u/shkimh

(this is my first time writing an essay, idk how well ive done so id love some advice!)

Q. In a 2013 New York Times article on the practice of taking selfies, writer, editor, and podcast host J Wortham wrote: “Rather than dismissing the trend as a side effect of digital culture or a sad form of exhibitionism, maybe we’re better off seeing selfies for what they are at their best—a kind of visual diary, a way to mark our short existence and hold it up to others as proof that we were here.”

Write an essay that argues your position on the extent to which Wortham’s claim about the value of documenting one’s life with selfies is valid.

In your response you should do the following:

• Respond to the prompt with a thesis that presents a defensible position.
• Provide evidence to support your line of reasoning.
• Explain how the evidence supports your line of reasoning.
• Use appropriate grammar and punctuation in communicating your argument.

(this question is from 2024, set 1)

Essay:

People throughout the years have always documented their own life stories or that of others. My argument stems from the opinion that selfies are a modern adaptation of documenting one’s daily life experiences, similar to how one might write a diary entry daily about the small moments in life.

People have always wanted to document their life to remember stories and events they might have forgotten about. In the past, when there were no cameras or photography, people used art to fulfill this desire, by writing in journals or painting portraits and events. With the introduction of front-facing cameras and digital culture, selfies can be seen as an adaptation to the means provided to the population. Selfies fulfilled this desire to capture memories by facilitating an easier way to note down a moment. Now, instead of having to write about an event back at home after witnessing it, one can simply take out their phone and snap a selfie spontaneously. As Wortham has described, selfies therefore can be seen as a kind of visual diary.

Selfies hold more memories than an ordinary photograph of the landscape or one’s work place, by introducing a personal element. If a person goes to visit the Eiffel Tower in Paris, and takes photos only of the tower and not of themselves, there is no intimate connection with the photo. It can pass as any other photo of the Eiffel Tower. But a selfie taken of the person with the tower in the background holds value, by capturing a personal memory. Similarly, a diary doesn’t only focus on main events happening, but personal moments in one’s life. For example, Anne Frank’s diary documents her life in hiding with her family, and while she writes about important events such as the Nazi Germans coming to each house to check for hiding Jews, she also writes about the everyday proceedings of her family, preparing dinner, eating together, passing time, and so on.

Selfies can be attributed as a side effect of digital culture, but I argue that it is simply an adaptation to the digital culture. Another side effect could be the increase in the number of blogs, which can be seen as a successor to someone’s newspaper column. With the rise of digital media, people have adapted to using this new media to fulfill their desires. Selfies can be linked to exhibitionism, but this makes up a small percentage of selfies ever clicked. Most people take selfies as a spontaneous event to mark a memory in their virtual diary, not as a way to attract attention to oneself. While some influencers online may post their own selfies, the majority of the population who take selfies keep them hidden and personal, similar to how one may refuse to show their diary entries to others.

Selfies, therefore, are a result of the crossover of the desire to capture memories to remember for a lifetime, and the introduction of technology which can sufficiently fulfill this desire. Selfies are a modern adaptation of diaries and journals, as they hold personal memories and entries of one’s life, the same way a diary entry does.

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