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Rhetorical Analysis Of 'Is Google Making USupid'

Decent Essays

In Nicholas Carr’s, “Is google making us stupid,” Carr indicates a problem that affects a majority of the internet users; that being as time we spend on the internet increases, the more we are diminishing our intellectual ability, and loosing the ability to become intertwined in a lengthy article or an extended book. He is suggesting that the technology we are in contact with on a daily basis, has a negative effect on our cognitive ability, and is forcing our brain’s to evolve. Throughout the article, Carr argues the negative effect media, mainly the internet, is having on his capacity and concentration: he effectively argues his point through the uses of many rhetoric appeals, that draw in the reader. His use of logos, compares the past and …show more content…

Furthermore, Carr's appeal to ethos is accomplished through the vast amount of research he has done, which present evidence that support his argument. His research increases his credibility, showing the reader that he knows the subject at hand. Lastly Carr uses a mix of anecdotes and facts in his article that appeals to ethos, allowing Carr the to emotionally hook, and successfully persuades the reader. Carr’s argument is backed by multiple writers and researchers who share the same idea, that the internet us changing the way we think.

Throughout the article, Carr consults with credible sources that agree with him and believe that the internet is forcing our brains to evolve to face the growing nature of the web. A media specialist who Carr consulted with admits that, “[M]edia [is] not just passive channels of information. They supply the stuff of thought,”(Carr 92) and as media evolves it ,”[shapes] the process of thought.”(Carr 92) Carr argues that media is demising our intellectual ability, his argument is aided by his appeal to logos. Carr cities many credible sources that support his argument, that the internet is diminishing our cognitive ability. Car quotes multiple researchers and fellow “friends and acquaintances — literary …show more content…

This is accomplished through the use of anecdotes. Carr opens up by quoting a 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY, in which an artificially designed supercomputer (HAL), intended to good for the astronauts, but in the movie, HAL goes on a murdering spree killing the astronauts it was intend to help. The anecdote puts Carr argument into perspective, as the reader is emotionally attached and feels that Carr might be on to something. Following this anecdote, Carr gives out facts of how “someone has been tinkering with [his] brain” ( Carr 91) and how “Net seems to be doing is chipping away my capacity for concentration and contemplation” (Carr 92). The mix of antedates and facts paints a complete picture within the readers head, similar to the movie, that although the internet is a godsend we should not whole heartedly rely on the internet without knowing the effects on our brain down the road. Furthermore, toward the end of the article, Carr uses dark lungs to further instils fear in his article as he is “haunted” (Carr 101) and “afraid” (Carr 101) “as we come to rely on computers to mediate our understanding of the world” (Carr 101). By Carr using a mix of anecdotes and facts in his article, he makes a connection between the film and the internet; as he is not wanting the intellectual ability of our generation to decline as our brains evolve to face the

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