Ruffa Corbett

11:00am-11:50am
English Composition
January 27, 2016

Technological Advancement
Silence screamed across the enclosed room as I stood among a crowd of people,
impatiently waiting for the elevator to reach its destination. Silently counting the seconds as
each DING engulfed the group whose eyes shifted awkwardly between the doors and the tiny
screens of their phones, hoping to avoid the slightest eye contact. As the elevator doors opened, I
pondered in silence at the sight of the exiting strangers whose faces flooded with relief, like birds
fleeing from a cage. Breaks in unnaturally awkward silences, such as crowded elevators, often
brings comfort or even contentment to the individuals at hand. We often rely on these moments
to escape uncomfortable situations but in reality, we only build walls which isolates ourselves
from the world. Despite the elevator completely brimming with people, there was no sense of
warmth or conversation. Instead of conversing by word of mouth to the person at their side, they
chose to confine themselves to self isolation rather than personal engagement. Witnessing the
quick shift from face-to-face communications to a virtual society formed by a small window of
likes, views and comments, I walked out instinctively reaching for the familiar square abyss in
my pocket that consumed nothing, but the essence of time.

The revolutionary advancement of social media has drastically molded todays fast-paced
society. We embrace the beauty of technologys innovations such as- the Internet, smartphones,
and different sources of social media, and take pride in its advancements. Mesmerized by the fast
notion, we seek shortcuts, cut corners and later find ourselves at the mercy of retribution from
the procrastination and laziness we sow. According to the American Author, Henry David
Thoreau, Men have become the tools of their tools. Thoreau reflects how man-made
technology has forced our generation to become dependent and accustomed to these changes.
Todays society now relies on technology to communicate for us, with communication no longer
a personal connection but a time consuming machine. We create various tools to advance as a
society but lose track of our own paths, blindly following the revolution of technology.
In todays world, we often depend on technology to finish our daily routines. These
useful tools evidently changed the way our generation behaves. Stuck in a tangent of
smartphones, laptops and televisions, we transformed our old and traditional routines to a more
advanced day-to-day schedules. Christian Lous Lange once stated that Technology is a useful
servant but a dangerous master. This quote has its significance because we solely rely on
technology in hopes of bettering our futures. To experience the world beyond our screens, we
must see the beauty of the world without the anchors of technology, having a sense of serenity
without worrying about the blaring screen which lures our society today.

Rubric

Points

Rhetorical situation
You should begin with a question, problem, or issue to which you do not
know the answer. Your essay should be the narrative of an intellectual
quest. Episodic.

10/15

Genre Accuracy
Memoir - Show! Dont tell! - dialogue
Analysis interpretation, followed by connecting specific lines to this
interpretation

15/15

Critical Thinking
Ideas are clear, substantive, relevant to the topic and generally welldeveloped.

10/15

Essay Level Clarity A clear organization/structure is evident,

background info connects to problem/questions

5/10

Paragraph Level Clarity No more than one idea per paragraph

10/10

Style - The writings tone/word choice should match the rhetorical situation
and subject matter of the essay.

10/10

Grammar - Sentence level issues

10/10

Mechanics Punctuation

5/5

Logistics Word count 500-750

10/10

85B