Thoughts on the AP Exam

     Overall, I felt that I did well on the AP Language exam. The protors were nice enough to tell everyone how much time we had left, and they even told us when it was recommended to move on from each section. This made it easy for me to keep track of time, which allowed me to pace myself. I feel that I was able to get at least half of the multiple choice questions correct. I didn't understand the first passage, but I still managed to answer the questions in a decent amount of time. In fact, I had four minutes left when I was on my last question. There was one question that asked about what "et al" meant. I luckily could answer this question due to helping my friend proofread her research paper. She had used "et al" in her paper, and I had to ask her what it meant. I didn't expect that this very thing I asked would be on the AP exam. Also, there weren't many questions that asked about rhetorical devices, so I'm glad I didn't spend time memorizing all of the rhetorical devices.
     On the other hand, there were some sections that didn't go do well. The synthesis and rhetorical essays were alright, but the argument essay is where everything went downhill. I first stared at the prompt trying to figure out what "artifice" meant. After that I used two examples that I felt were original and not personal. However, the last example I put was horrible. I wrote about a personal experience where I was talking with my friend about how deceptive news can be. That would've been a decent example, but I completely just went off topic, and I feel like I didn't even connect it to my argument properly. I was getting tired when I wrote this example, so that's probably why I ended up not making sense. I spent way too much time with this example, which led to me only having one sentence as my conclusion. Hopefully, that one example won't completely bring down my grade for that section. Anyway, I feel that I got at least a 3 on this exam, which is what I was aiming for.

The School Cafeteria

            The cafeteria. It is full of piercing noises, crowded tables, dirty floors, and discourteous individuals.  To enter, I walk over to the line in the front of the cafeteria with my ID card in hand, and I swipe my ID card on the scanner connected to a seemingly outdated laptop. I then make my way toward the end of the line of other students in order to get lunch. The line extends to almost half of the cafeteria. But, I see in the corner of my eye, a group of five people that just skipped to the front of the line by bypassing the pointless blue rope that only extends to an eighth of the line. Sometimes the cafeteria workers serve tasty chicken nuggets, while other times they serve slightly charred pizza. When I am finally able to obtain lunch, I look up and see posters that describe the theme of the day like “Chicken Monday” and “Pizza Friday.” I take the recyclable tray with a grilled cheese sandwich on it and I try to find a place to sit. I am like a lone sniper scouting out a battlefield when I am finding a place to sit. There are vending machines in the middle of the cafeteria for water, Pop-Tarts, chips, and other snacks, but more importantly, I see an open space in the table that is in front of the vending machine for water. However, it seems that someone left a present in the form of a half-eaten sandwich on the floor, ketchup stains on the table, and bread crumbs on both the table and the floor. I ignore these things and try to enjoy my sandwich, but I then hear some people around me shout at each other like they are at a concert, even though their friends are sitting right next to them. The questionable topics they talk about and the crude language they use are not pleasant to listen to. However, the worst person is the one that is constantly shaking their leg in the table, similarly to how a dog would shake its leg. The action shakes the table and leaves me to wonder if that person has any self-control. When I hear the ringing noise of the whistle signaling to leave, I throw out my tray instead of leaving it on the table like some people, and I silently rejoice as I walk to my next class.

The Internet: Convenience or Trap?

            The Internet. It is a tool that a majority of people utilize in their daily lives, but just how exactly does it impact people? The Internet has provided a way to do a multitude of activities in a convenient device. For example, people can use it for entertainment, assistance in education, and delivery services for shipping goods. That may seem pleasant, but it doesn’t change the idea that the Internet has resulted in a generation of young lazy people.

            Many young people like to use the Internet in their spare time. Due to the Internet’s quirkiness and for having things everyone would enjoy, many people spend most of their time sitting down to use the Internet instead of being active outside. Whether it is for using social media, playing games or watching videos, using the Internet doesn’t require much physical activity. To illustrate this idea, I personally love using the Internet in my free time. Whenever I get done with my homework, I always go to my laptop to either watch YouTube videos or to play games. And I recall how often I just get absorbed into the Internet, and not realize how much time I actually spent sitting down with my laptop in front of me. Since I spend my free time on the Internet, I rarely go outside for physical activities. This is because the Internet is enjoyable to use and doesn’t require much effort. It just mesmerizes me to continue, which makes me lazy. If the Internet didn’t exist, then I would be forced to think of other ways to spend my time, which would lead to an increase in physical activity instead of an increase in laziness.

            Not only does the Internet makes people physically lazy; it also makes young people mentally lazy. You ever feel like just didn’t feel like putting the effort in to think for those homework problems? Well, that’s what the Internet is for. Generally speaking, if a student doesn’t want to do their homework, they would either ask their friends for answers through social media, or they would just use the Internet to search up the solution. While that may help the student in getting the right answer, that may hinder the student’s ability to solve other problems in the future due to not using their own brain to figure things out. If a student doesn’t even care to put effort in their homework on their own, they are harming their mental capabilities and they are being lazy. Homework provides a refresher to lessons. Even though there are many teaching styles, teachers assign homework for a reason: to review what was taught in class. Some people need to learn how to think for themselves instead of relying on others to do the work for them. Some students end up relying on the Internet too much, which only makes them lazier every time they use it.

            The Internet has also provided another way for people to become lazy: delivery services. If you wanted to buy something you saw on a website, you would probably order that item and have it shipped directly to your house. The Internet provides a quick and efficient way to deliver goods, so there shouldn’t be any problems, right? While it is understandable that getting items online is rather convenient, it doesn’t change the fact that some people use it while it isn’t necessary. Getting an item shipped from overseas: reasonable. Getting an item from a place that would require many hours to get to: reasonable. Getting an item from a place that is literally within walking distance of less than an hour: unreasonable. Some people enjoy the idea of having things delivered to them, but using that service obsessively will only hinder physical activity. By using a delivery service, people are taking away time spent walking outdoors, and it makes them become lazier because they don’t even need to leave the house. If a place is within walking distance, a person can easily just take a few minutes to get to that place without any problems; they don’t need to use a delivery service for that. 

            The Internet is full of ups and downs. It does provide convenience in many aspects of life, but it also harms people by making them lazier. And it’s only going to be even worse for future generations when technology becomes even more advanced. More advanced technology means more conveniences, which leads to people not doing things the old fashioned way anymore. Future generations will have even lazier people than the people in the current generation.