Rhetorically Analyzing a Controversial Matter
Parents are often telling their children to “turn off the TV and go outside” due to the belief that TV does nothing to stimulate growth and development. Society agrees with the views of the common parent; television sedates the mind rather than engages it. Steven Johnson, a credited author, challenges this controversial topic, arguing that more complex TV shows actually require intellectual labour. However, the successfulness of Johnson’s argument can be rhetorically analyzed through his target audience and his use of mode, style, tone, and the three rhetorical appeals to ethos, logos, and pathos.
Audience
Johnson consistently addresses the same audience throughout his entire article. Referring to television shows such as “Hill Street Blues”, “The West Wing”, or “Dallas” are commonly not heard of by the younger generation. In fact, today’s generation would read “Watching TV Makes You Smarter” and would not be able to recall the scenes from “Hill Street” or “E.R.” that Johnson describes to support that multi-threaded TV shows require more complex thought from its viewers. Therefore, Johnson’s supporting examples are directed towards the adult or older adult …show more content…
It is evident that he wants his audience to see him as a credible writer, and what is the best approach to ensure a strong ethos? Present credible and trustworthy sources and evidence to support the argument, which Johnson does from the beginning to the end of his piece. His first use of ethos presented itself as he described the TV show called 24 shown on the Fox Network (Johnson, p. 828). Not only did he include this source, but he went further on to add the details: the network, the day, the length of the show, the audience’s reaction, his argument and the counter-argument made by the audience. In this situation, he used sourced detail to incorporate ethos into the
Parents are often telling their children to “turn off the TV and go outside” due to the belief that TV does nothing to stimulate growth and development. Society agrees with the views of the common parent; television sedates the mind rather than engages it. Steven Johnson, a credited author, challenges this controversial topic, arguing that more complex TV shows actually require intellectual labour. However, the successfulness of Johnson’s argument can be rhetorically analyzed through his target audience and his use of mode, style, tone, and the three rhetorical appeals to ethos, logos, and pathos.
Audience
Johnson consistently addresses the same audience throughout his entire article. Referring to television shows such as “Hill Street Blues”, “The West Wing”, or “Dallas” are commonly not heard of by the younger generation. In fact, today’s generation would read “Watching TV Makes You Smarter” and would not be able to recall the scenes from “Hill Street” or “E.R.” that Johnson describes to support that multi-threaded TV shows require more complex thought from its viewers. Therefore, Johnson’s supporting examples are directed towards the adult or older adult …show more content…
It is evident that he wants his audience to see him as a credible writer, and what is the best approach to ensure a strong ethos? Present credible and trustworthy sources and evidence to support the argument, which Johnson does from the beginning to the end of his piece. His first use of ethos presented itself as he described the TV show called 24 shown on the Fox Network (Johnson, p. 828). Not only did he include this source, but he went further on to add the details: the network, the day, the length of the show, the audience’s reaction, his argument and the counter-argument made by the audience. In this situation, he used sourced detail to incorporate ethos into the