Category: Uncategorized (Page 1 of 2)

Final Draft:

Sydney Lang

English 105 C

09/29/17

The Cost and Benefits of Embracing “Emerging Adulthood”

There are many individuals that are driven by the idea of preparing themselves for a good future. Whether it is by means of: working hard in school, playing sports to the best of their ability to get onto elite teams, or to find a significant other that could support them along the way, whatever the route, they are structuring their present on their idea of the future. No one knows what the future will hold, or even what will for sure help you along the road, but this idea does not stop people from striving to reach adulthood as soon as possible. The bigger question that they should be asking is- “What even is adulthood?”

To some, adulthood is when an individual is eighteen years old, and legally they are considered ‘an adult’. Others might associate adulthood with the achievement of certain milestones, such as having a steady job, buying a house, getting married, and so on. Many could believe that adulthood can be achieved after reaching cultural standards. For those within their ‘20-somethings’ they might struggle with meeting all of society’s expectations for what they should have accomplished by their age, as Henig would describe it. The concept of being in a doldrum once an individual is within their ‘20-somethings’ is defined as “emerging adulthood” by authors including Robin Henig, and psychology professor Jeffrey Arnett. Other perspectives regarding this developmental stage includes Thomas King, who embraces the idea of not applying concepts from the past to the future. Many aspects of society struggle to accept this new developmental stage, but with ‘emerging adulthood’ being officially recognized as a life stage, the culture of the ‘20-somethings’ may be subject to change; as the individual changes, the culture of these ‘20-somethings’ will change along with it. The individual can change in a number of ways including: personally, financially, emotionally and psychologically.

Culture, is loosely defined as “the set of shared values, goals, and practice of a group” (Merriam-Webster). This idea that individuals of a group are molded by the culture that surrounds them, exhibits how significant the impact of a person’s surroundings can play in how they develop. Say that this environment has a new aspect applied to it, this aspect specifically benefits a certain section of this cultural group, it will contribute to the development of the targeted group. This could be applied to the culture that surrounds us. “Emerging adulthood” is the new aspect that could be applied to our culture and the section that it would benefit would be the ‘20-somethings’. These ‘20-somethings’ may benefit from this new stage in their lives, as a time for growth, and this growth will turn into cultural growth, and what is growth without change?

The ‘20-somethings’ of our culture would develop personally, as ‘emerging adulthood’ is a time that is designed so that the individual can be focused on the act of ‘bettering’ oneself. Although this sounds like a selfish time for the emerging adult, it is a period in their life that is sectioned off for the purpose of self discovery. As Henig said, “men and women are more self focused, and yet also more optimistic, no matter what” (Henig 203). This sense of optimism tieing into the self discovery, justifies this period of self discovery. As important self discovery is for an individual, if they never really have time to straighten out who they are and what they want in life, whether it is what they want in their relationships with family, friends or significant others. Or what they want to achieve intellectually, with educational achievements, what they want for a future career; or just figuring out what type of person they want to be when they ‘grow up,’ they may never fully reach adulthood. Thomas King mentioned in his tedtalk, how the question, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” is frequently posed to people on the younger side of the community. To him this is such a bizarre question to ask, because there is no way that anyone could possibly know what they want for the future, because the future is so unsure. Much of this uncertainty is rooted in the concept that, as the individuals of the culture grow and adapt– so does the culture, at no point is either truly stagnant.  In addition to the uncertainty of the future– why would a child know anything about the future anyways, their future is going to be completely different than what the future was when the ‘asker’ was that age. King’s idea that it is vital to accept the expiration of concepts, and that the traditional paths and notions, will not necessarily apply to the future generations lifestyles comes to show that he too recognizes the unpredictability of the future culturally, as the individuals within it are causing alterations everyday. This personal development would lead to personal change as King brings to attention, that there is no equivalent of a ‘one size fits all’ policy that will apply to past, present, and future individuals, as inevitable cultural changes will not permit it.   

Financial development may occur during the time that an individual is experiencing ‘emerging adulthood’ as they are discovering what type of career path they want to take, and what path is the best for them. During this time in the individual’s life, they are focusing on themselves and essentially preparing themselves for complete independence, and thriving on their own. It is necessary for this growth process to occur, because if the individual is too focused on just doing whatever they can to ‘get by’ they may never get out of that cycle. It is important for those in their ‘20-somethings’ to get a chance to figure out what they want to do, so that they can, as King said “truly enjoy living,” rather than just getting by enough financially, to live. This mentality of enjoying life and living life to the fullest, are new ideas that will shape the individual’s life choices and therefore alter the culture that surrounds them.

Emotional development may occur during the time that an individual is experiencing ‘emerging adulthood’ as they are discovering themselves and who they are as a person. This period in their lives could allow for growth in a person’s relationships, in knowing who they want to be in a relationship and what they are looking for in friends, significant others, and family relationships. Certain aspects that inhibit this development, would include, as Henig describes them as “helicopter parents.” Henig also adds a description of these individuals as being, “heavily invested parents who hover over their children,” (Henig 205). These parents are preventing their children from growing beyond their childhood, but by limiting their ‘hovering,’ permits growth to occur spiritually and culturally. These individuals could use their time in ‘emerging adulthood’ to immerse themselves into new and different lifestyles, thus broadening their worldly perspectives and making them a well rounded individual. In addition to being a well rounded individual, they will also be equipped with their own set of skills to deal with problems, especially when their parents avoid swooping in, and let their children figure life out on their own. With this set of skills they are prepared to act and response in manners that would alter the culture, and those around them.

Lastly, psychological development may occur during the time that an individual is experiencing ‘emerging adulthood’ as they are still developing during this time. As Henig states, “people can pursue more elevated goals only after their basic needs of food, shelter, and sex have been met” ( 205). Psychological development cannot occur until after these needs have been met, and ‘emerging adulthood’ is the period in time in which an individual is aiming to fulfill these needs. Furthermore, the prefrontal cortex, within the frontal lobe of the brain, where higher thought processes occur, is still developing during this time, and not rushing into complete ‘adult responsibilities’ allows the brain to develop and prosper during this time in an individual’s life. With a maturing prefrontal cortex, an individual is prone to acting with more impulsive actions rather than deep thought and contemplation of the risks and benefit balance in mind, but allowing time for this cortex to reach its full potential, prevents an individual making major life decisions whilst in an impulsive stage during their lifetime. In addition to the physical development of the frontal lobe, an individual’s psychological impact can benefit from experiencing ‘emerging adulthood’ as a stage in their lifetime. With societal pressures Henig describes, that are placed on an individual and forcing them to meet so many benchmarks by a certain age, can put a significant amount of stress on an individual. In addition to society’s pressures as a whole, the impact that the individual may feel, could be instilled upon themselves as they might have their own expectations of what being an ‘adult’ entails. This could create an internal struggle within the individual, and they could become more prone to always feeling like they are failing to meet their own benchmarks and could develop a defeatists attitude, which would not benefit them, or help them grow into a successful individual. However with new an ever-changing culture that is molded by its individuals, this internal struggle can be avoided with the acceptance of ‘emerging adulthood’ into the culture.    

In conclusion, the culture in which an individual is surrounded by helps to make them who they are as a person, but if they do not have time to develop, they may not reach their full potential, and may not thrive, but with ‘emerging adulthood’ being officially recognized as a life stage, the culture of the ‘20-somethings’ may be subject to change, as culture shapes the individual, while the individual shapes the culture. So ultimately, the ‘20-somethings’ themselves  have the power to make ‘emerging adulthood’ part of their culture.  If these ‘20-somethings’ want their culture to accept it, it will (Ambady). Whether the individual is developing  personally, financially, emotionally or psychologically, the individual’s culture is being altered along with it; this balance between the individuals change and the cultural change is what makes the future so uncertain, because everyone and everything is forever, constantly changing in this cycle.

Works Cited

Ambady, Nalini. “The Mind in the World: Culture and the Brain.” Association for Psychological

Science, Association for Psychological Science , 4 May 2011, www.psychologicalscience.org/observer/the-mind-in-the-world-culture-and-the-brain.

“Dictionary by Merriam-Webster: America’s Most-Trusted Online Dictionary.”

Merriam-Webster, Merriam-Webster, www.merriam-webster.com/.

Henig, Robin Henig. “What Is It about 20-Somethings?” Emerging: Contemporary Readings for

Writers, edited by Barclay Barrios. 3rd ed., Bedford/St. Martin, 2016, pp 198-213.

King, Thomas. “Adults, we need to have the talk.” Youtube. TEDx Melbourne, Nov 2015. Web.

September 2017.

Draft 1:

Sydney Lang

English 105 C

09/15/17

The Cost and Benefits of Embracing “Emerging Adulthood”

There are many individuals that are driven by the dea of setting themselves up well for a good future. Whether it is working hard in school, playing sports to the best of their ability to get onto elite teams, or to find a significant other that could support them along the way, whatever the route of thought, they are basing their present on their idea of the future. No one knows what the future will hold, or even what will for sure help you along the road, but this idea does not stop people from striving to reach adulthood as soon as possible. The bigger question they should be asking is- “What even is adulthood?” To some, adulthood is when an individual is eighteen years old, and legally they are considered ‘an adult’. Others might associate adulthood with the achievements of certain milestones, such as having a steady job, buying a house, getting married, and so on. For those within their ‘20-somethings’ they might struggle with meeting all of society’s expectations for what they should have accomplished by their age. The concept of being in a doldrum once an individual is within their ‘20-somethings’ is defined as “emerging adulthood” by authors including Robin Henig, and psychology professor Jeffrey Arnett. Other perspectives include Thomas King who embraces the idea of not applying concepts from the past to the future. With ‘emerging adulthood’ being officially recognized as a life stage, the culture of the ‘20-somethings’ may be subject to change.

Potential Q’s:

• What aspects of culture
  • Social Media
  • Social Norms
  • Family culture
  • Working enviro
• Whose culture
  • 20-somethings
  • Rents of 20-somethings
  • Children of 20-somethings

Draft 2 below

Sydney Lang

English 105 C

09/18/17

The Cost and Benefits of Embracing “Emerging Adulthood”

There are many individuals that are driven by the idea of preparing themselves for a good future. Whether it is by means of: working hard in school, playing sports to the best of their ability to get onto elite teams, or to find a significant other that could support them along the way, whatever the route, they are structuring their present, on their idea of the future. No one knows what the future will hold, or even what will for sure help you along the road, but this idea does not stop people from striving to reach adulthood as soon as possible. The bigger question that they should be asking is- “What even is adulthood?” To some, adulthood is when an individual is eighteen years old, and legally they are considered ‘an adult’. Others might associate adulthood with the achievements of certain milestones, such as having a steady job, buying a house, getting married, and so on. Many could believe that adulthood can be achieved after reaching cultural standards. For those within their ‘20-somethings’ they might struggle with meeting all of society’s expectations for what they should have accomplished by their age.  The concept of being in a doldrum once an individual is within their ‘20-somethings’ is defined as “emerging adulthood” by authors including Robin Henig, and psychology professor Jeffrey Arnett. Other perspectives regarding this developmental stage includes Thomas King, who embraces the idea of not applying concepts from the past to the future. Many aspects of society struggle to accept this new developmental stage, but with ‘emerging adulthood’ being officially recognized as a life stage, the culture of the ‘20-somethings’ may be subject to change.

Culture is loosely defined as “the set of shared values, goals, and practice of a group” (Merriam-Webster). This idea that individuals of a group are molded by the culture that surrounds them, exhibits how significant the impact of a person’s surroundings can play in how they develop. Say that this environment has a new aspect applied to it, this aspect specifically benefits a certain section of this cultural group, it will contribute to the development of the targeted group. This could be applied to the culture that surrounds us. “Emerging adulthood” is the new aspect that could be applied to our culture and the section that it would benefit would be the ‘20-somethings’. These ‘20-somethings’ may benefit from this new stage in their lives, as a time for growth and development personally, financially, emotionally and psychologically.

The ‘20-somethings’ of our culture would develop personally, as ‘emerging adulthood’ is a time that is designed so that the individual can be focused on the act of ‘bettering’ oneself. Although this sounds like a selfish time for the emerging adult, it is a period in their life that is sectioned off for the purpose of self discovery. Self discovery is important for an individual, because if they never really have time to straighten out who they are and what they want in life, whether it is what they want in their relationships with family, friends or significant others, or what they want to achieve intellectually, with educational achievements, what they want for a future career, or just figuring out what type of person they want to be when they ‘grow up.’ Thomas King mentioned in his tedtalk, how the question, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” is frequently posed to people on the younger side of the community. To him this is such a bizarre question to ask, because there is no way that anyone could possibly know what they want for the future, because the future is so unsure. In addition to the uncertainty of the future– why would a child know anything about the future anyways, their future is going to be completely different than what your future was when you were that age. Kings wanted to get the idea across that it is vital that it is okay for concepts to expire with time, and that the traditional paths and notions, will not necessarily apply to the future generations lifestyles.

Financial development may occur during the time that an individual is experiencing ‘emerging adulthood’ as they are discovering what type of career path they want to take, and what path is the best for them. During this time in the individual’s life, they are focusing on themselves and essentially preparing themselves for complete independence, and thriving on their own. It is necessary for this growth process to occur, because if the individual is too focused on just doing whatever they can to ‘get by’ they may never get out of that cycle. It is important for those in their ‘20-somethings’ to get a chance to figure out what they want to do, so that they can, as King said “truly enjoy living,” rather than just getting by enough financially, to live.

Emotional development may occur during the time that an individual is experiencing ‘emerging adulthood’ as they are discovering themselves and who they are as a person. This period in their lives could allow for growth in a person’s relationships, in knowing who they want to be in a relationship and what they are looking for in friends, significant others, and family relationships. This could also permit growth spiritually and culturally, they could use their time in ‘emerging adulthood’ to immerse themselves into new and different lifestyles, thus broadening their worldly perspectives and making them a well rounded individual.

Lastly, psychological development may occur during the time that an individual is experiencing ‘emerging adulthood’ as they are still developing during this time. The prefrontal cortex, within the frontal lobe of the brain, where higher thought processes occur, is still developing during this time, and not rushing into complete ‘adult responsibilities’ allows the brain to develop and prosper during this time in an individual’s life. With a maturing prefrontal cortex, an individual is prone to acting with more impulsive actions rather than deep thought and contemplation of the risks and benefit balance in mind, but allowing time for this cortex to reach its full potential, prevents an individual making major life decisions whilst in an impulsive stage during their lifetime. In addition to the physical development of the frontal lobe, an individual’s psychological impact can benefit from experiencing ‘emerging adulthood’ as a stage in their lifetime. With societal pressures on an individual, forcing them to meet so many benchmarks by a certain age

Cultural psychology is the study of how psychological and behavioral tendencies are rooted in and embodied in culture. The main tenet of cultural psychology is that mind and culture are inseparable and mutually constitutive, meaning that people are shaped by their culture and their culture is also shaped by them.

Sydney Lang’s Essay Peer Review Response

Peer’s Essay

English 110

Section C

09/20/17

Upon first looking at the piece it looked well formatted, nothing extreme stood out to me that needed to be changed with its appearance, I am not sure what font it is in but I am pretty sure that we are supposed to turn formal papers in with Times New Roman. Once I got into reading the piece I started being lead in multiple directions, and I was a little unsure as to what your thesis was, but by the concluding paragraph it was clearer, so I recommend that you go back and make sure that it is clear to the reader what exactly you are convincing them of. As for your supporting paragraphs, you used many great examples from the texts, but at times I was unsure of what the purpose of some paragraphs were as I was reading them, so I suggest that you work on organizing what you want to prove to the reader in each paragraph and how your selected evidence supports your argument. Overall, I think it was a very well written essay, you just need to sit down with it and iron out what exactly you want to prove to the reader, and I think you touched upon that in the concluding paragraph, so maybe rework your thesis based on that. Awesome Job!!!

Sydney Lang’s Essay Peer Review Response

English 110

Section C

11-13-17

Revision Plan for Essay #3

My Goal:

My goal for this essay is to focus my arguments and tie each and every paragraph back to the thesis to provide the essay with a sense of unity and solidarity throughout it. My goal is also to limit my use of summary through my essay, to prevent the frequency of excessively wordy paragraphs.   

Plan:

My plan to attack these goals and achieve them is to break apart my essay into separate paragraphs and look at them as if they were to stand on their own. By doing this, I will be able to see if each paragraph relates and ties into the thesis enough that if I did not have the thesis itself within the paragraph, someone could still be able to figure out what I am arguing. To limit summary, I plan to highlight specifically where I am using summary and see the maximum amount that I can eliminate without losing clarity.  

Obstacles:

The obstacles that I might face when I am trying to achieve my goal could include my tendency to over analyze, this specifically relating to the removal of summary resulting in the need to overcompensate in analysis as an attempt to limit confusion, when in all actuality it promotes confusion. A way of limiting this over analysis, I would need to go through my work and try to distinguish what is most vital to keep within my text, and what needs to be cut.  

Sydney’s Architectural Draft:

English 110C

11-08-17

Working Thesis: Technology is negatively impacting the growing individual.

• Claim 1- Technology negatively affects the individual emotionally
  • • Evidence– social media can cause a sense of depression and as individuals are on it for extended and excessive periods of time they can become more susceptible to depression
    • Evidence– emotionally people can express their immaturities online and these later can cause individuals to feel regret for posting or commenting certain things when they did not really know that it will be there forever
    • Evidence- cyberbullying is a medium that anyone of any age can be targeted and attacked

• Claim 2- Technology negatively affects the individual physically
  • Evidence– If people are constantly seeing what society says that they ‘should look a certain way’ this could cause harmful disorders including eating disorders (which are also psychological) or could cause the individual to be prompted and encouraged to alter themselves to ‘fit in better’
  • Evidence– If an individual is playing on their technology this can prevent them from doing other activities, such as playing physical sports, working out and keeping their body and heart healthy  

• Claim 3- Technology negatively affects the individual financially
  • Evidence– technology can be used as a distraction preventing people from getting their tasks done, putting their job in jeopardy
  • Evidence– If the individual is always posting about their life when they young through adulthood, I know I do not think all of the same things that I thought when I was younger, this record could negatively impact the individual and prevent them from being hired by potential employers

• Claim 4- Technology negatively affects the individual socially
  • Evidence– when a person is always communicating through a screen they can lose their ability to communicate person to person, which is a significant skill…being a person
  • Evidence– misinterpreted messages, can hurt relationships, as people are thinking their message says one thing but someone else interprets it differently

• Claim 5- Technology negatively affects the individual intellectually
  • Evidence– Technology can help to offer a plethora of neverending information, but with that comes misinformation and fake news and that can be dangerous especially if an individual cannot establish the difference between the two
  • Evidence– the constant use of technology promotes frequent distraction as people are becoming acclimated to the frequent pop-ups, advertisements, etc.

Closing (new angle to revisit main idea with): Maybe it is a cultural change that is leading to this over involvement with technology, and maybe we need to change the age in which children are being exposed to technology until they can really understand the repercussions

Podcast for English 110

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSXRC1HOLxc&feature=youtu.be

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSXRC1HOLxc&feature=youtu.be

Throughout my high school career, I was an avid participant in Track and Field. Because I am always up for a challenge, I participated in what I called, the “fun events.” This included, but was not limited to: hurdles, high jump, pole vault, pentathlon, triple jump, and so on. The first event that I started with freshman year was hurdles. I figured they would be a brease having danced my whole life, but there was more than flexibility, running, and jumping to it. I saw runners running full speed at these obstacles and gliding over it with a margin of a couple of cementers between them and the hurdle. A minor miscalculation would surely lead to a swift tumble to the floor. But this did not scare me away, I jumped and ran and bounded…and fell my fair share, until I was a top hurdler for my school. The process was not easy, as you can surprisingly jump wrong in so many ways, via bounding (taking louder, longer, and heavy strides) and stuttering (taking many short strides before the hurdle). With the determination from wanting to do my best, and the instruction from an amazing coach (shoutout to Coach O’Malley!) I found myself quite pleased with my results. Similar to the recursive writing process, it is important to be determined when writing, much like getting the perfect form when hurdling, to result in a product that you are happy with. Also it is important to have a great coach and teacher by your side to help you along the way.

Sydney Lang

11-3-17

English 110-C

Initially I was looking for an essay that would prove to the reader why technology is beneficial to the individual, but then I came across this essay which does not directly get to this message exactly, but with some analysis this perspective can be wrung from the literary work of choice. The essay that I chose is called, “Say Everything” written by the author Emily Nussbaum. Within this essay Nussbaum touches upon the beliefs and ideas revolving around the specific generation that says everything. With this perspective, she touches upon the belief that the people from this connected generation are shameless, especially when it comes to sharing on the internet. But within her first couple of starting paragraphs she introduces her personal experience talking with someone that ‘overshared’ their childhood, teenage adolescence, and past experiences with the internet world, and she found herself being protective of her and her choices, which I found to be an interesting point of view. I chose this essay as I found it to be an interesting perspective to take regarding my generation. Having older parents I have been raised with the older generation’s thought on the over-exposure on the internet, as well as my friends thoughts and opinions on their internet experiences as they grew into using it. I can share common ground with the essay as I have seen what one might call a cases of oversharing on the internet. Personally I can relate to the interviewee’s statement from early on in the essay where she said, “I wouldn’t ever put up anything I wouldn’t want my mother to see” (Nussbaum 1). The mentality I was taught was, “do not type, photograph, post, or comment, anything that you would not be proud to see plastered across a billboard” (Lang haha). Other than being able to relate to the essay’s topic, it connects to my perspective that I plan on fighting in my next essay. This source is considered to be acceptable as it was not only provided by my professor as a source, but the New York magazine is known for being a reputable source for legitimate writers to input their pieces of literary work. Also through the library visit, the class learned of the CRAAP test to essentially see if a source is crap or not. C– standing for currency, or how recent was this article posted. R– is for relevance, how closely does this relate to the topic at hand. A– being the authority, is the source sketchy or is it from a legitimate source. A– being accuracy, for how accurate is the piece, is it completely bias or is it well balanced. Finally, P– purpose, the point of writing the piece, to promote a cause, to educate people, to advertise, etc. Nussbaum’s “Say Everything” passes the CRAAP test as it is current, relevant, it has authority, it is accurate, and its purpose is appropriate as it is not promoting one idea too much that it clouds any other opinion. As I read through the article I brainstorm all of the possible connections that I could be drawing to Wasik, Restak, and to Anderson. For example in the quote, “They are interested only in attention—and yet they have zero attention span, flitting like hummingbirds from one virtual stage to another, (Nussbaum 2). This relates to the common theme that both Restak and Anderson share and its dependence on technology connects back to Wasik as well. This just being the first of many connections that this essay provides.