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Speaking: From Planning to Articulation
Below are ten short pieces of writing, composed by five different authors. Each author wrote briefly in response to the same two writing prompts.
Your job is to match up the writing samples by author. More importantly, provide a report justifying your matches with evidence. What similarities do you see in the writing samples that you surmise were written by the same author, and what distinguishes these samples from the others? Be as detailed and specific as you can. In some cases, the content will provide revealing clues, but try to disregard these and focus your attention on syntactic structure, word choice, orthography, and any other relevant stylistic aspects of the writing.
Writing prompt 1
If you weren’t living the life you now have, what alternative life would you like to have lived?
Sample A
Having already lived what might be called a long life, I find it difficult to contemplate an alternative life that I would want with no reference to that which I have had. Do I try to envisage a list of improvements? Do I look to describe what would have been a perfect life for me? Do I write a brief synopsis of a fairy tale? Having largely lived a life, I have to conclude that at best I can only describe what my life might have been had I not made a very significant choice that I had not foreseen.
The life that I have lived, and have much enjoyed, has been entirely different from that which I foresaw through my teen years. From the age of twelve I wanted to be lawyer. I was most likely prompted in that direction by a fascination with Perry Mason. I read all of the novels (there was no TV at the time) I was greatly taken with what seemed to be a continuing series of interesting adventures that ended with justice served and honour satisfied.
Had I pursued such a course, my life would have been entirely different. I would have in all likely hood either remained in Vancouver where I grew up, or returned there after finishing law school elsewhere. I would have wanted to practice criminal law as a defense attorney. I would have enjoyed successes (yes, realistically there would have been failures too) and the financial fruits of those. Those fruits would have first led to a property in West Vancouver. To be followed by a move to The West End where I lived as a little boy. That move would have been brought on by the growing difficulty of the commute to the downtown area.
I am sure that at some point I would have met, pursued and married a suitable, compelling and attractive woman, such as the one that I am with now. I expect we would have had, and raised, children; then seen them embarked upon their own journey through life, much as we have in present life.
In the process of living my life I would surely pursue the same interests that I have done. I would read and stay active, seek to remain abreast of events and of advancements in the world. I would want to travel and see the world with all that it offers. During my working life I might contemplate moving from the practice of the law to the judiciary or even to politics. I have little doubt that In any alternate life I might have, or have had, I would still hold strong views that I would enjoin others to share.
Sample B
I like creativity in everything and I like beautiful things. I really enjoy making something pretty by hand and giving it to people I like. I have a number of hobbies, most of which are crafts. I love sewing, quilting, knitting, crocheting, embroidering, drawing, etc. Sometimes I wish I could do those things more, and not only as hobbies. If I lived an alternative life, I would start my own small company which would produce clothes and accessories for women and children, kitchen linens and bedroom sets. I would constantly be taking courses which would give me knowledge as for how to create such products, since I really enjoy developing my skills and learning new things. I would design the products myself and make them every day together with my team. This would enable me to express my creativity and to add some colour, comfort, warmth, etc. to the world around me. First of all, my target audience would be my family. I would like to embellish their lives with my creations. I would be happy to get together with them and discuss my creative ideas. I would like to have regular quiet family evenings in which everyone would be doing their hobbies while enjoying a pleasant conversation with other family members and friends. I would really want to help my kids materialize their creative ideas through teaching them how to make things with their own hands. It would be important for me to decorate my own home and turn it into a little paradise for people I love. I would also surround this home with a beautiful garden, full of fruit trees, berry bushes and flowers. In the back yard, I would have a little kitchen garden. From spring till fall I would take care of the gardens in my free time. My alternative life would be full of all sorts of beauty. They say beauty will save the world, after all.
Sample C
I am content with the life I have now. The only improvement or alternate life that appeals to me is one in which we had won a large lottery winning. Large enough that we could share several millions of dollars with each of our children and grandchildren and still have enough left over to fund an endowment or two.
I can imagine what a nice feeling it would be for us to see our children having more leisure time and the funds to support what they want to do most whether it be travel, study or anything else that would enrich their lives. For the generation, born in the fifties and sixties, financial security in old age is not as assured as I would like to see it. Many adults won't be able to retire and live as comfortably as I would like for them.
I know that money would not, in itself, bring them happiness. But it would bring relief from the stress of working long days and nights and thus having too little time and energy to invest in relationships with spouse, friends, their own children and us, the parents. We all seem to be so busy.
I like to imagine fantastic family holidays, maybe once or twice a year where we can enjoy just being together having maybe rented a holiday cottage, or booked a tour in some far destination. I like the idea of someone else taking care of the meals and the cleaning up.
I would be doing much the same as I do now, but more of it, travelling, volunteering and spending time with family and I would live in the same city where I live now. No one place is perfect but if you can afford to, you indulge in your favourite things in your favourite places.
Sample D
In another life I’d live somewhere warm. Tropical, even, with lots of rich rainforest. I’d work only half days – but I’d definitely be working – and come home to read on the beach and snorkel in the ocean. I’d have a boat. I’d go out onto the water every other day, watching the dolphins swim and looking for whales. On rainy afternoons I’d stay inside, probably in a home library just overflowing with beautiful books. I imagine a nice nook by a window with a view, lots of plush pillows, and cup or glass of whatever I felt like drinking – Coffee? Lemonade? Whiskey? Maybe all of the above. But I’d get bored of doing all of that on my own, so in this other life I share these experiences with my family. My husband and six children also love the warm weather and the ocean. We do so many fun family activities together, like playing bored games and making dinner. At work, I’d be doing something challenging that also made me feel helpful. I’d be donating time and money to worthy causes, teaching my kids to do the same. And above all, I’d be happy. Like, intentionally happy. I’d try to take the stress out of my life, go with the flow, live, love, and approach every new experience with excitement. So I guess in another life I’d be a calmer, older, warmer version of who I am today. Especially the warmer part. And the dolphins.
Sample E
I would like to live in a small community that is mostly seperated from the modern world, where money (and therefore exploitation and greed) is mostly unknown. An example would be an isolated native tribe in the rain forest that is totally self sustained without contact to the outside world. They have to rely on eachother to survive and accumulation of wealth is impossible or needless. The community is rather small, therefore inter-human contact is strong as is the knowledge about the mutual dependence. Every member of the tribe contributes to the community and the wellbeing of the whole. Most important decisions are discussed and decided within the tribe and carried by everybody. Everybody has his role and responsibility. The harmony between the tribe and its environment is essential and just as little as each member of the clan is expoited, the environment is not exploited by the clan. Instead of forming the environment, the tribe and its members coexist with it, adapt to it and not take more out of it than necessary. There exists no organised jurisdiction or police – instead if somebody behaves not in the interest of the clan, the clan as a whole deals with it by discussing what needs to be done. Each member knows that he cannot survive without support and protection of the tribe – this gives the tribe the power to sanction/reglement individual members if necessary. And as the decisions are not done by a minority but the tribe as such, it should be guaranteed that decisions/sanctions for individual members or parts of the tribe are not injust or not in the best interest of the whole. As exchange of goods and ideas with other tribes is very limited, this system of values would be changed only gradually without imbalancing the whole system.
Writing prompt 2
What, if anything, is love at first sight?
Sample F
Love at first sight is extremly spontaneous. It is something where specific stimuli trigger a very strong emotional response that is totally out of the norm. It is not necessarily a sign of lacking experience. It is more that very specific ‘buttons’ of a person are triggered – and the person doesn’t necessarily be aware of those buttons. It happens very fast and is in the beginning not always easy to explain. Of course one is aware of certain traits that make another person attractive. Love at first sight seems to be a case when all of those factors come together and/or if one is in a special (meaning open/susceptible) mood. The interesting thing is that this special mood as well as the appearance of the corresponding person are not predictable. Therefore love at first sight is very sudden and hits like a lightning – which explains the importance that is has. Love at first sight stuns and can also render one person unable to take any action or come to any decision because this overwhelming emotion causes total confusion and fear of rejection. This is another reason why this feeling is so extraordinary. A little later some emotional reactions can be explained by personal preferences (optical or with respecto to character traits) but the effects are still unavoidable – very much like the knowledge about an optical illusion does not cancel its effect. Its notorious because it can it at any time in every situation meaning it cannot be predicted or avoided. Therefore it mostly catches you flat-footed and probably makes your life more complicated and chaotic.
Sample G
Never having experienced 'love at first sight' I am not sure what it really is, if it exists at all. Certainly, on meeting a person for the first time, you can get an impression that you either want to or don't want to know them better.
Who can fall in love at first sight? If a person is in a happy relationship, they are less likely to fall in love with someone they are meeting for the first time. Surely, love at first sight happens, if it happens at all, only for people who are actively looking for a mate. If you are not looking for a mate, you are surely not going to fall in love at first sight with a stranger.
In fact, love at first sight may not happen at all. It could be a romantic memory of a first meeting with someone you have subsequently fallen in love with.
You might start with wondering 'what is love?'. Can it be a feeling you can have for a person without knowing him or her?
Sample H
Many people would dismiss the idea as nothing more than lust at first sight. In the case of a teenage boy that might be probable. Perhaps in the case of a teenage girl as well; but that is beyond my ken. Generally, with age and experience comes a deeper insight and a more profound understanding of human nature, interactions and relationships. I believe “love at first sight” to be “something”.
If we stop to think about it, we find ourselves attracted to other people for a large variety of reasons. As we look about us at men and women we see and meet we remark them to be intelligent, funny, warm, observant, empathetic, convivial, cheerful, thoughtful, sympathetic, and, yes, attractive. Certainly more equally suitable adjectives can be found. These I think are likely most of those which describe the characteristics that we might consider to have some bearing upon what should constitute what we want in love.
Love is a subject that is so much discussed, described, debated, defined, and even derided. That it is really daunting to try to pontificate upon its many dimensions. Where the hell is this going? You say! I’m trying to get past the idea that love is such a complex thing encompassing a wide variety of components, both emotional and cerebral that it cannot possibly arise like a waterspout. Indeed it can. Love invades the human psyche on both the conscious and sub-conscious level. For some this can lead to an instantaneous gut reaction. This is the one person that can complete my life. This is “love at first sight”.
It may be easier to accept this premise if we step away from the idea that our phrase is linked only to human relations with one another. How many of us have at some time been swept away with a desire to have - that bike, that hat, that car, that necklace, that watch or that puppy? The thought rushing through the mind doesn’t hesitate at sensible? expensive? or practical? Your brain has seen, assessed and decided. The objects may differ but the process is the same. “Love at first sight” does exist and what it is simply another inexplicable facet of the human condition.
Sample I
Veni, vidi, amavi (pardon my poor paraphrase of Caesar’s quote)… Does it happen in real life? Can one fall in love at first sight? My immediate answer is “No! Developing such a profound feeling as love for another person requires time to get to know the person.” However, I think it is quite possible to feel passion for or get attracted to someone instantaneously. Probably, it is such a feeling of passion or attraction that people refer to as love at first sight. In my experience, such a feeling borders on blissful obsession with the person who evokes it. For example, one can marvel at the desired person’s physical features, e.g. those luminous eyes, the cute dimple on the chin, the lean muscular arms, the good posture, the graceful walk, the deep voice, etc. If some kind of verbal interaction took place between the people in question, one can also savour the memories of the other person’s witty jokes, interesting ideas, subtle compliments, etc. Getting attracted to someone at first sight usually results in hours of fantasizing, which involves both the reminiscing of the past time spent with or around the object of admiration and planning the future desired interactions. The future plans often become quite elaborate, as they should include answers to so many questions, namely, where and when the meeting should take place, what topics one should cover, what clothes one should wear, etc. The right answers seem crucial, since the ultimate goals of making a good impression and getting a chance of going to the next stage (whatever it means to him or her) are so yearned for. Pleasurable as all this fantasizing can be, it always involves a little bit of anxiety. What if things do not work out? What if the famous veni, vidi will never be followed by vici? Or, if you prefer more pacifist terminology, what if one never gets a chance to charm the object of his or her admiration? If you ask me, such little fears make the whole experience even more exciting.
Sample J
I guess in a way I believe in love at first sight. I think about the first time I met my husband, when I was instantly attracted to him. That part wasn’t love so much as interest, I guess, but there was more to it, too. It was the way he sat very straight and very still. He had this almost wide-eyed expression that made it so obvious his brain was working like mad behind them. He was quiet, but not awkward. And he was wearing a band t-shirt. He just exuded calmness, basically. I’m so high-energy most of the time that I was drawn to his tranquility. Even then, I knew that my husband was someone I wanted to be around. Combined with how utterly handsome he is, of course it was love at first sight! I also think that a person’s actions say a lot about them, so there are a lot of contexts in which seeing someone in the act of doing something can be like falling in love at first sight. For example, imagine stopping to help pick up the bike of a sobbing child with a scraped knee, only to realize that another person was doing the same thing. Wouldn’t you find that kindness attractive? What about meeting a person who is very good at their job – that’s pretty attractive, too. I guess what I’m saying is that first impressions make a big impact, and if nothing else, love at first sight is an instinctual belief that the person you’ve just met is worth your attention.
Answers
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