21A Model essay
This essay was based on the article “Generation Y's Ego Trip Takes a Nasty Turn" at http://articles.latimes.com/2007/feb/27/local/me-esteem27
In the article “Generation Y’s Ego Trip Takes a Nasty Turn” Larry Gordon and Louis Sahagun report that the effort people have put to boost children’s self-esteem has backfired and has produced a generation of students who are more narcissistic than 20 years ago. Students who have an inflated ego tend to care less about being more intimate and emotional and in some ways attack others verbally when they are rejected or insulted. Some say that the increase of inflated egos might have been caused by self-esteem programs in elementary schools and websites like MySpace and YouTube. Those websites allow people to self-promote themselves but many times people take it too far. Also, some college students expect to have good grades just by showing up to class. They don’t take pride in learning anymore, all they care about is their financial success. Some disagree and say that a “me – first attitude” is needed to succeed. Narcissism is harmful when it comes to interacting socially but it can also be valuable when it comes to competition.
Narcissism can cause social problems. For one, people who have inflated egos only care about their feelings. They don’t worry about anything else or anyone else but themselves. MySpace plays a big role when it comes to narcissism. Many users self-promote themselves far beyond that is allowed. I personally have seen profiles of people who are narcissistic. I have also seen bulletins that have been posted by people who ask others to comment their pictures. If someone doesn’t go comment anyone’s picture then that means they’re not your friends. I believe that is pathetic. They only socialize to get attention. If they can’t be the center of attention, they will do whatever it takes to be in the “spot light.” Also, students who have inflated egos may verbally attack others who reject them or insult them because they feel that they’re “too good” to be rejected or insulted. In the past semester I was taking a reading class and most of the students there would not do their work. The professor dropped them from the class and one of the students there who seemed to be self-absorbed, screamed at the professor and said it wasn’t fair that she paid to take the class and now she was being dropped. I believe that the student should have known better than to think that she was going to pass the class just by showing up, plus she was also being rude which is inappropriate. All in all, having too much of an ego is harmful when it comes to trying to interact socially with others.
Having a narcissistic personality can be helpful when it comes to competition. In today’s society competition in business is fierce. Self-image plays a big role in the business industry. For example, when it comes to job interviews, the person who is being interviewed has to be confident, well-dressed, and show them why they should be hired. Besides knowledge and skills, confidence is very important. Also, Marc
Flacks, an assistant professor of sociology mentioned that “if you don’t have a me-first attitude, you won’t succeed.” I agree somewhat with this statement because if someone really wants to succeed in anything they will have to do what it takes to get there, even if it means taking it away from someone else. For example, if someone wants to become manager of a company, they will have to work hard and compete with anyone who wants that same position. Another example can be a race. The only way anyone can win is by telling themselves they are better and they can win this. If they’re good at what they do and have confidence, they will win that race. As a result, being successful in today’s society is very important and if having a narcissistic attitude will make anyone successful, expect future generations to increase the narcissistic population. Today’s society has changed dramatically
