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Andrew Nguyen

Erin Rogers

Writing 2010

8 February 2017

Rhetorical Analysis

The internet has been an evolving tool since the beginning. More and more people have

been able to access the World Wide Web in the modern world and it has become part of peoples

daily lives. But now has it become too advanced and effected the lives of daily users? According

to the article Is Google Making Us Stupid? written by Nicholas Carr; Carr tries to argue that

the internet is changing the way of human life due to the ability to do quick searches online for

answers to everything. In his article, Carr uses three rhetorical devices: ethos, pathos, and logos

to create an article that is effective and reliable to argue his point.

Carr uses a lot of ethos throughout the whole article. He uses ethos by using different

sources to support his claim such as: scientists, professors, sociologists, neuroscientists and

historians. Using these sources helps strengthen his argument which in turn makes his argument

more credible. An example of Carr of this is when he quotes media theorist, Marshall McLuhan:

Media are not just passive channels of information. They supply the stuff of thought, but

they also shape the process of thought. And what the Net seems to be doing is chipping

away my capacity for concentration and contemplation. My mind now expects to take in

information the way the Net distributes it: in a swiftly moving stream of particles. Once I

was a scuba diver in the sea of words. Now I zip along the surface like a guy on a Jet Ski.

Here, Carr uses the idea of McLuhan to support his claim, that the internet has changed the way

of human life. McLuhan talks about once being able to analyze what he wanted to learn but now
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with the creation of the internet, McLuhan isnt able to do that anymore. McLuhans way of

thinking has shifted to fit what works best for the internet. He isnt able to go back to focusing on

the important details because of how the internet has impacted his life after using so often. After

talking about McLuhans experience, Carr goes on and uses a pathologist from the University of

Michigan Medical School named Bruce Friedman. Friedman talks about how the use of the

internet has changed his lifestyle:

I now have almost totally lost the ability to read and absorb a longish article on the web

or in print, His thinking, he said has taken on a staccato quality, reflecting the way

he quickly scans short passages of text from many sources online. I cant read War and

Peace anymore, Ive lost the ability to do that. Even a blog post of more than three

or four paragraphs is too much to absorb. I skim it.

Friedman demonstrates the outcome of the using too much internet. A pathologist, who studies

diseases, cant even read something as long as a short essay. The internet has changed

Friedmans lifestyle so much that he doesnt even read anymore; he skims through many of his

readings. After using these sources, the reader is able to see that his writing is not something

irrelevant but something credible.

Not only does he use ethos to support his claim, but he creates a stronger argument with

pathos. In the beginning of Carrs article, he introduces a scene from the movie Space Odyssey.

Here, astronaut Dave Bowman is unplugging a super computer HAL, while it begs for Bowman

to not unplug it. As HAL, is slowing dismantled it states: Dave, my mind is going, HAL says,

forlornly. I can feel it. I can feel it I feel it too. Carr uses this scene from the movie to create

a connection with his audience right off the bat. With the use of words like forlornly, he is able to

depict an image that the reader is able to imagine in their minds. By agreeing with the HAL the
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super computer, it reminds the reader about the connection that our modern society has with

technology. The reader is able have thoughts about how attached they are to technology and have

second thoughts about whether or not technology is actually taking over their lives or not. After

opening with the scene, he then talks about his own experience with the effects of the constant

use of the internet: Now my concentration often starts to drift after two or three pages. I get

fidgety, lose the thread, being looking for something else to do The deep reading that used to

come naturally has become a struggle. After stating this quote, he talks about the possible

reason why this occurs and states that the cause of his problem is the overuse of the internet. Carr

used to have to do research in the library but now he can find information with a couple Google

searches. Talking about his struggles and why the reason behind his struggles helps the reader

connect to the author because the reader is able to relate to what the author is going through. The

connection between author and reader is very important because it shows that the author

understands what the reader is going through. The author and the reader are equals and this helps

because the reader will be able to understand the authors point of view since the reader is also

experiencing something similar.

Lastly, the author uses logos to solidify his argument. Carr examines a study that was

conducted by the scholars from the University College London: The scholars examined

computer logs documenting the behavior of visitors to two popular research sites... that provide

access to journal articles, e-books, and other sources of written information. They found that

people using the sites exhibited a form of skimming activity. In the conclusion of study, the

scholars came to a consensus that people are not reading online and a new form of reading is

emerging. The scholars believe that users go online to avoid reading. This shows that the internet

has created a new form of reading and may cause a lasting problem for humans. People are going
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online to avoid actual work. People dont try anymore and in turn its making the human race

dumber and dumber. Mankind isnt learning anything because of the internet. Another example

of logos is the comparison of a mechanical clock and the internet. Carr talks about when the

mechanical clock had arrived, peoples brains began to work with the clock and with the creation

peoples brains will start to work the same way computers do. This analogy shows a good

example of logos because it shows a possible future from a past that has already occurred.

Ethos, pathos, and logos are evident rhetorical devices to support the claim the internet is

largely impacting the way humans live. These devices are used to stregthen Nicholas Carrs

argument in his article, Is Google Making Us Stupid? Carr uses many different examples

within his article for each rhetorical device to create a solid argument.