blog #3

How America Is Dumbing Down the Next Generation

In this article, Jacqueline Leo says that with all of the "smart" technology we have today, our future children will never learn. She uses newer car's technology as an example, with light indicators and gps systems as well as parellel park assist. Leo also talks about the use of translator and autotune apps among others. Basically she's criticizing technology that we're all guilty of using, but feels is dumbing down the population as a whole.

Simile(or analogy?!):
"So I no longer need to think of the dishwasher as a giant jigsaw puzzle where every piece fits."
She's trying to compare old-model dishwashers to the new fancy ones that do all of the work for you. Most people who have owned dishwasher will understand this comparison.

Punctuation:
"The problem is, the smarter our houses become, the more incompetent we become -- with impunity."
Uses the dashes to insert a pause to the reader.

Metaphor(?):
"That delusion might not seem important if the global economy weren't nipping at our heels and challenging Americans to be smarter, faster, more rigorous and more aware that other countries are beginning to beat us at our game."
(Might be allusion? Or maybe not anything!? Help me out!)


Sarcasm:(Referring to the sentence above.)
"That game will likely be available for download on your smarter than smart phone."


Allusion:
"Guitar hero, Virtuoso Free (piano), and Beat Beat Play (drums) all make tone-deaf wannabes into Bruce Springsteen"
Refers to Bruce Springsteen as well as popular video games.

I chose this article because I agree (to an extent) that our futures children really aren't going to need to know as much because of the use of technology. I dislike how she made it seem like such a horrible thing, there's nothing wrong with your car reminding you to put your seatbelt on; but I still understand the point she's trying to make. The technology we have today isn't doing everything for us, but it can get a little excessive. I like the basis for this article but I think it was overly dramatized, especially when she brings up the use of latitude and longitude when talking about using gps systems, just because we can use gps to help us get where we need to go doesn't mean children won't be taught geography anymore. I'm still not entirely sure where the writer is being serious and where she's being facetious, so I can't really tell where to take her seriously, kind of annoying haha