.
My audience will more than likely view my journal from up close. My journal would probably be published in a magazine or newspaper, so my audience would have to pick up the magazine and look at the journal up close.
In my journal I did not use color. I used black ink on white paper, because I wanted my journal to look as professional as possible.
I think that there are many ways to redesign my journal. One idea that I had was that I could separate my paper lengthwise, and make my journal look more like an article. I was also thinking that I could add a couple of pictures to help illustrate and support my facts and arguments.

My grade

I think that I should get an A for my writers journal, because I have done all of the assignments necessary to get that grade. The only thing that I did not do was one of the assignments, because I was sick and I did not have a partner to switch papers with. I still need to go to the writing center, but besides that I think that I should get an A for my writer’s journal.

Modern Technology

Technology is constantly being reinvented and upgraded to better suit the lives of modern day society. Modern technology is involved in almost everything that we do in life. For example before I came to Virginia Tech I was told that I needed to pick up a tablet notebook instead of a regular laptop. My parents and I wondered why a freshman would need such an expensive and high tech computer for their first year at school. When I bought it, I was positive that I would never bring it to any of my classes or use it outside of my dorm-but how wrong I was. It seems that now I bring it to almost all of my classes, and I use it constantly in lectures and in workshops. And although the latest technology is exciting and modern, is technology really that great?

Just from looking at the latest cell phones that come out every other week, technology is constantly being upgraded to include the latest gadgets and devices. But when do we stop using technology, and begin depending on ourselves. Don’t get me wrong, I depend on technology more than anyone else, but after reading the article “Confessions of an Instant Messenger” it made me think about modern technology in a different light. For example in the article is analyzed how teenagers and young adults are depending some much on facebook and instant messanger, that they are beginning to lack in their communication skills. Although I thought that the author’s argument was more of an exaggeration, I do believe that his argument is true to a certain point. I do believe that nowadays people would rather communicate by using technology than having a face to face conversation. Many people argue that they use facebook, email, instant messenger, etc., because it is convenient, but when does convenience turn in to laziness.

My dorm room is located next to the stair well, but yet I always tend to use the elevator because it is closer and more convenient than walking around my building to get to the stairs. Sometime I tell myself that I am too tired to walk up six flights of stairs, and other days I just confess that I am too lazy, but the truth is that the elevator is not the only technology that we use on a daily basis to make our lives easier. For example I made it through all of the test and quizzes in calculus thanks to my TI-89. When I was a junior in high school I wanted to buy it so I could do all of the equations with ease and convenience. Then when I got to college calculus and learned that we were not allowed to use our TI-89 on our tests and quizzes, I felt like my crutch was gone.

On the other hand, modern day technology has increased the standard of living all around the world. Technology can save lives, cure diseases, and make work easier and more convenient. It is important that our society makes technology a key topic of research, but at the same time it is important to realize that the fastest and most convenient way to do something is not always the best.

Changes

The transition from high school to college is an extremely important decision in any young adult’s life. I can still remember how stressed out and nervous I was about finding the right school, and the application process that went along with it. I am happy to say that it was all worth it. College is extremely different that what I had expected or thought of. For one thing as an engineer I definitely have more homework that I ever thought possible as a freshman. But my life is completely different than it ever was in high school.

In high school I was completely involved in activities from the student government to sports to after school activities-and for what? I look back at my high school career and realize that I did all of those things in high school in order to put those things on my college application. I wanted to look like I was a well rounded student, so I got involved in activities around my school. Although I would love to do that here at Virginia Tech, I have learned that my life style has drastically changed since high school. Nowadays my time is composed of doing homework and more homework. Yet in the short amount of time that I have been here I have learned more about myself, and become more independent.

This year has also been drastically different, because I have realized that Virginia Tech seems like its own world outside of everything else. When I was a senior in high school my friends and I would always go watch the latest movies, but now I don’t even know what the latest movies are. At home I was always aware of the latest television shows coming up, but it seems that now I am lucky if I watch any television at all. Virginia Tech really is a Hokie Nation, and it own little world at the same time.

Yet I think one of the biggest changes that I have found here at Virginia Tech is the food. When I came here for orientation I was so excited when they took us to D2. I thought that it was so awesome that I would be eating at an all you can eat buffet for every meal. But I quickly learned that West End is the closer to my dorm, and serves much better food. They offer smoothies, brownies, hamburgers, ice cream, steak, lobster, etc. – but still nothing compares to home cooked food. Although I am pleased that our cafeteria’s food is good, I really cannot wait until I go home for a real home cooked meal.

Another big change this year has been sharing a room with a complete stranger. Growing up I shared a room with my sister when we were younger, but it’s a completely different situation when you meet someone for the first time, and are then told that you are going to have to live with that person for the rest of the year. I am glad that I got the roommate that I have this year. She comes from a completely different place than I do, and as a result we spend many nights talking about our hometowns and how different life is for the both of us at home.
With all of these positive new and exciting things to experience at college, there are still changes that are not fun-like laundry. At home my mother would always do my laundry. I would always offer to do it myself, but I only did that because I know she would refuse. Sometime I think she didn’t let me do it, because she thought I would turn all of my clothes a different color, but in the end I didn’t mind.

Life is all about changes. Changes can be good or bad, depending on what you make out of them. But no matter what changes occur, the only thing that matters is that you learn and grow from those changes.

Family

The word family has evolved into many different things in this modern world. The actual definition of a family from Wikipedia is a western term used to have a domestic group of people, or a number of domestic groups linked through descent from a common ancestor, marriage or adoption. Nowadays families are no longer made up of the common mother, father, son, and daughter. Nowadays a majority of people have stepson and stepdaughters or two mothers or two fathers, but whatever the case is family is still family.

My family is composed of my mother, father, and older brother and sister. Even before I left for college I knew that I was going to be home sick. Although it is weird to most of my friends, I grew up with a very close relationship to my family. To this day I can still hear my mother telling my at a young age that, “friends may come and go, but family will always be there”. And like always, my mother was right. Although Virginia Tech is four and half hours away from my home in Northern Virginia, I always find time to talk to my family on a daily basis.

My mother and my father have been the biggest inspirations to me in my life. I sometime wonder how they ever met, because of how different their personalities are. I got my inspiration for engineering from my father who graduation with an industrial engineering degree from Virginia Tech. Growing up he hit some rough spots in his life, and had to hit rock bottom before he was able to move on and succeed in life. My father is honestly the wisest and most patient man I know. He always has the right answers, and if he is unsure about something he will look it up until he has the right answer. He is brilliant, and is the first person that I go to when I need help with homework. It seems that he has been through it all, and can see things from an overall point of view. Growing up he was never an overprotective father. He always trusted me to make my own choices in life, and allowed me to find my own path in life. Yet the most important thing that I have learned from my father is that life is all about learning, and taking it one day at a time. I would be lucky to grow up to be as wise and as patient as him.

My mother has always been my best friend. Many of my friends can not relate to me when I say this, but I can tell my mother anything. My mother has never been strict or overbearing and has always encouraged me to do whatever I want to do in life. She is the one that has always believed in me, and will always be there when I need to talk. She is always happy and cheerful, and youthful. She is the one that always gives me motivation and hope. My mother is the sole person on this earth that will make me feel better after I have spoken to her. My mother is sensitive and caring, and has taught me almost everything that I know in this life. Yet the most important thing that she has taught me is to try my best in everything I do in life, and that’s all you can do.

My brother and sister have also been the most important people in my life, because I can always talk to them, and they are always able to relate to me. My brother is four years older than me, and when we were little we would constantly fight. We are much more alike than I ever realized before, and we always fought because we have the same personalities. But as we got older he matured and so did I. He went from picking on me to protecting me, and even to this day he sometimes acts more like a father than a brother. And although sometimes he is not very sensitive, he always tells me what he thinks, and I know that he has my best interest in mind. Growing up I would come to him with my problems and sometimes with tears, and he would always comfort me and tell me what he truly thought. He would never lie to me, and I am proud to say that there is a lot of him in me.

My sister has always been my best friend ever since I was little. Growing up we were each other’s playmates and companions, and now that I am away from her at college I truly miss her. I think that we get along together so well, because we are so different. She is a calm and cool person, who goes with the flow. She is a good listener and can always relate to me. My sister is the only person that I can talk to for hours and never run out of anything to say. She has always been my best friend, and always will be. She has a heart of gold, and will always give someone the benefit of the doubt. She is my friend and my companion, and because of that we will never drift apart.

My family is a major part of my life. I know that at my stage in life, my friends are supposed to be the most important thing to me, but while they are important they don’t hold a candle to the relationship I have with my family.