Brianna Johnson
English 151
Professor L
September 30, 2018
Rhetorical analysis
As we advance from the 20th century into the 21st century the world is advancing from our latest forms of communication, paperbacks into the digital age of technology and communication. There have been articles written based of going into the 21st century due to the evolving world of technology to come. The article “Is Google making us stupid?” addresses the concerns of users as we are leaving behind paperbacks and using technology both in education and workplace. Throughout the article, Nicholas Carr shapes his message towards teachers, people who prefer paperback forms, people in the field of science and technology, and of course digital users. The main claims and arguments of the article were that the main concentration drifts when reading longer articles due to reading online causes the mind to wander therefore drifting from the given topic because of advertisements played on the internet based upon personal interests. The positive side of the article addressed how although the internet weakens our mind and capacity to read long and in depth reading however the web is helpful due to research being done faster, hyperlinks, emails between people, and watching videos and podcasts for entertainment. The format the article was published on was digital which affects the way the article may be perceived. The article presents both the positive and negative effects of technology in regard to improving institutions and the work field by giving examples of famous scientists and personal experiences to base of from. Addressing the problems of the digital age will effectively allow humankind to alter their learning styles to help better themselves and the world around them.
Nicholas Carr, the author of ‘Is Google making us Stupid’ analyzes the most common form of technology used and takes it even further to apply the negative and positive effects of usage. By using previous studies from scientists and personal experiences, he captures the essence of how the digital age continues to impact our learning styles. First Carr opens and closes his article by refuting the assumptions of the question posed before the audience. While people believe that we read every page of a book, Carr contradicts that by mentioning a study conducted by scholars from University College London. Using internet behaviors of people who have visited sites and used internet accessible journals to show how we use a form of skimming activity emphasizes his strong position, those who read don’t retain any of the information. By examining a conducted study by scholars, Carr forces the audience to recognize their own participation in how they learn and read in American society. Next, Carr enumerates many influences from colleagues about their own personal experience which could appeal to the audience’s sense of reasoning. When addressing the issue of reading online in the more accustomed way, Carr quotes from Scott Karp, “What if I do all my reading on the web not so much because the way I read has changed, i.e. I’m just seeking convenience, but because the way I think has changed?” This principle clarifies the fact that reading in the digital age is causing us to change learning behaviors to adapt to the 21st century. Continuing with this strategy, Carr’s use of showing the positive and negative sides of technology shows the performance in academics and in the workplace among many others. By incorporating the positive outcomes of why the Web has helped us, it effectively provides many counterexamples to show how successful it can be. As a result, the audience are left to question whether they are stuck in the old age or the new age otherwise known as the digital age. Finally, Carr closes the article by using historical evidence to justify America’s movement from paperback forms into the typewriter era which will advance into the creation of computers. Much of this passage shows the struggle he used to go through to write but then he got a typewriter. For example, Carr admires, “the typewriter rescued him, at least for a time. Once he had mastered touch-typing, he was able to write with his eyes closed, using only the tip of his fingers. Words could once again flow from his mind to the page”. These examples not only reflect on American ideals, but also on how we function in the 21st century. While highlighting the key aspects of what has contributed to the internet. Carr appeals to the audiences’ sense to connect to historic examples to emphasize his point that America has significantly turned away from all paperback forms.
In summary, Nicholas Carr effectively blends personal experiences, studies, experiences from colleagues, and from historical evidence to back up his claim that the internet is causing us not to retain information. Carr leaves his audience with a question that they therefore have to ask themselves which will hopefully become a call to action to discover the truth about American society.