Rhetorical Analysis (Blog Post 2)

★ Article

I chose to write my rhetorical analysis on the article "How America Is Dumbing Down the Next Generation," by Jacqueline Leo. I thought that this would be a fun article to analyze because I both agree and disagree on the point made in the article.

In this particular article, Jacqueline states that technological innovations are dumbing down the next generation. With cars that talk to you, parallel park, and even warn you when you are too close to an object, there are really no skills to acquire anymore. All of that will even become old technology to us when the self- driving robotic cars replace the current models. The author also claims that "the problem with all of this brilliant technology is that it's lulling us into the national delusion that we're better at things than we really are." While these advances in technology are great news for us, do we tend to rely on them too much?

Rhetorical Strategies:

Description: The author has dedicated an entire paragraph explaining in detail the amazing things recent models of cars can do. From the seat belts to the tires, she's written it all in there. She also explains some of the newly released house appliances, such as the dishwasher, listing again, the things that it can do. "Our new sears dishwater has the nerve to flaunt it's brilliance. It has two smart settings that calculate the nature of the load and calibrate the wash and dry times and the amount of water needed. It even has the authenticity to say "complete" when the cycle is finished as opposed to simply "clean.""

Tone: "My house and my car are getting smarter... I would give me house a B- on an IQ test. The problem is, the smarter our houses become, the more incompetent we become - with impunity." Through out the article, the author seems to go back and forth between positive, but mostly negative aspects in the advances in technology. Her personality does show through a great deal though - through sarcasm, and choice of words.

Imagery: "Latitude? Longitude? Who cares? We don't need to read maps; we get out geography by an officious sounding person who lives in a little window on the dashboard." (Referring to the GPS, of course.)

Punctuation: "I wonder what a child growing up in a smart house will be like. What will they learn? Cooking? No need when you can nuke prepared meals from any supermarket. Cleaning? Get the Roomba! Typing? Every new device "fixes" typos automatically." I think that the author was trying to bring to the reader's attention that children growing up now won't have to help around the home, because we will have "robots" doing all of that for us in the near future.

Irony: People don't have to go out and buy a brand new car, or use a dishwasher that talks to you. Do people even need a talking dish washer? It's pretty ironic that the author says that because she states that she has this talking dish washer her self. As long as the one I have works, I don't need it to be some expensive, fancy model.

So like I had said at the beginning, the reason for me picking to analyze this article was because I agree and disagree with the points the author made in this article. I mean sure, maybe being able to check your Facebook while you're driving, and talking to your car is a little over doing it, but much of that is your own choice. I strongly disagree with her point, because in reality, it just depends on what you choose to buy, and how you choose to use it.