I chose to analyze "Is Google Making us Stupid?" The author's intent was to get people to think about the affect's of too much internet. It was to warn people of the possible problem's that can arise from changing from normal books to internet reading.
Carr (the author) used a lot of logos in his arguments, citing many different sources to help and illustrate his points. These sources helped to make the ethos of the argument stronger, like when he cited Plato and Socrates, using such universal names made his ideas seem extra credible. He began the article with a reference to the movie 2001:A Space Odyssey and the memorable robot death scene at the end (I've heard of it and I've never even seen the movie!). This was a rhetorical strategy that evoked pathos because everybody at one time or another has seen a movie about evil robots taking over the world and the possibility that it might actually happen scares us (or at least, it definitely scares me! That scene in I-robot when Will Smith is surrounded by hundreds of robots always pops into my head. *shudder*). Words like artificial intelligence automatically send a flicker of anxiety through my head (which may have been the reason that Carr mentioned Google's efforts at A.I.). Carr also uses metaphors about the depth of the reading he does now like, "Once I was a scuba diver in the sea of words. Now I zip along the surface like a guy on a Jet Ski." It helps to clearly illustrate his point, that people are getting less out of their reading now. A Jet Skier doesn't get the same experience of being totally immersed in water that the scuba diver gets, the same goes for reading.
The only way I know to gauge the audience's reaction is to look at my own reaction, so that's what I'm going to do. The whole time I was reading this article, I was thinking about ways I could start reading non-internet materials for fun again. I was thinking about the books I've started that I've been too busy to finish, and how I should make time for them, etc. Thus, at least on me, Carr had the desired affect. He got me thinking again about how much I read online and made me not want to lose my deep-reading abilities. So, he had an effective argument.
I agree that Carr uses logos to make his argument more credible. Also as you showed he uses a lot of imagery, that makes the article more vivid and impacting. I'm kinda mixed on how effective his argument,I see his point on how Google is making us stupid, but Google offers huge advantageous as well.
ReplyDeleteNice analysis. I also like the scuba diving/jet ski metaphor. I wonder, though, if a jet skier's experience is just as valuable as the diver's. Different doesn't always equal bad. Anyway, interesting to think about. I like how you focused on the logos side of his argument instead of the pathos angle of things. Pathos is all fine and dandy, but this article really does have some meat to the argument. Nicely done.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the author had an effective argument. Not only did he make me nervous about super-intelligences, but I got sort of defensive and vowed to myself that I wouldn't let the internet make me less able to think deeply...haha. But really. That's something that I love to do, so this article made me even more determined to keep my brain working the way that it is now.
ReplyDeleteSo many people are choosing this article it is weird. He was very effective in what he set out to do, I for one am a little worried in how the internet is affecting me now. I liked how you decided on the audiences reactions to this article because that is exactly how I decided as well.
ReplyDeleteThe article had the same effect on me. In fact, I began reading an article online right after reading the essay, and I forced myself to get through all 3 paragraphs of it. Obviously if he's affecting quite a few of us in this class, it must have had the same impact on the larger audience. I'm even tempted to... dare I say it... read a book of short stories...
ReplyDeleteI'm definitely with you on wanting to pick up an old book and start reading more. And I felt that his use of pathos was great as well, who wants to be a robot? Good job!
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