Journal Entry 5

Mohammad Chowdhury

ADV 4900

Journal Entry 5

So, today was a slow day at the office. There wasn’t any real work for me to do so I pretty much ended up doing my own thing. Today was definitely a shift in comparison to last week. I guess not everyday can be exciting for an intern; hopefully those days are rare occurrences. Since there isn’t much to talk about in terms of work at the internship I might as well dive right in and discuss the latest reading in The New Yorker, “Social Animal” by David Brooks. First off I have to mention the writing style, which made for a fun read that wasn’t dry and just stating facts. The usage of fictional individuals to layout key interactions that directly affect our personal development made the article read more like a short story than some kind of a research paper. The writing method certainly helped because this is not some short article.

Brooks really manages to dissect the thinking of individuals of a very specific group in this generation, the Composure Class. Quite frankly, the life they are described to live is the life most individuals strive for in this generation, myself included. There are many points that I found very relatable and pretty true, one such being how men and women think about relationships. Through the first date scenario, Brooks really breaks down how we engage in a situation as simple as a first date, which essentially is just another point in life where we are making decisions that will shape our future. More importantly, this article highlights how our social interactions affect that future. So overall, this is a pretty good article with some nice little insights.