Introduction:

Amy and Julie are roommates. They share a small dorm room. Julie has been getting on Amy’s nerves a lot lately with staying up late and making a lot of noise and waking her up in the morning. Amy plans to confront Julie, but Julie is very good at rhetoric and will probably convince Amy that she is doing everything wrong. Lately, Julie has also been hanging out with some people that are getting her into drugs. She has been smoking weed in the dorm room. They both have boyfriends that are over a lot. Julie’s boyfriends name is Chris he is into partying, has mental issues, and he does not go to school. Amy’s boyfriend, Eric, is funny, smart and stays out of trouble. They both hate each other’s boyfriends. Sleeping ten feet away from someone can cause issues with not having your own place to go. These two girls come from completely different worlds, but find that they can help each other out when push comes to shove. The rhetorical situation going on has the following constraints; the two roommates have not been getting along, but recently Julie broke Amy’s computer by accident. The exigence of this conversation is for Amy to find a way to get her and Julie able to talk and be friends again. The audience is the roommates and Eric.  The exigence of their conversation is to find better way to live together.

Amy: Hey Julie, can we talk about our living situation?
Julie: Sure, what about it?
Amy: Well last night you were extremely loud and woke me up.
Julie: I do not know what you are talking about I was quite last night.
Amy: No you were not and you were disobeying quite hours. I was not the only one you woke up, the neighbors were complaining.
Julie: Well why didn’t anyone say something to me about it? I am only up late because I have to work so late  nights is the only time I have to do homework.
Eric walks into the room
Amy: Fine, but what about the weed?
Julie: What about it?
Amy: Weed is an illegal drug, you will get in trouble if it is in your possession, you will get in trouble for having weed in our room. Second, I have sinus issues. The smoke makes it hard to breathe for me. Lastly, it smells nasty.
Eric: You will get caught, go to jail, and end up homeless because you cannot find a job.
Amy: Does not matter if its legal or not it still smells nasty and I do not want to be around it anymore. It is disrespectful, you only ever think of yourself and you never think of how it will affect me.
Eric: Amy could get second hand smoke, get lung cancer and die
Julie: Well if it affects you that much then why don’t you leave when I do it?
Amy: I do not leave because I am trying to do homework and I cannot concentrate on my homework anywhere else and why should I be the one to leave when I am not doing anything wrong and it is all you.
Julie: Well you should try harder. I only smoke during the morning in our room, so why don’t you do your homework later.
Amy: Because I have to get it done before class and even if I went to the library it is not even opened.
Julie: Well try doing it early or the day before it is due and then the library should be open.
Amy: Well even if I am not in the room while you’re doing it the smell gets absorbed into all of my stuff.
Julie: Well sorry, but I have nowhere else to do it.
Amy: That is because it is illegal and you will be in trouble if you get caught.
Julie: Okay. Well let’s talk about thing you do. You have your boyfriend over here all the time and act like it is not a big deal. It bothers me because I do not like strangers around when I am sleeping and you guys make a ton of noise too.
Amy: He is not a stranger and we are not loud when he is here. Plus we are barely in the room when he comes over.
Julie: Maybe he is not a stranger to you, but to me he is a stranger and I do not like it when he is around. Plus you act different around him and make it seem like you and him are the best thing around.
Amy: I do not act different around him at all and what about your boyfriend?
Julie: What is your problem with him?
Amy: He is creepy and he clearly has something wrong with him.
Julie: That’s rude you know he has mental issues. Why would bring that up? He cannot help it. It was not his choice. And why did you say he is not nice to me?
Amy: Well it is your choice to see him and he is not even nice to you because all he does is complain about how you treat him so badly and he is so nice to you when it the complete opposite. I have been in this kind of one sided relationship before and it does not end well. I am just trying to help you.
Julie: Why would you say that about him? He has never done anything wrong to me and he always treats me well.
Amy: What about the time he left because you were text your friend and then he told you that you could not talk to her anymore because he did not like her. He tries to exclude you from everyone and everything.
Julie: He was looking out for my best interest and that girl was so rude to me. I should have stopped talking to her years ago.
Amy: See! He even makes you believe that what he is making you do is the right situation and yeah sometimes he is right, but not all the time. I just do not want to see you give everything up for him. Especially if you guys do not end up together, then this was all for nothing and you would have nothing. It is not fair to you or any of your friends.
Julie: I am so grateful for your concern for me, but I think I am old enough to make my own decisions.
Amy: Then why do you let him make your decisions?
Julie: I do not let him make my decisions!
Amy: Yes you do! If you cannot see that then I do not know how we can stay friends.
Julie: I would never have called us friends. All we do is fight.
Amy: But in the end we still care for each other and have the others best interest at heart.
Julie: I guess you are right and I am sorry for being loud and the smell of our room, but you have to realize I need something to take off the stress.
Amy: You should not be stresses this much and drugs is not a good idea to use as a stress reliever. I think you need some real help with dealing with stress. You need to find a better way to deal with it and not by using drugs.
Julie: I think you are right. I do need help. I just have no one to go to and I do not know where to go to get started.
Amy: Well you can always come to me and I will help you find someone to help you. I will be with you every step of the way.
Julie: I am really glad we had this talk. I am glad that we are friends.
Amy: Me too. Now let’s get you some help!