Tuesday, October 21, 2014
Love & Identity - Due Thursday 10/23
*****PLEASE FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS. THE ASSIGNMENT IS IN FOUR PARTS AND REQUIRES YOU TO RESPOND BOTH IN YOUR NOTEBOOK AND PUBLISH ON THE BLOG.
PART I: This is to be completed IN YOUR NOTEBOOK Construct a chart. Describe feelings that could best be associated with your definition of love. You can make this a T-chart, or a Venn Diagram.
Do you remember the first time you fell in love (romantic love)? What was it like? Were you exhilarated? Frightened? Intrigued? Bewildered?
PART II NOTEBOOK AGAIN: Are There different types of Love?
How can love as an overall concept contribute to who we are as individuals? Provide one concrete example to support your statement.
PART III: Tonight : Read Young Love by Tiffany Sharples pg. 417 in the text.
Take NOTES WHILE YOU READ!!!!! Active REading -
PART IV: PUBLISH YOUR RESPONSE! please check for grammar and spelling before you post your response. I encourage you to type your response in WORD before you publish it.
Identify the thesis. What is the essay essentially about?
What is the author's purpose for writing this essay? What ideas does Sharples wish to convey (communicate to her audience)?
Select a quote that you feel is signficant. Why do you believe this quote is so important?
Sharples argues that "along with language, romance may be one of the hardest skills we'll ever be called on to acquire."
What do you think she means by that? Do you agree or disagree? Explain.
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Love is a process that every individual experiences in his or her life. Love isn’t just falling in love with someone when you are older; it is something you encounter with from the moment you are born and for the rest of your life. In “Young Love”, Tiffany Sharples talks about how one is surrounded by love as a newborn, toddler and while one goes through puberty. As an infant all your parents’ love and attention is on you by bathing you, feeding you, putting you to sleep, etc. Even coming in context with other adults and children, the baby is always the center of attention. Then as you become a toddler, you being to have crushes on certain people who play with you and give you the attention you want. Then throughout your school days you flirt with the opposite sex, teasing and sexual desires leading into puberty. Once you go through puberty you begin to have sex with either someone you love, or just hooking up with. As you can see, love is in one’s whole lifetime. I believe what Sharples is trying to say is that people don’t realize love is with you throughout your whole life. When I answered the question in my notebook about the first time I fell in love before reading this, I wrote about an experience when I was 16 years old. While I was reading "Young Love" I started to think about when I was younger and felt like I was "in-love." Now looking back I know I wasn’t “in-love” but at the time it felt like it. In my 3rd grade class I had a crush on a boy and I would always try to play with him at recess and sit next to him at lunch. Love isn’t always about serious, long lasting relationships. “From the moment we’re born-when the world is mostly sensation, and nothing much matters beyond a full belly, a warm embrace, and a clean diaper-until we finally emerge into adulthood and understand the rich mix of tactile, sexual and emotional experiences that come with loving another adult, we are in a constant state of learning and rehearsing”(Sharples, 418). I think this quote sums up Sharples essay in how one is surrounded by love their entire lifetime.
ReplyDelete"along with language, romance may be one of the hardest skills we'll ever be called on to acquire” (Sharples, 418). I believe what Sharples is trying to say is that love is not easy and it will be the hardest thing one has to deal with in life. Not only in intimate relationships but also like Sharples says, throughout your whole life. Not everyone is lucky enough to have both parents love and support him or her, which is a difficult thing for people to deal with. Then throughout one’s teenage years love is probably the hardest thing a teenager has to deal with, mixed feelings, getting dumped, not being liked back, best friends stealing your partner, etc. Then as you get older and married love isn’t so easy for adults too. For example, some couples fall out of love and end up cheating breaking their partners heart. I do agree with Sharples when she says that love isn’t easy. People go through ups and downs with love throughout life making it hard for them to learn what love really is.
The essay Young Love by Tiffanie Sharples discusses many different points regarding the idea of love throughout our lives. The entire essay is about love and how we are equipped with the tools we need in order to find and receive the love we need and deserve. The main point of this article is that although not all studies reveal a universal truth, they all have the common theme that people pick up specific love skills in different stages of their lives. The purpose of Sharples’ essay is to allow readers all over the world to see that love is universal and that all people experience love in similar ways. We all acquire the skills to communicate and love others throughout different stages in our lives. I think that she wants to let the readers understand that although some people may not be able to find love right away, that there is always hope. She wants to address her audience with a sense of hope and a positive outlook for their future love endeavors.
ReplyDeleteOne of Sharples’ quotes that stood out to me most was: “From the moment we're born--when the world is mostly sensation, and nothing much matters beyond a full belly, a warm embrace and a clean diaper--until we finally emerge into adulthood and understand the rich mix of tactile, sexual and emotional experiences that come with loving another adult, we are in a constant state of learning and rehearsing (page 1).” This quote is so important because it allows readers to know that we are constantly learning about love from the time we are infants until death. We have learned different skills and tactics to better our relationships and look for that special someone. In the article, Sharples argues that “along with language, romance may be one of the hardest skills we’ll ever be called on to acquire.” I think she means that it is difficult to pick up on language as a newborn, but being able to pick up love and receive it as you are growing up is something that can be just as difficult and needs to be learned constantly. As humans, we have a constant need for affection. We always want to be loved and to love someone. Therefore, it can be challenging to love and be loved when things in life may be difficult, but love is definitely worth it in the end.
In the essay, Young Love by Tiffanie Sharples, the author talks about how love is a constant learning process and as we discover different kinds of love we as individuals move at different paces during specific times in our lives. The author’s purpose for writing this essay is to show how love can be a very conflicting and confusing process. From the time we are little we are trying to gain and give love. Sharples is trying to convey that although love could be a trying process, in the end, it is worth what we must go through to achieve the love we ultimately want. A significant quote in the essay is “Babies need physical contact with human hands to grow and thrive” (Sharples, 2). This quote is significant because it is important to let the reader know that without love a baby cannot survive. Without love and affection a child will grow feeling inadequate and unlovable. This feeling could affect them in future relationships, jobs, and their self-esteem. All it takes is one person, one smile to make a difference in a child’s life. I think the author’s statement “along with language, romance may be one of the hardest skills we’ll ever be called to acquire” means that love is difficult, it is a long hard struggle that is not easy to learn or find. I agree with this because love means something different to each individual and if you find that person who believes the way that you do and is willing to go along with you, to learn and acquire the skills necessary to have a successful love life you have succeeded in achieving the love you want and need.
ReplyDeleteAnthony Modica
ReplyDelete10/22/14
Professor Brady
Young Love
The essay “Young Love” by Tiffany Sharples, is essentially about how falling in love in not just something you do one day, you have to learn to love. Even as a child we learn to love by our parents loving us and holding us and showing us essentially how to love. Tiffany’s reasoning for writing this was to show her side to how people learn to love over time. Gopnik says, “ Babies are building up ideas about how close relationships work. I believe this quote is important because it shows how children learn to love through their peers, mostly being their parents and how much parents really contribute to their child’s development in life. When Tiffany states, "along with language, romance may be one of the hardest skills we'll ever be called on to acquire." I believe she is saying that no matter what you do you can truly never master romance because not all people believe the same things are romantic two people can have complete different views on what is romantic so that no person can master the language of romance in general. I agree with her statement 100%.
This essay Young Love by Tiffanie Sharples explained how love is a experience that everyone goes through in their life. Love isn’t about two people falling in love and getting married, living happily ever after, it about the love you get when you are first born and for the rest of your life, you are loved by your family. Throughout the story “ Young Love” Tiffanie Sharples talk about how love is expressed and affecting to the time you are a newborn to toddler and it continues to the time you hit puberty. When you are a infant the love you get it all from you parents. Parents do everything for you like feeding you, bathing you, chaining your diaper and putting you down to sleep etc. A baby is a center of attention when with other adults and children, everyone love to play and hold the baby hand. Babies are always adored and loved so much because parents cherished every moment with their baby before they grow up. As you become a toddler you become little independent by playing with other children, eating on your own and less being carried by the parent. You being to have crushes on certain people who you play with and give you a sense of attention you want. When you start heading off to school, you start to flirt with the opposite sex, the teasing and the sexual desire to form a relationship leads to puberty. When going through puberty, teenagers begin to have sex with either someone you love, or someone you just met which it is call a hook up and that hookup could involved with alcohol. As result to all of this love is process that take a life time. What Sharples convey to the audience is that love never leaves us, we being loved everyday by our family and friends. People experience love in similar ways but it forms in stages that we go through in life. Love is a very strong word I feel and it take time to actually love someone. When you in a relationship, there are someone relationship that take things slow and some relationship that like to rush into things like love. Finding love is hard for some people and some people think it easy, but there always someone for someone, there is hope for everyone to find love and it does take time to actually really love them.
ReplyDeleteThe quote that Tiffanie Sharples wrote that really stood out to me was when she said “ A smile can be powerful way to win them back (Page 2). I think this quote is so important because a smile always put a smile on someone else face even when you not aspecting it. For example, when my boyfriend is in a mood or sad, when I smile at him and the appearance of seeing me make him happy. Another example when my friends are messing with me and they bring up times when I did something funny or embarrassing, my mood get into a mode where I am annoyed and I talk less. I start to ignore them, but when they smile at me my mood change back to happy and giggly. So a smile is powerful that can change a person emotion of the day or how a day that is so bad but once you see that special someone in your life smile, your mood becomes happy and bright. Sharples argues that “ along with language, romance may be one of the hardest skill we’ll ever be called on to acquire”. I think it means when you are a newborn they have their own language that it hard to understand, but the process of love and being able to experience love throughout your whole life is gift that everyone get at the beginning. Throughout your life, your family and friends will love you no matter what, but learning to love a specific person take time. The need for affection and feeling of being special to someone, everyone want that in their life. All teenagers and adults want to find someone love and to be loved at the same time but it take time and waiting to find the right person is worth the wait. Love is battlefield and challenge to face in life, but love and being love are things is difficult to find but it worth waiting for the right person that comes along and it all works out for the best at then end.
The essay, "Young Love" by Tiffany Sharples is essentially about how relationships and love begins to evolve as humans progress towards adulthood. Tiffany Sharples' purpose for writing this article was to show how love is experienced within everyone's life. The emotion of love is demonstrated throughout "Young Love" from babies surrounding themselves with people who are going to give them the most attention and single-gender groups disbanding to form social circles containing both boys and girls resulting in sexual desires amongst both groups. "Babies need physical contact with human hands to grow and thrive"(Diamond 418). Data has shown that premature babies who were regularly touched fared significantly better than the premature babies that weren't. Human behavior is drastically influenced by the affection that is shown in our early development; the data provided in the essay,"Young Love" has shown how individuals are more likely to engage in reckless behaviors due to the lack of love given during their upbringing.
ReplyDelete"Along with language, romance may be one of the hardest skills we'll ever be called on to acquire"(Sharples 418). I believe that Sharples made this statement because love is such a difficult and complex concept to understand. Humans need affection to survive and live a happy life, various forms of love include feelings towards family, friends, and your partner, hence the comparison to language. I agree with Tiffany Sharples' quote because love is such a powerful emotion that can influence our judgements and behaviors out of affection. In the end, love is a feeling everyone should experience despite it's complexity because a loving relationship allows us to fulfill a satisfied life filled with happiness.
Although perhaps playing to several stereotypes and gender typecasting at certain points, Tiffany Sharples Young Love definitely provides a keen and perceptive insight into the development of individuals in regard to their emotional and romantic growth. Providing significant and concise data as well as various institutional studies, her thesis is quite evident and concrete- “While not all of the studies yield universal truths, they all suggest that people are wired to pick up their love skills in very specific stages” (Sharples, 418). At face value, it may seem quite palpable and fairly obvious, however once delved deeper into provides a substantial perception into the development of feelings and emotions established at various ages from birth through adulthood. While appearing to be a rudimentary concept, each stage of chronological development in an individual exposes new understandings about themselves and their own physical being that lay the foundation for the next stage of development in a few years. Together, the culmination of all of these various discoveries and progressions set the tone for the manner in which a particular individual will approach romantic encounters in later life.
ReplyDeleteA fair few quotes certainly caught my eye, but one in particular reverberated a bit louder than the others. Toward the conclusion of paragraph sixteen, Sharples states quite definitively, “[Wendy] Manning’s studies suggest that hooking up prevents kids from practicing the interpersonal skills they’ll need in a permanent relationship and may lead to lowered expectations of what those relationships should be like- and a great willingness to settle for less” (Sharples, 422). To some extent, the correlation is logical and although it is impossible to prove specific cause-and-effect, one would be foolish in simply putting all of their eggs in one basket and taking the assumption that hooking up is the end-all, be-all of what makes or breaks a relationship. First and foremost if the specific studies and institutional research that has been provided earlier in the text holds true, then the fundamental foundation of emotions has already been developed through years of interpersonal interaction and life experience; the effects of which will not be permanently erased after a night of decisions inspired by a tad too much Jack Daniels. Secondly, if experimentation is in integral part of development, as stated in the text, then is this not a more unorthodox form of experimentation? One could argue that hooking up may be a critical part of the development of an individual as a means for self-discovery and uncovering more of their social self in an environment influenced in part by their peers and their actions and decisions in such social setting. Finally, this is a very individualized concept and dangerous assumption- a person’s morals and values are concrete and unique to their own self and hooking up is not a consistent act that has perpetual repercussions that will erase and rewrite ones moral code overnight or even in a week’s time. I found this quote to certainly hold some water, but for the most part Sharples and Manning sunk in their assumption.
Although perhaps playing to several stereotypes and gender typecasting at certain points, Tiffany Sharples Young Love definitely provides a keen and perceptive insight into the development of individuals in regard to their emotional and romantic growth. Providing significant and concise data as well as various institutional studies, her thesis is quite evident and concrete- “While not all of the studies yield universal truths, they all suggest that people are wired to pick up their love skills in very specific stages” (Sharples, 418). At face value, it may seem quite palpable and fairly obvious, however once delved deeper into provides a substantial perception into the development of feelings and emotions established at various ages from birth through adulthood. While appearing to be a rudimentary concept, each stage of chronological development in an individual exposes new understandings about themselves and their own physical being that lay the foundation for the next stage of development in a few years. Together, the culmination of all of these various discoveries and progressions set the tone for the manner in which a particular individual will approach romantic encounters in later life.
ReplyDeleteA fair few quotes certainly caught my eye, but one in particular reverberated a bit louder than the others. Toward the conclusion of paragraph sixteen, Sharples states quite definitively, “[Wendy] Manning’s studies suggest that hooking up prevents kids from practicing the interpersonal skills they’ll need in a permanent relationship and may lead to lowered expectations of what those relationships should be like- and a great willingness to settle for less” (Sharples, 422). To some extent, the correlation is logical and although it is impossible to prove specific cause-and-effect, one would be foolish in simply putting all of their eggs in one basket and taking the assumption that hooking up is the end-all, be-all of what makes or breaks a relationship. First and foremost if the specific studies and institutional research that has been provided earlier in the text holds true, then the fundamental foundation of emotions has already been developed through years of interpersonal interaction and life experience; the effects of which will not be permanently erased after a night of decisions inspired by a tad too much Jack Daniels. Secondly, if experimentation is in integral part of development, as stated in the text, then is this not a more unorthodox form of experimentation? One could argue that hooking up may be a critical part of the development of an individual as a means for self-discovery and uncovering more of their social self in an environment influenced in part by their peers and their actions and decisions in such social setting. Finally, this is a very individualized concept and dangerous assumption- a person’s morals and values are concrete and unique to their own self and hooking up is not a consistent act that has perpetual repercussions that will erase and rewrite ones moral code overnight or even in a week’s time. I found this quote to certainly hold some water, but for the most part Sharples and Manning sunk in their assumption.
Now, Sharples most definitely hit the nail on the head by stating that "along with language, romance may be one of the hardest skills we'll ever be called on to acquire" (Sharples, 418). Albeit there are several steps to this development process that occur chronologically through age and experience, this ties into the concept of social identity and perception in regards to one’s social outlook and mental psyche. Several crucial factors also play a vital role in the development of romance, such as childhood and early development, real life experience and the effect it has on relationships, morals and values, self-confidence and esteem, social attitudes and societal expectations, and personal preferences. I happen to agree with Sharples- romance is not an ideology that can be studied in a textbook or through online videos, but rather something that requires experience and real-world encounters and interaction in order to truly master. This can be incredibly intimidating for many, as the idea of social interaction with the opposite gender has a direct impact on how one sees themself due to an immediate critique and if one is not prepared for such brutal honesty, be it positive or negative, then it may have lasting effects that can alter the way in which development occurs, or comes to a complete halt.
ReplyDeleteThe essay Young Love by Tiffany Sharples is essentially about the development and the process of learning how to love from birth to adulthood. It is suggested “that people are wired to pick up their love skills in very specific stages” (Sharples 1).The author’s purpose for writing this essay is to explain the stages of love in a persons development and help you understand the process a person has to go through to be able to love another person.
ReplyDeleteThe ideas that Sharples wishes to convey is that love is a desire that starts to develop at birth that begins with the bonding of an infant with their parent. Then it progresses and develops further as a person matures into adulthood. At each stage of development a person moves closer to attaining love and forming close romantic relationships. This is a gradual process that develops over a long period of time.
A quote that I feel is significant is “Adolescence is a time for experimentation” (Sharples 4). I believe this quote is important because it explains that adolescence is a time to explore your feelings and experience different possibilities in life. It is a time to grow and mature. By experimenting it helps an adolescence figure out what type of love and relationship that they want in life.
Sharples argues that “along with language, romance may be one of the hardest skills we’ll ever be called on to acquire.” I think that Sharples means that romance is a feeling that is learned and built upon at different stages in a persons life. It is not a certainty in a person life. I agree with Sharples that “romance may be one of the hardest skills” for a person to attain. People need to be exposed to certain life experiences in order to acquire love and romance. It is a skill that is learned and develops over time.
In the reading of "Young Love," by Tiffany Sharples, one may come to realize that in all stages of life, we show some aspect of affection. In summary, Sharples was attempting to display the progression of love and affection through the stages of a human being's life.
ReplyDeleteA very intriguing quote by Sharples states "The opposite-sex teasing and chasing that are rife on playgrounds may give teachers headaches, but they teach boys and girls a lot. The games, after all, are about pursuit and emotional arousal, two critical elements of sex" (420). To elaborate, this quote is very accurate because I recall back in my kindergarten days playing with a certain girl on the playground. This girl would not only chase me around, but would often try and kiss me. Sharples is correct. At such a young age, humans begin to show love and affection. As time progresses, each stage of a human's life has its own interesting and unique way to show love and affection for the opposite sex.
Sharples states "along with language, romance may be one of the hardest skills we'll ever be called on to acquire." Furthermore, I strongly agree with this quote. To explain, their are only two genders, male and female. Males and females are for the most part similar in their physical and mental aspects, but both genders hold unique qualities. While the men want one idea, the women want another. A female might be interested in a male because of "xyz," but the male may never show signs to the female. Also, females may be attracted to certain traits a male has that the male realizes or is highly unaware he holds. The difficuility of romance is portrayed through the understanding of the opposite gender and this will always be the greatest barrier within romance.
The essay Young love by Tiffany Sharples is essentially about the understanding of the different types of love and how our ideas about love are developed. This essay shows how love is not only the romantic feelings between two lovers but also the feelings we have towards our family. Tiffany Sharples purpose in writing this essay was to bring light to this idea that love is more than what is shared between lovers but, also Sharples shows how the more common idea of love develops through childhood.
ReplyDeleteA quote that stands out to me is “Manning’s studies suggest that hooking up prevents kids from practicing the interpersonal skills they’ll need in a permanent relationship and may lead to lowered expectations of what those relationships should be like- and a great willingness to settle for less” (Sharples, 422). This quote presents the idea that an individual’s experimentation hinders their ability to form long lasting relationships once their experimenting phase is over. I don’t agree with this quote for the fact that I believe experimenting while you are young is actually beneficial to your future relationships. I believe this because when you are young you should not be focused on trying to form long lasting relationships because you are still trying to find out who you are. In order to be able to be happy with someone else you must first be happy with who you are. Finding out who you are comes from life experiences and experimenting through hookups and sexual acts can play a tremendous part in finding yourself.
Sharples argues that “along with language, romance may be one of the hardest skills we’ll ever be called on to acquire.” I agree with this statement because romance is felt differently by everyone. Many factors play a role in how we view romantic love and how we feel expressing it. Some individuals feel more open and affectionate about their romantic love for others and some are more shy and hold back their feelings. Our individual feelings are unique and matching the way we are expected to act by the majority of people can be a great challenge to some. Romance is not felt by everyone and this can sometimes make or break a relationship.
This essay is about how throughout time in our lives we discover and learn about and understand different kinds of love. While we grow up we learn how to love from our parents as they raise us. The main purpose of this essay is to help us comprehend how love works throughout life and how we change. I think Sharples wished to convey the importance of love and how we learn to love at an early age and it’s passed down from our parents. She wants to communicate to us that there is more to love than everyone thinks.
ReplyDeleteOne quote I find important is “Babies are building up ideas about how close relationships work” (Sharples 2). I feel this is important because babies understand relationships very early so with time we learn more and more about them.
I agree with Sharples idea that romance may be one of the hardest skills to acquire because I we go in and out relationships many times before finding the right one. To spend your life with another person it takes a lot of attachment and commitment, which is very difficult.
Love is an intense feeling of deep affection. Love isn’t just about falling in love when your older, like your parents may tell you. It’s about the different stages you go through from when you’re an infant to an adolescent. In the essay, Young Love by Tiffanie Sharpies, she discuses how you are surrounded by love as early as a newborn, to a toddler, and eventually through puberty. She emphases that love is a learning process and a way of discovering different kinds of love. In addition, she stresses that it isn’t easy. “Along with language, romance may be one of the hardest skills we'll ever be called on to acquire” (Sharpies 1). I agree with this quote because love isn’t easy. People go through difficult experiences with love. This makes it hard for them to know what love really is. There are varies ways of expressing love; but not everyone is fortunate enough to have family or friends that love and care for them. In result, this can cause feelings of abandonment and loneliness. We as humans we have that constant need to be loved. Over time this makes it difficult for a person to understand what love really is if they haven’t experienced it. Sharpies quote that stood out to the most was, “Adults often lament the love they had and lost in high school and wonder what would have happened if they had met just a few years later. But the only way to acquire the skills to conduct a lifetime relationship is to practice on ones you may destroy in the process” (Sharpies 4). I can relate to this quote because I once thought that I would marry my first long-term relationship I had in high school. I was naive to think that way because I didn’t love him to the point where I would marry him. Most of the time that isn’t the case because love is a process that you learn through each experience you have.
ReplyDeleteIn the thesis, Tiffany Sharples talks about relationships and how we misinterpret them for love. For example, Feiring’s son viewed a one-on-one get together as a date. The essay is about how children need to be nurtured at an early age in order to experience affection. The essay also talks about how households and parents determine a person’s character. For instance, people born into an unstable household will exhibit unstable behavior. I believe Sharples wrote this essay to express the misconceptions of love and how love really is. Sharples is attempting to drive home the fact that love needs to be felt or else it is not going to be expressed.
ReplyDelete“Boys and girls who once played in mixed groups at school begin to drift apart into single-sex camps, drawing social boundaries that will stay in place for years.” I was intrigued in realizing that school starts people off with a sense of identity. There are other external factors as to why girls starts hanging out with girls and why boys hang out with boys. The external factors are coutees, imitation and kids start making friends. Boys think girls are bad to be around. School as a system keeps girls away from boys during this age of imitation. During elementary school, kids imitate what they see their parents do. For example, when I was a kid I would see my dad hang around his friends, usually more guys than girls so I would hang around boys as a kid. I was trying to imitate or portray my dad at an early age and I never thought of it that way. Imitating starts at an early age and continues as a person gets older. For example, today I hang out with people that resembles my dad’s friends. Kids start making friends for the first time in elementary school. Friends’ help kids see perspective in a new light and gives kids a new way of thinking. For example, in my first grade class, I had friends who watched professional wrestling. At an early age, I developed an interest in wrestling because of my friends.
Sharples is stating that romance is not easy achieved unless you have a grasp on what it is. A person needs to know how to speak the language of love before you understand it. For example, love or romance is like happiness, you do not know what it is until it happens to you. I also believe love is never is what it is on the surface which I think is Sharples point. I agree with Sharples point because external and internal forces are instrumental in making a relationship. Internal forces could be a person’s emotions. Someone could say their happy but you will never really know and I think that contributes to romance being hard to attain. External forces could be eye contact and body language. Somebody could paying attention to their significant other in a relationship but does not understand their body language. In essence, internal and external factors end up becoming intertwined, thus making romance a hard concept to grasp.
Tiffany Sharples demonstrates that love is a human action we express from the time we are infants. The love we receive from our parents as infants, set the structure for the love we hope to find in future relationships. As babies we are the center of attention, flirting and making ourselves irresistible to adults. This same concepts follows us for the rest of our lives just in different aspects. The innocent playground games we practiced in school prompts teasing and chasing of the opposite sex. Essentially Sharples states that love and the desire for love from another human subconsciously makes its way into every relationship we obtain.
ReplyDeleteSharples laments " But while we're more or less fluent in speech by the time we're five, romance takes a lot longer" (418). I concur with this statement simple because I believe the language of love requires more time and experience and various from person to person. Similarly, Sharples argues that "Along with language, romance may be one of the hardest skill we'll ever be called on to acquire". In love, we constantly fail, leading us into paths that often leaves us feeling hopeless. But it is only through these lows that we will find the person who keeps us feeling high. To want and to be wanted is a characteristics we as humans share, but the way we seek it will lead us into our own personal identity.
Love is one of the most beautiful things that is unseen in life but rather felt. Love doesn’t have to be the romantic type of love where you have to fall in love with another individual. It could just be general love meaning, parents’ love, sibling love, and even friend/best friend love. It’s a certain type of attention and time devotion given to someone, which makes the other person feel special not just on the outside but also the inside. The article “Young Love” by Tiffany Sharples is basically about how one experiences love from the time they’re born to the time they begin to have relationships. Sharples purpose for writing this article is to have everyone realize that there are different stages of love. From the time you’re born, to growing up and moving on to school through the phases of puberty, and the types of relationship we encounter. Sharples provides the audience with her research and data to prove her ideology of one experiencing love through their lifetime. I believe that Sharples does this in a way to have her readers think about the stages of love in their own way so that it is easier for them to grasp the knowledge about love being everywhere and at every time. “From the moment we’re born—when the world is mostly sensation, and nothing much matters beyond a full belly, a warm embrace, and a clean diaper—until we finally emerge into adulthood and understand the rich mix of tactile, sexual, and emotional experiences that come with loving another adult, we are in a constant state of learning and rehearsing” (Sharples, 418). Considering this, if you think about it, when a baby is born the type of love that baby receives is from attention, playfulness, caring and nurturing actions from parents and other adults. Nowadays, as they grow up and move onto elementary school they begin to notice people of the opposite sex. They begin to form friendships which is the second type of love received. When it comes to relationships in elementary school, kids would point out two people that look good together. Those kids would want them or maybe even dare the two kids to do something but in a childish manner, for example, holding hands or maybe a quick kiss. The two kids that were pointed out have that awkward feeling of being together; nothing is being said or done, just awkward silence. Moving onto middle/high school, children begin to go through the many phases of puberty. This is the time when they are ready to explore. Two kids are pointed out saying that they would look good together and they begin to pursue their relationship, being the third type of love received. The relationship experiences begin from the sweet sparks of the butterfly feelings in the stomach to dramatic and senseless arguments. In between they even begin to explore their sexual desires. After a sexual experience, questions are brought up. Is the relationship going to continue or was it just a hook up? In a way, Sharples is trying to say that love is everywhere and present at all times throughout our life, even if it’s just a hook up taking place just for a night, love is still there. Instead of searching for love with our eyes all our lives and using our brains all our lives to interpret the meaning of love, what we really need to do is close our eyes, and use our hearts to feel the presence love.
ReplyDeleteSharples states many interesting things in her essay and even points out factual evidence from other researchers, however, one thing in particular did grab my attention. “But the only way to acquire the skills to conduct a lifetime relationship is to practice on ones you may destroy in the process” (Sharples, 421). I absolutely do agree with this because I believe that relationship is all about maintenance. You have to be able to maintain yourself, your significant other, and your relationship problems. You have to learn to work as a team and solve whatever problem occurs. You have to learn each other’s wants and needs. You have to be able to maintain communication, passion, and intimacy to keep the relationship alive. Everyone is bound to make mistakes, but it’s the mistakes that help you grow and be able to learn from them so that you can prevent them in the future. If you or your significant other cannot put in the time and effort to maintain the relationship, then the whole concept of being in a relationship isn’t for any one of the two. Very rarely do we see in our modern world where someone’s first relationship is there only relationship because they did all the right things to maintain the relationship and keep it alive. If the relationship ends, it’s not going to be the end of the world. There are plenty of fish in the sea, you just have to go through the sharks (the obstacles or challenges in life) before you catch the right fish. Based off of your past relationship experience, you’ll know what to do, what not to do, how to prevent mistakes or even solve them if you make them again. Maintenance is the key to a successful relationship.
ReplyDeleteOne of the most interesting things Sharples states in her essay is in the beginning. “Along with language, romance maybe one of the hardest skills we’ll ever be called on to acquire” (Sharples, 418). Romance definitely is difficult to act out. Not everyone gets it right the first time. Before romance plays a role in a relationship, couples need to have a genuine liking of each other. Couples need to know each other’s likes and dislikes. Not just do they have to accept each other’s flaws, but each other as individuals. They need to be honest with each other, be trustworthy, and loyal to one another. Romance means to be spontaneous, adventurous, excitement, and being full of unexpected surprises. Couples need to learn to take risks. If they succeed, great, if they fail, it’s not something to worry about; it’s just an unimportant, minor setback that can be worked on later. Romance means to be with one another through the ups and downs in life, sharing each other’s times of happiness and sorrows. Think for a moment that you’re connecting your relationship to a heart monitor. If both people in the relationship are working together, doing romantic things, facing the ups and downs, the heart monitor will show lines going up and down. However, if there is no romance, or even no type of effort being put in the relationship, the heart monitor is going to show a flat line. This means that romance has not been acquired, and the relationship is dead. Romance is most challenging universal skill for anyone to attain. I believe that the only way to acquire this is if both people in the relationship learn to have their hearts beat as one.
ReplyDeleteRomance is certainly one of the most difficult things to experience in in our lives, as Sharples stated in her essay, "Along with language, romance may be one of the hardest skills we'll ever be called on to acquire." (Sharples, 418). I believe that this quote is incredibly important because to put love in a category as hard as learning a language really speaks volumes as to how love can impact someone's life. It is a gift of bonding, for you and a partner. In many cases, love requires you to understand each other's personal languages; What makes you tick, whether or not you like milk with your cereal. It's all a learning experience, and you are never alone. Although love may not be the same for everyone. The experience is always different. Some people might just click and fall in love immediately. Others take time, let their relationship grow to an unbreakable love-diamond. Either way, you're always with that special someone that makes your heart beat at such an uneasy pace that one day it is going to finally get used to that warm, fuzzy feeling when you are up on an altar saying "I do."
ReplyDeleteDamian's Response:
ReplyDelete“Young Love” by Tiffany Sharples is about the building blocks of love and how a person spends his or her whole life revolved around love. It starts when you are born. Your parents start to care for you and that is when you experience your first familial love relationship. "Babies need physical contact with human hands to grow and thrive". A child’s development relies on how much love they get from their parents. Studies show that the less love children got from their parents the more likely they were to engage in risky and reckless behavior.
In her essay Tiffany states “From babyhood on, it equips us with the tools we will need for the hardest social role we will ever play – the role of romantic”. Our parents teach us how to love even before we can even remember. They teach us by giving us unconditional love. What we decide to do with this is our choice. It teaches us how to love our friends, siblings, grandparents, pets, and even partners with all different types of love. Love is not all they same because we all experience different feelings for different people but these types of love all have one thing in common, you care for those people.
Sharples argues “along with language, romance might be one of the hardest skills we will ever be called on to acquire”. She compares romance to language because it is difficult to learn a language. You are constantly learning different vocabulary and improving your language. Romance is very similar in the way that you are constantly learning and improving it.