“Is True Friendship Dying Away?” By Mark Vernon
Mark Vernon is a renowned English writer as well as a journalist. He is also the author of the article “Is True Friendship Dying Away?” which philosophically questions the existence of true friendship in the twenty-first century. Then Purpose of the essay is to depict the way social media such as Facebook and Twitter have influenced the lifestyles of every person in the world. The story has shown the way true friendship has been eroded by the technological advancements that have disabled the face to face communication that was helpful for bonding in society.
The tone may encompass the use of words and the way they are arranged it could also include the use of vivid appeals and comparative language such as metaphors. Tone helps to depict emotions as well as feelings, which convey the mood of a given composition. It includes attitudes in relation to the composition, which could be formal or ironic and helps to depict the author’s feelings regarding the subject. Mark Vernon ironically questions, whether the true friendship will last since individuals all over the world, have opted to communicate through social networking sites rather than facing each other.
Even close friends prefer the sites, which not only make the society lonely but also as Vernon states, “entering a period of crisis for the entire concept of friendship” (pr.2). He observes that many Americans have no friends and the author remains critical about the issue that has cropped from the technological advancements in the twenty-first century. The so-called friends have no life to share as a result of the social pressures that have continued to reduce cohesiveness in society.
The author applies the use of vocabularies and has a distinct style in his composition, which includes ‘neologism’ to portray the extent of shallowness or emptiness of online friendships. He socially applies formal and informal words to depict active and introspective traits through the usage of specific verbs. This has helped to come up with the proper composition and confer a certain mood through a selection of peculiar phrases. Vernon utilizes phrases such as ‘electronic stimuli’ ‘online world’ ‘connection may only be a click away’ to depict the manner in which technology has triggered a response to eroding the actual human contact and ultimately result in a lonely society (pr.2).
“The Price We Pay” by Adam Mayblum
Adam Mayblum was an eyewitness to the September eleventh, 2001 attack on the World Trade Centre and therefore, he dedicated his article “The Price We Pay” in memory of that fateful event. The price we pay is based on a real-life encounter of the collapse of the twin towers on September 11. The purpose of their story is to portray the difficulties that the residents of the world trade center had to go through. For the survivors, it was a struggle for survival that was marked by many hardships, and for the ones who perished, they remain a heart-stopping memory that left the whole nation united. The author who was on the 87th floor helped others to survive, which strongly depicts American unity as well as democracy.
The author maintains a positive tone that implies that even when the enemies pursued to destroy the Americans, they remained united and this was essential to keep them going. The fateful event saw the perishing of his several friends who worked in the twin towers and this impacted his life. Irrespective of the terrorist act, which meant to chatter the U.S, it left them even more united and this is what the author recognizes as American nationalism.
The overall tone of the composition is a sad one as the author feels terrible. For instance, as they were going downstairs, the rescue team was going up while he alerted them of the people they had left behind, only to face their death. The overall tone of the story can be summarized by the statement in which Mayblum maintains that “Ordinary people were heroes too” (pr.16). This tone helps to depict Mayblum’s emotions as well as his feelings, which conveys the overall mood of the story.
From the article, the author has a strong sense of diction as he is able to apply the usage of certain phrases and words to drive his point home. For instance, “My name is Adam Mayblum. I am alive today. I am committing this to paper; so I never forget. SO WE NEVER FORGET” (pr.1) is a statement that is unique to the author. Whenever the events of the fateful day are remembered, this phrase goes along with it. He also compares the shaking of the North Tower with the shaking as a result of an earthquake and its ultimate collapse. He also compares the scattering of paper reams to a ‘ticker tape parade’. Besides, the author compares the enormous room that was smoky but not dark, to be one ‘under construction’. In such a frustrating moment, the author and his team could still afford to make some jokes.
Works Cited
Vernon, Mark. “Is True Friendship Dying Away?.” USA Today n.d.: Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web.
Mayblum, Adam. “The Price We Pay.” USA Memorial. 2008. Web.