Moonwalking With Einstein Analysis

Destinee Williams- Blackshear
Erica Peterson
ENGL 1310- Section 045
16 September 2015

The Importance of Memory According to Joshua Foer

In chapter one of Moonwalking with Einstein, Joshua Foer discusses memory and persuades the reader of its importance. Foer’s primary claim is that memory is essential. Joshua Foer uses a variety of different voicing techniques to create intimate distance. He also uses a variety of analytical and stylistic techniques to emphasize the importance of his claim and to persuade the reader. He supports his argument by discussing the impact of memory on daily life, the positive effects of improving one’s memory, and the incomplete nature of our collective memory as a society without external resources.
Foer opens

his book with an anecdote that serves as the introduction for a mean case. His story is a mean case because it touches the topic of memory, which may be seen as unimportant or uninteresting. By using historic anecdote, he makes this seemingly uninteresting topic stimulating, pulling the reader in. Joshua Foer also intensifies the drama of the introductory scene to “demonstrate the importance of [the] mean case… and impact [the] audience” (ARCS page 226). Foer’s technique in adding this scene, which demonstrates a character’s extraordinary use of his memories to help bring ease to a catastrophic situation, is to surprise the reader with how extraordinary both the situation and the character’s memory is, effectively hooking the reader. Joshua Foer’s introduction is also spatially kairotic in the sense that he places the anecdote in the beginning to immediately catch the attention of the reader. This is essential because without proper placement of the anecdote, the attentiveness of the reader would likely be lost and he would not be able to convince his audience that memory is important. Ultimately, Foer opens the book with an exciting scene and by the time he gets to his primary claim the audience is interested.
Joshua Foer uses confirmation to support his primary claim that memory is important.

When discussing the impact of memory on daily life, Foer explains that “the average person squanders about forty days a year compensating for things he or she has forgotten… everyday there seems to be more to remember…with a memory like Ben Pridmore’s I imagined life would be more qualitatively different--and better”(MWE page 7). This point highlights how important memory truly is. With a poor memory, we struggle with recalling even the simplest of observations and events. In addition, Foer uses confirmation to persuade the reader that having a good memory has positive effects on intelligence, noting that it would make him “…more persuasive, more confident, and in some fundamental sense smarter…” as well as a “better journalist, friend, and boyfriend”(MWE page 7). Finally, through Foer’s use of confirmation, we are brought to the realization that without memory, “our world would immediately crumble”(MWE page 19), especially in a situation where “all the world’s ink [becomes] invisible and all our bytes [disappear]”( MWE pade 19). Foer successfully defends his argument that without textual aids and external means of remembering information, we as a society would lose a vast amount of knowledge solely due to our inability to successfully retain memories. These three pieces of evidence effectively confirm Joshua Foers primary claim that memory is

important.
Joshua Foer makes the secondary claim that anyone can improve their memory to reach the capabilities of “mental athletes”(). Foer was originally unsure of his stance on the claim that anyone was capable of mass memorization. He questioned if these athletes were just “extraordinary individuals…or was there something we could all learn from their talents”(MWE page 16). Foer is unsure if the idea is legitimate science or just a hyped up idea. This technique helps the audience identify with him. Many people are skeptical of the claim that anyone is able to memorize “1,528 random digits in an hour…[and] any poem”(MWE page 6). Inserting these statements serves as a tool for persuasion. Additionally, he using conversational voice and his word choice is more personal than professional. These choices help the reader relate with what he experiences and decreases distance between us. Foer ultimately uses refutation to disprove any skepticism through the story of how he, an average person with an average brain, ended up at the Memory World championship just a year after questioning whether or not he held such capabilities. He uses himself and his own experience as solid evidence to support his secondary claim.
Joshua Foer uses both analytical and stylistic techniques effectively in creating a hook and building a connection with his audience. By using strong evidence and personal accounts, he enforces the credibility of his claims. In addition, he refutes any negative or contradictory statements to his assertions about memory, which also lends credibility to his argument. Through these techniques, Foer is able to effectively convince his audience of memory’s importance.