The Digital Parent Trap Rhetorical Analysis

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Sat Essay Form In response to debate regarding the benefits of early exposure to technology, Eliana Dockterman argues that early exposures to tech has more advantages than disadvantages attached to it in her article " The Digital Parent Trap." Eliana effectively builds her argument by using logos, pathos, and ethos approach. The author begins her argument by utilizing statistics and credible sources to build a sense of authority that the reader can easily recognize and accept. Eliana uses statistics "27% of them use tablets......by late 2014," to inform her subsequent claim that this generation of American children and teenagers is the tech savviest in history. Furthermore, she provides evidence from authoritative sources, MIT, to add legitimacy …show more content…

With key phrases, that audiences can relate to in their daily lives, like" playing the empire building game Civilization piqued students' interest in history and was directly linked to an improvement in the quality of their history class reports" and "actively browsing pages on a computer or tablet is way more brain stimulating than vegging out in front of TV," Eliana activates the nature of human to act in their own self-interest. While some readers might view this selfish, Eliana reassures the readers that they are not alone in feeling this way, further contributing to her argument. By quoting Jim Taylor, author of Raising Gen Tech, "they're load of crap...meant to make money" and Lucy Wurtz, "But I don't see any benefit...endeavors," Eliana adds acceptance to those who oppose her. By putting statistics, quotes, and credible sources, she tries to equal the opposing view and make herself more favorable in the process. Appealing both to academic institution and publishers, Eliana qualifies that " early technology use has cognitive benefits as well." A statement such as this is an attempt to get readers of either persuasion on her side, and her ingenious qualification only adds to the strength of her argument. In addition, the use of negative words with specifically poor connotation such as "crap," "violence," "obesity," "cyber bullying," and "ADHD" all depict a disparaging tone of disapproval and anger, surely assisting Eliana to convey her

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