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Heywood J. Passmee

Mrs. A. Crerand

English 121

8 February 2009

Home Then and Now

Over the course of last five years of my life, I have come to change what I would regard

as my home. At the beginning of this period, I thought of my home as the place that I grew up,

much like most people think of home. Over the past few years, my perception of home has

changed to the apartment that I share with three roommates. These two places share similarities

and differences in their composition, their surroundings, and their significance to me.

The similarities between my past and current living spaces are vast, due in large part

because the same person designed both of them. Because I have pretty much the same

personality as I had four years ago, the objects that occupy my room have changed little. My

two rooms are both adorned with sports memorabilia and pictures of families and friends. Both

of them have my bed pushed into a corner so that I can maximize my living space. While I have

a small closet here at school, my old closet was a large walk-in that could store a much larger

amount of clothing and shoes. Another distinct difference between the two is the absence of a

desk in the old room. A desk at my old place would have taken up too much room and would

have ultimately gone unused.

My two homes have some similarities as well as sharp differences in terms of the

communities that they reside in. Similar to my old home in Indiana, my current home here at

Saint Leo sits in a rural area. The Indiana residence was nearly an hour away from any city woth

mentioning, much like my new apartment now. Both of my homes also are surrounded by a
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farming and somewhat redneck culture. The people in both of the two areas have similar

outlooks and personalities as well. However, when I look out my window, I now see the massive

Lake Jovita surrounded by palm trees instead of miles of corn fields and horse pastures. The

cold and frigid winters of Northwest Indiana have given way to the mildness and warmth of

Florida.

Both of the places that I have lived provide some significance to me and both have a

special place in my heart. While I cherish the memories that I have made in the last couple of

years, those memories are not as closely ties to the actual living place as with my old home. I

have had great times in my old house from hanging out with friends to hanging out with

girlfriends. Each room has become a place of retreat and peace for me. In each area I can go

and be alone to either get away from the outside world or that I can get back to business and

refocus.

The two homes have seen me through various growing stages in my life. The

environments have shaped me and I have shape them in return. I hope that I will enjoy my next

home as much as I have enjoyed these two.

The writer of this paper used a point-by-point organizational pattern,

although barely. The points made were similarities, differences, and
significance of both. However, this paper is not truly argumentative.
There is no overall conclusion in that no suggestions are made to the
audience; the reader has not been persuaded to act upon this in any
way. Therefore, this does not meet the guidelines of a
persuasive/argumentative essay.