Two Visions: University Starbucks Essay Samples

The university Starbucks is located on campus. It is accessible to students and faculty, but also individuals who are visiting the campus for tours and other general purposes.
The physical position of the Starbucks is relatively central in relation to the rest of campus. It offers a positive location for students and faculty alike to visit it and take advantage of its facilities. Inside, it is spacious, featuring chair and tables for occupants to lounge at while waiting for drinks, or to do school work and chat. Large windows throughout the building allow for more natural light than synthetic light, which adds for a relaxing glow.
The ordering station stretching the length of the far wall, allowing people in line to peruse both the drink menu, as well as the pastry window. It gives customers a chance to prepare their order once they reach the cash register, and add impulse purchases to their order while they wait in line. Students and faculty can use the space to meet for schoolwork, or just to chat. Some can come to be alone and enjoy a nice cup of flavored coffee.
There are negative aspects to the physical position of the Starbucks. Inarguably, it is a positive thing that it is located centrally on campus. However, while the inside is spacious, this often becomes overcrowded quickly. One Starbucks is not enough for an entire college and, depending on the time of day, it can seem as though it is overflowing with people. Due to the amount of people inside, it can also become very loud. The facility plays music for ambience, but during these times, it only adds to the rattling cacophony, making an otherwise relaxing experience jarring and stressful. Sometimes order cannot even be heard over the noise. Conversations must be spoken very loudly, and performing schoolwork is impossible.
Coffee displays are set up randomly in open space throughout the Starbucks, as well. Therefore, the line from the cash register winds its way through the store around these advertisements. While the point of these set ups is to add more impulse buys to the customer’s order, it rarely appears to work. Instead, the result is a disordered line wherein too many people are vying for the same place. There is no order, and many people who enter at a busy time of day are left wondering for several moments where the end of the line is, and where they should stand. Moreover, the line often passes right beside the area where drinks are delivered to the customer, causing more confusion as costumers try to break through in an effort to pick up their order.
Creating two different visions of this space challenged my understanding of writing vaguely. I was forced to step out what I typically view as immediately acceptable, i.e. the positive and negative physical aspects are the same as how the space is used. These two things are, in fact, different. For example, the fact the facility has large windows that let in natural light is a positive physical vision. It is different from the fact students can use the space, and the light, to meet for study sessions. Throughout my observations, I learned a public space could be both good and bad. Positive attributes may be abundant, and people may take advantage of them, but there can still be many negative aspects about the facility. Regarding Starbucks, whether the negative outweighed the positive appeared to rely primarily on the time of day. Busy hours of the day brought in large crowds, which accentuated the negative aspects of the building and its set-up. For instance, morning hours were difficult to find positive aspects in the space because many individuals flock to Starbucks for a morning caffeine boost.
The rhetorical strategies used during the analysis were was simple and direct in all aspects. Word choice was accentuated in certain instances. For example, I used “cacophony,” in order to describe the noise during busy times of day in the establishment. “Cacophony,” correctly described not only the noise, but also the feeling that accompanied the noise. There were few times when a word so dramatic was needed, therefore, I kept word usage as direct as possible.
Sentence structure also needed to be simple in order to assess the facility. Being direct about the positive and negative aspects was necessary in order to offer an unbiased analysis. Similarly, to word usage, sentence structure did not require lavish attendance in order to accomplish this. In this way, my method concerning word usage lent itself to my method concerning sentence structure.
Omission was also unnecessary. The goal was to offer a full report and an unbiased analysis of both a negative and positive vision of the university Starbucks. Omitting any information would hinder these results, allowing the facility to look more positive than it was, or more negative than it was. It would also make it appear as though customers used it, or did not use it, for different purposes. Details were highlighted, however, in order to accentuate some issues that stood out above the rest. For instance, the inadequate order of the line during busy hours needed to be stated, as well as the noise. Natural light and adequate seating for costumers also needed to be highlighted.
In sum, the exercise showed me rhetorical analysis is a useful writing tool. It allowed me to assess two different sides to a space, as well as how people use it. I was able to remain unbiased, without omitting anything. A full report was given, though I was still able to highlight necessary information. The method is effective and allowed me to build stronger writing and analysis skills.