Robert Macneil The Trouble With Tv Analysis

In Robert MacNeil pervasive essay “The Trouble with TV.” He thinks that we watch too much TV. He thinks that since we watch too much TV we will have a shorter attention span and have a hard time reading and writing. To get his point across he uses; statistical support, referencing/quoting respected people, strong, precise words and phrases and includes his call to action.

One technique MacNeil uses is providing statistical support for his argument about TV. An example of this technique is ‘by the time age 20, you will have been exposed to at least 20,000 hours of TV’. MacNeil uses this statistic because to show that Americans watch too much TV. Another example of statistical support is ‘in 10,000 hours, we could have learned how to become an astronomer or engineer’. This example helps MacNeil’s argument because this show us that we could have gotten something that we could use later in life instead of watching Tv and losing our attention span. Still another statistic MacNeil offers is ‘30 million adult Americans are ‘functionally illiterate’ and cannot read or write well enough to answer a want ad or understand the instructions on a medicine bottle.’ This example bolsters MacNeil’s stance because to show that there are a lot of people who cannot read or write because we watch too much TV.

A second technique employs is referencing/quoting respected people.

One example is stating that the Founding Fathers would likely have seen achieving literacy as an important goal. He chose this because the Founding Fathers are generally much important people, and connecting them with MacNeil’s argument against television adds weight to what he says. Another example that MacNeil uses is Yale University law professor Charles L. Black, Jr. wrote: "...forced feeding on trivial fare is not itself a trivial matter.” He used the Yale professor because Yale is a very well respect university and the Yale professor is supporting why watching TV is detrimental to society around

us.
The third technique he utilizes is strong, precise words and phrases. The first example he uses is “pervading this nation and its life.” He picked this because the word pervading makes it seem as if the troubles caused by television are literally creeping into every aspect of American life. The second example is Television's variety becomes a narcotic, not a stimulus.” He chose this phrase because a narcotic is a drug and drugs are sometimes harmful, plus a narcotic slows people down specially brain functions. The last example that MacNeil Uses with strong, precise words and phrases is “one mass diversion?” The reason he pick this one is to show that TV is just one big distraction that we use to get away from our world.
The last technique that MacNeil uses is his call to action. In The Call To action it said “I think this society is being force fed with trivial fare, and I fear the effects on our habits of mind, our language, our tolerance for effort, and our appetite for complexity are only dimly perceived. If I am wrong, we will have done no harm to look at the issue skeptically and critically, to consider how we should be resisting it (television).” I think he use this because he asking his readers to take action by not watching too much television, MacNeil tries to make his essay more than just words; he tries to make it a tool to achieve a goal (examining and perhaps stopping the negative effects of TV).
Robert MacNeil Persuasive “Trouble with Television” he clearly states that we watch too much TV. He proved his argument by using statistical support, referencing/quoting respected people, strong, precise words and phrases, and his call to action. Even though it is 30 year later I think that Robert MacNeil essay has to relate to us using and watching today.