Exemplification Exercise

We Are Not Alone

               Whatever happened to courtesy?  I am referring to the everyday, run-of-the-mill courtesies people used to show each other, which now seem to have gone the way of helping the elderly across busy intersections and quiet libraries.  For example, last week as I came out of a grocery store, I saw a woman moving her groceries from a shopping cart to her trunk.  That task completed, she shoved her shopping cart directly behind the car parked next to her.  What was she thinking?  Did she know that the driver of the other car would hit it if he failed to see it?  Did she realize he would have to return her cart if he did see it?  Did she care?  The woman’s behavior angered and puzzled me.  Sadly, however, my experience shows that this woman’s discourteous behavior is not an isolated event.  It seems that basic courtesy is rapidly being replaced by basic discourtesy.  Everywhere I spend time in public—at school, at work, at shopping malls, in parks, in theaters, at sports events, at movies, and even on the highway—discourteous behavior seems to be increasing.

               Nowhere has public discourtesy become more common than in traffic.  I recall my early driving experience as being pleasurable.  Other drivers would follow right-of-way guidelines, waiting their turn to make a left turn or cross through an intersection.  Now this courteous attitude seems to be changing.  Like me, you have probably experienced angry drivers in a rush, shouting, shaking their fists, or making hand gestures at you.  These drivers may be well-mannered people, but they often go nuts behind the wheel of a car.  Near campus lately, I have noticed something new taking place.  After a left turn signal turns red, three, four, five, or even six drivers still rush through the intersection, delaying the cars that now have a green light.  These drivers seem to share the same discourteous attitude, “I waited long enough for this left turn light to turn green, and now I’m going through even if it turn red again.”  Of course, dangerous drivers have always been on the road, but now others are compounding the danger because of their discourteous impatience.   Sometimes discourtesy even erupts into anger.  A recent survey of Southern California drivers revealed that nearly 60% of those surveyed admitted chasing other motorists who had offended them.  Usually these chases are abandoned as tempers cool, but sometimes the offended driver overtakes the offender and a battle of words, gestures, and even weapons ensues.

               Last week I began to notice discourteous behavior that seems to have developed in the last few years.  Skateboarders find it an enjoyable challenge weaving in and out of pedestrians strolling on public walkways.  They seem to lack common courtesy because they fail to keep in mind that a pedestrian walks at a much slower pace and the pedestrian can’t always predict the skateboarder’s movements.  This type of discourteous behavior can turn a relaxing afternoon stroll into a nerve-racking experience.  The increase of cell phones has given rise to another kind of public discourtesy.  People make private phone calls to friends, loved ones, and business associates while standing in a crowd, eating in restaurants, or watching movies in a theater.  Often their voices rise well above speaking range and disrupt the casual conversations of people who share the space or the viewing experiences of other moviegoers.

               Another form of common discourtesy is the determination of people to pepper their conversations with common obscenities that used to be reserved for locker-room conversations, scribbling on restroom walls, or moments of great frustration and anger.  Recently, for example, a friend and I were standing in line to buy tickets for a movie.  Several people behind us were speaking loudly and punctuating their observations with gutter language and uproarious laughter.  The epithets in their rambling conversation, delivered by both young men and women, were directed toward actors, musical groups, members of the opposite sex, teachers, and each other when they disagreed.  Behind me an older couple waited in line with their two children.  They were clearly embarrassed, but the speakers seemed to be unaware or their possible effect on people around them.  Such public use of generally unacceptable language reveals an aggressive, disrespectful attitude—perhaps the most extreme form of public discourtesy.  It implicitly suggests that these teens feel free to say whatever they please without considering common social constraints.  Should freedom of speech include the right to be publicly discourteous by spouting four-letter words no matter how offensive it is to others who share the public space?

               Why is public discourtesy increasing?  Is it possible that more and more people are focusing on themselves and forgetting that their behavior might affect others around them?  By merely remembering that we share public spaces with others, we might help replace basic discourtesy with basic courtesy.

Questions:

1. Explain how you know that this author is using exemplification in this essay. [Answer with 3-4 sentences.]

2. What method or methods of organization [mentioned in this module] does the author use in this essay? [Give the specific name of the method of organization in a complete sentence.] If you use terminology from Wikipedia or some other source, you will not receive credit for your answer.

3. Explain your choice of answer in #2 with examples to support your choice.