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Rhetorical analysis, ethos, pathos, and logos
Ethos, pathos, and logos analysis
Rhetorical analysis, ethos, pathos, and logos
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Advancements in technology have strived to make life easier for so many people. In most cases, the advancements have achieved its goal, but in the article “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” Nicholas Carr questions if the improvements in society have unintentionally hindered our thought process overall. Carr begins the article by providing personal instances when his concentration seemed to diminish due to the internet. He explains how he now loses interest when reading lengthy portions, his mind just can’t seem to remain connected to his readings. He then proceeds to talk about how today’s life is surrounded by the internet, and explains the pros and cons of it. The negative side of it is that his mind now wonders off when seeking information from …show more content…
Stating that the scholars examined computer logs documenting the behavior of visitors who chose two sites that have several information outlets. The results showed that people showed a form of ‘skimming activity’, which supports him main argument of having troubles with deep reading (737). Further down on the same page, he states “It is clear that users are not reading online in the traditional sense; indeed there are signs that new forms of ‘reading’ are emerging as users ‘power browse’ horizontally through titles, contents pages and abstracts going for quick wins. It almost seems that they go online to avoid reading in the traditional sense.” This statement supports his pathos appeal of how the reader will be able to relate to it, including himself. Another pathos tactic would be when he states “Once I was a scuba diver in the sea of words. Now I zip along the surface like a guy on a jet ski.” A use of imagery to differ how he used to be able to thoroughly read a book, rather than now due to the convenience of the internet. An ethos appeal is when he uses a quote of Maryanne Wolf, an author, and a developmental psychologist at Tufts University, “We are not only what we read, though we are how we read. (737)” This is yet an additional credible support to his …show more content…
He mainly uses pathos throughout to connect with the reader, as well as to get them to come to a realization that the internet has hurt our society over the years. Carr has valid research results to support his logos appeal, and gives credible resources of other authors and bloggers for his ethos appeal. I entirely agree with his article, the rhetorical appeals were persuasive enough to open my eyes to grasp what he’s attempting to explain. The internet has unintentionally hindered the minds of
In Nicholas Carr’s article “Is Google Making Us Stupid” the reader finds all three methods of persuasion, ethos, pathos, and logos in emphasizing his point that Google is possibly making people stupid; but it is ultimately the people who cause their own mental deterioration. His persuasion is a reminder to people of the importance of falling back on the “traditional” ways of reading. He also understands that in skimming an article one has the ability to retain what is necessary. Carr himself points out that in the past he was better able to focus on what he read and retain the information. However, now he exercises the process of browsing and skimming over information, just as many individuals have come to do in this day and age.
His first few paragraphs relate to the audience with a sense of pathos that continues to reappear as the essay unravels. For example, Carr states, “The deep reading that used to come naturally has become a struggle” (2). This anecdote generates the citation of research when he presents developmental psychologist and author, Mary-anne Wolf. Having written Proust and the Squid: The Story and Science of the Reading Brain. “We are how we read.”, wolf proves to be a reliable source, as well as an accurate development in Carr’s theory. She notes, “When we read online, we tend to become mere decoders of information.” (8). That statement opens a window for Carr to expand on his original idea in saying, “Our ability to interpret text, to make rich mental connections that form when we read deeply and without distraction, remains largely disengaged.” (8). It’s no secret that Wolf would agree. After just a mere search of her name titles appear such as, The Importance of Deep Reading, Is Online Skimming Hurting Reading comprehension, and How the Internet Is Rewiring Our Brains. If Carr’s theory is in fact correct, it would be fair to assume that most readers would look no further than that for proof. Carr however, omits that Wolf has evolved in her expressions, writing articles such as, Balance Technology and Deep Reading to Create Biliterate Children, Being a Better Online Reader, and Children of the Code. While this doesn’t exactly
Author Nicholas Carr’s article “Is Google making us Stupid,” discusses how the use of the computer affects our thought process. Carr starts out talking about his own experience as a writer and how he felt like “something had been tinkering with his brain, remapping his neural circuitry and reprogramming his memory”(313). Basically, he is acknowledging that since he started using the Internet his research techniques have changed. Carr believes that before he would immerse himself in books, lengthy articles and long stretches of prose allowing his mind to get caught up in the narrative or the
Together they work together as a whole in order to persuade his audience of those involved in technology. Carr uses these strategies in order to back up his information and validate his point. Carr begins by using pathos by stating an anecdote from the movie A Space Odyssey, then he uses logos by stating factual evidence and statistics, lastly Carr uses ethos by stating appropriate vocabulary and conceding to opposition. Throughout the article Carr compares the past and present and how the Internet has changed not only himself, but also people. In order to show his credibility, Carr uses research and examples of other credible writers who have the same beliefs as he does on the Internet. Due to the article being lengthy in text we are able to assume that Carr does that on purpose in order to validate his point that the Internet is affecting our mind as it shortens our attention span and ability to think creatively. The purpose of the excerpt is to persuade his audience of those involved in technology that people in the society today are unable to have complete focus on a longer text due to the Internet causing us to artificial intelligence. For this purpose, Carr develops an influential tone for his audience
Nicholas Carr’s “Is Google Making Us Stupid” and Sherry Turkle’s “How Computers Change the Way We Think” both discuss the influence of technology to their own understanding and perspective. The first work by Nicholas Carr is about the impact technology has on his mind. He is skeptical about the effect it could cause in the long term of it. He gives credible facts and studies done to prove his point. While Sherry Turkle’s work gives a broad idea of the impact of technology has caused through the years. She talks about the advances in technology and how it is changing how people communicate, learn and think. In both works “Is Google Making Us Stupid” and “How Computers Change the Way We Think” the authors present
According to www.telegraph.co.uk, “[y]oung people aged between 16 and 24 spend more than 27 hours a week on the internet.” Certainly this much internet usage would have an effect on someone. What exactly is the effect of using the internet too much? Nicholas Carr’s article “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” argues that we are too reliant on the internet and it is making the us dim-witted and shortens our attention span. While Clive Thompson’s article “Smarter than You Think: How Technology Is Changing Our Minds for the Better” states that technology is not only a collection of knowledge, it also a method of sharing and recording our own knowledge. I fall between both Carr and Thompson. I agree with car on his points of us being too reliant on the internet but disagree when he states that it is making us less intelligent. Meanwhile, I also support Thompson’s statement that the internet allows us to assimilate vast amounts of knowledge but disagree with his opinion on how we should be reliant on
Moreover, Carr’s article mentions that by using technology of any kind, users tend to embody the characteristics stimulated by that technology. He says that given that the Internet processes information almost immediately, users will tend to value immediacy. To explain, Carr gives the example of a friend of his named Scott Karp who was a literary major on college and who used to be an avid book reader. However, since the arrival of the Internet, Karp skim articles online because he could no longer read as much as he used too. He cannot pay attention and absorb long texts ever since he read online articles. Internet...
With the rise of technology and the staggering availability of information, the digital age has come about in full force, and will only grow from here. Any individual with an internet connection has a vast amount of knowledge at his fingertips. As long as one is online, he is mere clicks away from Wikipedia or Google, which allows him to find what he needs to know. Despite this, Nicholas Carr questions whether Google has a positive impact on the way people take in information. In his article “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” Carr explores the internet’s impact on the way people read. He argues that the availability of so much information has diminished the ability to concentrate on reading, referencing stories of literary types who no longer have the capacity to sit down and read a book, as well as his own personal experiences with this issue. The internet presents tons of data at once, and it is Carr’s assumption that our brains will slowly become wired to better receive this information.
In the articles, “How Facts Backfire” and “Is Google Making Us Stupid”, Keohane and Carr explain the cognitive blocks we are faced with in society. Keohane explains how we can be misinformed because of our beliefs. These beliefs can cloud our judgement of what is true and what isn’t true. Carr focuses on how the internet has changed the way we think. Carr includes how the internet can distract us, making tasks harder to complete. Both Keohane and Carr show us the negatives side effects of cognition.
One for example is when he talks about how he used to be deeply immersed in readings and now after two or three pages he says “I get fidgety, lose the thread, begin looking for something else to do. I feel as if I’m always dragging my wayward brain back to the text. The deep reading that used to come naturally has become a struggle.” (Carr, 1). Most people would look at the statement and agree. With social media prevalent in society today and with the length of articles getting shorter and advertisements constantly popping up it’s hard to stay focus on just one story. People only scratch the surface when they read now instead of diving deeper into the story. Carr argues that people’s attention spans have gotten shorter over time. But, it’s not only reading stories on the internet, it’s how we’re connected to our electronic devices. A perfect example is we’re always within arm’s reach our phones, ipads, laptops, etc. which can make people lose focus. When’s the last time you looked at your phone to look at a text or check Facebook? Was it 5 minutes ago or even 2 minutes ago? The things we can do with our phones is so technically advanced and Carr believes it’s taking over our minds in a negative way. This generation of children and young adults today are connected to the web constantly. An answer for something is always a click away, which can be a good thing and a bad
The purpose of Carr’s essay is to inform the reader about one skill that he believes is being undermined, which is reading. He believes the internet is rewiring the way the human mind operates. The internet has captured our attention and has shaped our process of thought. He recognizes how the change we are going through is the loss of book habits. The Web is now our default starting point for the majority of our work. He even has felt this skill eroded within himself, stating, “I’m not thinking the way I used to think. I can feel it most strongly when I’m reading” (Carr 408). He’s not alone, Bruce Friedman, a blogger has described how the internet has altered his mind, “I now have almost totally lost the ability to read and absorb a longish article on the web or print” (410). I am sure Carr and Friedman are not the only ones who have felt a change in their ability to read a book or a lengthy article and not get distracted. As a society, we have all been impacted by this, and we are Carr’s audience for his essay.
Carr is worried. He confesses that he now has difficulty with the simple task of sitting down and reading a book. Absorbing the text is now belaboring, and he finds that his mind drifts off into other realms. Moreover, this phenomenon is not only limited to himself. Bruce Friedman, a pathologist at the University of Michigan Medical School, admits that he “can’t read War and Peace anymore…even a blog post of three or four paragraphs is too much,” (Carr). In addition, Scott Karp, a devoted blogger on online media and literature major, relates that he was an avid reader in college. Sadly, he observes the same trend in his focus as Carr and Friedman. Karp speculates that the loss of focus isn’t so much a change in the way he reads, but in the way he thinks (Carr).
Carr uses what society relies and trust the most to construct thought against what we have always been comfortable thinking. That the internet and Google may actually have an adverse affect on society and personal thought. It takes a great deal of rhetorical appeal to break out of human’s comfortable ideology and really think about what is actually going on. Pathos is a cleaver way to appeal to an audience and Carr does an amazing job using it. “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” makes use of the rhetorical appeal pathos, to effectively deliver Nicholas Carr’s personal beliefs and concerns to the
In the article “Is Google Making Us Stupid?”, Carr uses rhetorical strategies in order to persuade his readers into believing that the Internet is causing more harm to our thought process than good. He uses a lot of historical occurrences and studies to get his side of the argument through, but he doesn’t use enough modern incidences to help support his claims. He also appeals to pathos by using descriptive language and creating a fear based emotion to show just how serious this issue is. The strategy of ethos then comes in to bring everything together by connecting himself to the readers allowing him to stand out as a trustworthy individual. Without these rhetorical strategies, Carr’s argument would fail to be a solid and persuasive controversy.
He claimed that before internet journals were so widespread that he immerse himself lengthy articles and book with no issues of his attention span shortening and drifting away. “My mind would get caught up in the narrative or the turns of the argument, and i’d spend hours strolling through long stretches of prose.” It is a little daring to say that the internet is essentially rewiring the human brain cognitive function. It’s fair to say that it is prohibiting the mind to think as complexly as it needs to because the information is so readily available now, but attaining information is not as lengthy as it used to be like having to go to the library for