AP English Language & Composition
Mrs. Brumbach
18 Feburary2014
Is Technology Slowly Killing Romance? In “Rule of Thumbs: Love in the Age of Texting” Natalie Y. Moore said that “technology is slowly killing romance. Technology is killing romance, when you think of how the current generation communicates with each other compared to a 16 year old just 15 years ago. It’s pretty outrageous. When technology is involved in any kind of relationship there’s always that “What if?” question I your head. What if he/she is texting someone else, what if he/she wanted to talk later because they want to talk to someone else, what if he/she turned off their phone so they can hang out with someone else in peace. Technology forces romance to fail.
Romance (which is one of the most beautiful feelings in the world) is becoming a lost utopia in today’s generation. Instead of going out to a wonderful restaurant to eat dinner, or a cute date to the movies or staying in a cuddling up or playing video games all day with your significant other, people are receiving flirty text messages, comments on Instagram photos, mentions on Twitter, and so on. What has the world come to? Whatever happened to love at first sight? Love like in Titanic or The Notebook? Whatever happened to talking to someone you really like in, dare I say it, person?
Something is seriously wrong with this generation. I can name so many things, but my main focus is on romance because romance leads us human being to reproduce for the good. Social behavior is a number one for me. Call me old fashioned, but liking all my pictures on Instagram and receiving a text message is just not enough. You have to talk to a person face-to-face. As often as this happens when I’m walking to a class, I will see people I’ve chatted on Facebook, people I’ve texted, and have hung-out with a few times, and the person will look down at their phone just to avoid eye contact and a simple conversation. Are people these days really that awkward? No, due to social networks people think its okay to virtually talk to someone instead of talking to them in real life.
On top of that, conversations on Twitter, Facebook , or via text is like proof. With all this technology there are special ways to capture these dirty, horrible, happy conversations. One word, two syllables: Screenshot. Almost every smart phone has this ability, meaning you can capture a photo of anything! Texts messages, comments on Instagram, and so on. And this is where the he said, she said, cheating and lying starts to ruin things. Why? Because when you have technology it’s like having a magical wand. You can do ANYTHING with it. Hide things, be all sneaky. Everyone is so hooked on technology and social networks that they are blind to see what is in front of them. When an important conversation is being held is class, the listener is too concerned with their phone vibrating in their jean pocket to respond to the teacher. It’s crazy.
Technology can be helpful but I also think it makes things REALLY impersonal and also wastes so much of my time as well as yours. It makes relationships much too artificial and it's almost too easy to talk to people. You don't really get to know them. Why is it so hard to just sit down with someone and talk to them face-to-face? It really doesn’t make any sense to me. People are just so ignorant to the world today.
Moore’s article appealed to pathos in so many ways. The story is about how her boyfriend always wanted to text, never wanted to talk. She referred him has “Mr. Text-o-Rama.” Don’t get me wrong, I smile and get all cheesy when I get a message from someone I like, but if they have enough confidence to send me that message via text, they can most definitely have that same confidence and come up to me and hold a conversation.
So basically, I think the whole flirty text message, commenting on each other’s pictures on Instagram is overrated. And I think romance would be more effective and exciting if people would just let technology go for a bit. I understand that we all need phone to communicate with family and friends who live far away, or for emergencies. But when it comes down to romance? Just do things that old-fashioned way.
You May Also Find These Documents Helpful
-
In Chapter 5, Daisy and Gatsby are reunited in Nick’s house and then Gatsby shows Daisy around his house. Gatsby attempts to reward Nick with money for helping bring him and Daisy together again, “Well, this would interest you. It wouldn’t take up much of your time but you might pick up a nice bit of money.” This shows how Gatsby is not used to people being hospitable towards him without wanting anything in return. It also demonstrates how Gatsby thinks he has to buy Nick’s loyalty in the hope that by bribing Nick with money, he won’t tell Tom about his meeting with Daisy. Nick refuses claiming, “I’ve got my hands full,” This reveals that Nick is very class conscious as he thinks he is above receiving money for something he has done. It also shows that he is aware of the corrupt criminal world that Gatsby is involved in because he doesn’t want to take the chance of getting involved in the same world as Gatsby.…
- 297 Words
- 1 Page
Satisfactory Essays -
“When every thought is externalized, what becomes of insight? When we reflexively post each feeling, what becomes of reflection? When friends become fans, what happens to intimacy?” (348). Orenstein has a strong argument, when we share every moment for the world to glimpse at, it strips away your personal identity. People lose their own sense of humanity and how they treat others in real life. It is analogous to the saying where people become objects and objects become people. Everyone loves the wrong object and treats others in the wrong way. A study by the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan concluded that people have lost empathy, especially after the beginning of social media. Orenstein states, “Social media may not have instigated that trend, but by encouraging self-promotion over self-awareness, they may well be accelerating it” (348). The destruction of relationships will worsen as time goes on since people are slowly losing humanity traits, such as empathy, due to people being engrossed in social…
- 710 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
Famous writer Douglas H. Everett once said, “There are some people who live in a dream world, and there are some who face reality; and then there are those who turn one into the other”. This quote evidently connects to “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald, as Jay Gatsby himself refuses to face the fact that Daisy, his past – lover, may have moved on from their prior relationship. Instead, Gatsby devoted many years of his life trying to make his fantasy relationship with Daisy a reality. Gatsby’s interest of winning back Daisy quickly evolved into an obsession, where he fantasized of rebuilding the love they once shared. This obsession explains the contrast Gatsby’s behavior before and after he finally meets Daisy, where he was extremely anxious and insecure before reuniting with Daisy and then over determined and domineering afterwards.…
- 632 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
During the notorious time of “The Jazz Age”, the American People continuously danced to swingy, joyful, voluptuous music. People all over America were living life to the fullest. Party after party, drink after drink people in the 1920’s didn’t care what the prohibition in tailed. People were buying everything upon everything, until the point where their funds ceased. The American people fell for consumerism. All people cared about was when the next big party was. At the beginning of the 1920’s, the American people valued parties over conservation, but once the Stock Market crashed in 1929 peoples morals changed. All of the sudden people valued conserving money over partying. Fitzgerald reflects these views onto Gatsby’s Character. Gatsby is able to live above the law because of his wealth, connections, and his views on the American dream.…
- 962 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
The majority of what Fitzgerald writes in his stories are about the love for rich girls. In real life he has personally experienced falling for a wealthy girl, Zelda. In the book, The Great Gatsby, he writes about a boy who isn’t rich that is in love with a girl named daisy, who is rich like Zelda. Gatsby later lost his love, Daisy, when he went to war, for Fitzgerald, he was rejected by Ginevra King’s father who said “poor boys don’t marry wealthy girls,” which was said by Daisy in the book. He was asking for her hand in marriage. Then Fitzgerald got denied by Zelda Sayre. Daisy, the women jay Gatsby has been basing on his whole life on, is similar to Zelda Sayre who would not marry him at first since he was unsuccessful Fitzgerald lived in Great Neck, Long Island, in which his first child was born. To Zelda, Fitzgerald was seen poor but he was really upper middle class, but Zelda’s Standards were too high, like Daisy. Gatsby and Fitzgerald both met vital women to their lives at dances and both while they were stationed at army camps…
- 611 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
F. Scott Fitzgerald shows many themes in his novel The Great Gatsby. One of the themes…
- 467 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
This quarter I read The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The Great Gatsby is a fiction novel published in 1925. It takes place in New York, 1922 and follows the story of a great man named Gatsby. Although Gatsby is the main character, the book is in perspective and supposedly written by Nick Carraway, a friend of Gatsby. This novel has a very developing story line that hits all kinds of moods, happy, sad, and mysterious.…
- 1292 Words
- 6 Pages
Powerful Essays -
Popular culture is defined as all of the ideas, knowledge, information, creative works and principles expressed or enjoyed by a majority of a population at a given time. Representations of Jazz, in the 1920s, brought assort open-minded relationships in this era; it also influenced women to break from previous social standards and become more ‘equal’ to men. Two texts, which are associated with this topic, are an advertisement for ‘Lucky Strike Cigarettes’ and the novel The Great Gatsby. Both texts are excellent examples on how women acted, dressed and lived in the 1920s.…
- 769 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
In the novel The Great Gatsby, Daisy Buchanan is possibly the most mysterious and perhaps disappointing character. She captures the hearts of both Tom Buchanan, her unfaithful, though providing husband and Jay Gatsby, her lover from five years prior. Many disastrous incidents occurred in all aspects of the novel. It would be easy to blame all of them on Tom, because she was cheating on Daisy, or even Gatsby, because he lured Daisy in with his elaborate house and fancy shirts. But, all of the unfortunate events that occurred throughout the novel were undoubtedly and entirely, Daisy Buchanan’s fault. First, she met Gatsby and promised to wait for him until he got back from the war, but met and married Tom anyway. She cheated on Tom with Gatsby, and made Nick to keep secrets from people. She then killed Myrtle with Gatsby’s car, which caused George Wilson, Myrtle’s seemingly deranged husband, to kill Gatsby and subsequently, himself. Therefore, all of the deplorable occurrences that transpired through the duration of the novel were solely Mrs. Daisy Buchanan’s fault.…
- 687 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
The Great Gatsby written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, portrays a society of high social standings, immense wealth, and love. This can be classified as the American Dream. If an individual is determined, that individual has a reasonable chance and holds the hope for acquiring wealth, and the happiness and freedoms that go with it. In essence, the American Dream gives the chance to gain personal fulfillment, materially and spiritually. In The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald depicts the American Dream as an unachievable illusion, one which is ultimately detrimental to the novel’s central character, Jay Gatsby. Jay Gatsby tries to attain happiness, Daisy’s love, which is all he wants, but ends up failing. Evidently, Gatsby may have achieved the definition of the American Dream, but at a personal standpoint, he failed to accomplish what he was truly aiming for.…
- 1185 Words
- 5 Pages
Powerful Essays -
Every individual has his own style, his own way of presenting himself on and off the field (Sachin Tendulkar ). Likewise, F. Scott Fitzgerald has his own unique way which he uses in his works that differentiates him from all the other authors. Furthermore, in the Great Gatsby, a historical fictional novel, F. Scott Fitzgerald paints a picture of a lifestyle and a decade that is both fascinating and horrific which to most people, is evocative and makes them look at their way of life in a different way. His style, especially in the great Gatsby is described as “lushly evocative” because his works have a brilliant understanding of lives that are corrupted by greed and are incredibly sad and unfulfilled.…
- 609 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
Jay Gatsby’s journey to reunite with his past love Daisy is one of great tragedy and romance. Fitzgerald’s use of past, present, and future paints the picture of truly how tragic this five-year journey was for Gatsby. Gatsby loses the ability to live in the present because of his intense fixation on the past and his dreams of the future. Because of this inability, it becomes clear rather quickly that a relationship with Daisy is an unreachable goal.…
- 860 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
What happen to the days of writing a letter, personal conversing, or talking on the telephone? With the invention of social media these conventional ways of communication has become almost non-existed. I could recall my middle school years of writing love letters to little girls and passing funny notes to others students in the classroom. Technology has made communication less interpersonal and more complex. Love letters would only be known to the girls who read and receive them. Yes, some of the girls may tell and allow some of their friends to read the letters, but it's far better for maybe 10 or 20 people to be aware of my personal feelings compared to the millions who could potentially access to it if I were to post it on a Facebook page. How did communication become so less interpersonal? Technology is slowly emerging into critical stages of invasion and negligence of personal privacy.…
- 1709 Words
- 7 Pages
Powerful Essays -
technology advances and the desire to be “picture perfect” has turned modern relationships and online…
- 738 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
At one time a proper young man couldn’t speak to a woman until they were formally introduced. Older generations began a relationship with a purpose of finding someone to spend the rest of their life with. Before texting was the biggest form of…
- 1065 Words
- 5 Pages
Good Essays