Paper 3

Ryan Thomas AP English—Period 5/6 Ms. Leitze October 10, 2008 UNTITLED (#5) I’m totally serious when I’m talking to my friends – and respectfully engaged during any academic discussion. When I talk, I sound casual a lot, though oftentimes I shift to a heightened, more advanced vocabulary before even completing my sentence. My papers frequently take on an air of formality and intellectual curiosity, but I would never dream of writing the least bit of sarcasm. My point being, I shift sharply in tone and lexicon when communicating with different groups. I find this shifting useful, even necessary, in accurately conveying my ideas, while not offending or alienating those I wish to convey them to. I mean, come on, you can’t talk to your friends like you talk to your teachers! That’s just stupid. When I’m talkin’ with everybody in, like, the senior lounge, I just chill and say whatever, however, and people either get me or they wouldn’t no matter how I was talkin’. Oh yeah – and basically “vulgar” isn’t in our vocabs and grammar’s in the crapper. However, I abandon this unrefined form of discourse upon entering a classroom or sighting an adult opposed to such informality. I find that I am as comfortable speaking with correct, complete sentences as I am speaking with mixed tenses, fragmented thoughts, and an…unseemly vocabulary. The difference, then, between my using such modes of discourse is not one of ease and difficulty; rather, the perception of my intellect and character varies with which pattern of speech I adopt for each audience. Everyone would think I’m some sort of preppy, arrogant jerk if I talked like I do in Stats, and

similarly, my Advanced Placement Statistics teacher would find me disrespectful and undereducated should I lapse into colloquial speech.