Srikar's WRA-110 Website

Essay 1:

  The first essay focuses on the evolution of social networking both on and off the internet. The author discusses social networking starting from the advent of human language to modern times and into the future. The author supports her topic by contributing a section of the essay to "A Brief History" of social networking before moving on to a discussion of how people communicate during modern times. In the modern times section, the author talks about the wide variety of social media which is available and how a few of them appeal to people better. She then goes on to explain how social networking is not only used for person to person networking but is also used for work or classes. A few given examples are Google+'s "circles" and Facebook's "groups". The next sections are dedicated to the future of social networking and the problems and benefits they may pose.

  This essay seems to target a general audience. There is not much technical material in this essay but it is not simplified for a learner either. The author seems to have done their research by citing 19 sources. A few of these citations seem to reference the same or a very similar article though. One example are the three articles by Mark Suster which discuss social networking in the past, present, and future.

  I was never an avid user of social media. Relative to many other people, I only recently opened a Facebook account. Before that I only had a Google+ account which is automatically given to Google users. But in the year that I opened a Facebook account, I can definitely see both the advantages of having an account. One prime example is this class. Without a Facebook account I would be more difficult for me to get the information I need for this class.

Essay 2:

  The second essay focuses on the evolution of the American food culture. The author starts off by establishing what "American" food was back in the day. They explain that it was a combination of many different culture's foods. This is followed by a brief progression to what American food is today. The final sections are devoted to explaining the disadvantages of modern food and how people can fix this issue. Like the first essay this is likely meant for a general audience. The essay is not oversimplified for learners but it is also not technical. The author cites 14 different sources and also adds a helpful dictionary of terms used throughout the essay which the audience may not have understood.

  This essay seems to be revised very well from the informative content with minimal filler material. My only complaint would be that the author drifts from the evolution of American food to the obesity crisis for a majority of the essay. One thing I have noticed over the years was my increased consumption of processed foods. Before college I would not have to worry about what I was eating because my mom would prepare food which was healthy but now I have to choose and prepare my own food.