Writing Assignment Final Draft

Alex Schlack

RWS100

Chris Werry

September 7, 2014

Writing Assignment Rough Draft

            In the text Public Thinking, Clive Thompson discusses about the change and evolution of reading and writing over the past thirty to forty years, and argues against most people that the new technological advancements today have actually improved human intelligence through increased everyday reading and writing.  A little background information about Clive Thompson; Clive is an American Journalist born in Canada and graduated form the University of Toronto where he studied political science and English.  He then worked for New York Times Magazine where he got interested in learning about digital technologies and their social and cultural impact on publications. In his work, he mainly tried getting us to believe that people have the wrong views on technology and social media, because as he talks about and backs up with facts, is that today the amount of words being spoken and read a day have increased drastically over the years and have actually made the average person smarter.  In my analysis form his text, I will examine the various claims he emphasizes, his uses of strategy to get his point across, and also the evidence that backs it up.

            Public thinking is an attribute of ours that our brain subconsciously does constantly. One of Thompson’s main claim supports his overall argument by specifying exactly how much more reading and writing benefits your everyday thought process.  In doing this, he uses various journalists who study this stuff as well to assist him.  For an example, Thompson introduces and supplements various ideas from a young scholar named Deborah Brandt.  In Deborah Brandt’s discussion about reading and writing, she arguably states, “It helps Clarify one’s thinking,” “It crystallizes your thought.”  You see this is very important because society today thinks that all this tweeting and facebooking is a big distraction and a brain killer when in reality it helps us due to all the reading; it clarifies our thought process.  One way that Thompson uses to support his evidence is through ethos, and how he establishes credibility in his research. Gaining insight from all these journalists is extremely helpful when trying to convince the reader. Thompson also throws out tons of facts with the hope of shocking the reader, and to exemplify how often people actually write and talk each day. Utilizing intellectual evidence and statistics is a major strength, by persuading the reader by overwhelming them with information and surprising them with statistics that they never knew about. The use of numerical statistics and experimental research studies in this scene was the right path of evidence to prove and back up Thompson’s main argument. One aspect that Thompson does lack though in his writing is the opposing view. He never really talks about what the people who disagree with him, think as well.  That is important so Thompson can say this is what people think, this is what I know. He can empower the public by doing so, and help influence peoples point of view on the dispute. 

            Another one of Thompson’s claims is how powerful of an impact an audience can stress upon a writer.  This is really important to Thompson for he shows how writing where there is a huge audience such as the Internet can alter the way a person writes. According to Thompson’s observation, this is called the “audience effect.”  This effect is huge and has a major influence on writers.  This idea is specifically explained through his interview with Gabriel Weinberg.  Weinberg states, “If someone could come across it under my name, I have to take it more seriously. Crucially, he didn’t want to bore anyone…Social scientists call this the “audience effect”-the shift in our performance when we know people are watching.” This is quote is an evident example that supports Thompson’s argument, and is a situation in which other people can relate to. When Weinberg says “it”, he is referring to the quality of his writing when under pressure of an audience.  Having an audience actually read or just simply listen to your writing changes and clarifies your thinking process. Knowing that people will see what you write formulates how you structure you writing in the first place; for example your writing performance becomes more self-aware, precise, and sophisticated.  Thompson uses the interview and expert testimony as concrete evidence that establishes the benefits of the Internet and in publishing written work.  Thompson also confidently asserts that the audience effect is something likely of convincing the readers.  He solely wanted to use Weinberg’s expertise to explain “the theory” about how an audience can persuade a writer.  What people don’t realize is that when they write online they self-consciously don’t understand how they are writing compared to if they were writing something only for themselves. The audience effect is crucial in forming a strong foundation for Thompson’s overall argument.

            Thompson’s last main claim is that the amount of writing done today is an immense increase compared to the amount of writing done in the past.  Technology today has come such a long way, yet making writing more convenient and easier to access. This is important because Thompson has already proved, that the more reading and writing you do the more intellect you acquire.  Thompson supports his thesis by backing it up saying that there are multiple benefits that result from reading everyday.  Thompson uses various different strategies for this claim to powerfully back up his main argument that there really is a vast increase in writing and pubic thinking today inspired by the Internet and the beneficial changes it offers in individuals and for society.  According to Thompson’s research, “We compose 154 billion e-mails, more than 500 million tweets on Twitter, and over 1 million blog posts and 1.3 million blog comments on World Press alone.  “On Facebook, we write about 16 billion words per day, and that’s just in the United States…I calculated that we’re composing at least 3.6 trillion words daily, or equivalent of 36 million books everyday.”  This quote is really powerful, and influential. The purpose behind this quote is to express in numbers, how much writing exactly goes on during this period. It’s important because it proves how much writing actually does take place during our time, which helps people comprehend that fact we do get smarter.   Thompson uses numerical statistics and research observations as evidence for his theory.  Throwing out all of these statistics is significant and pursues the reader by overflowing them with actual facts the amount of writing being done today.  He wants to exemplify through proof to support his claim that our era is an era of reading and writing.

            In Thompson’s writing he does a really good job of expressing his main argument. He develops various claims throughout his work to help back up that argument.  He precisely chooses his evidence in order for him to have credibility in his work.  Interviewing and gaining knowledge and insight form historians and scholars in these studies is brilliant on his part. Through this, he can more influence the reader by getting his point across through professional help.  Including personal expertise opinion and historical events from experts as well as numerical statistics help provide evidence to evidently back up his main point.  By using Deborah Brandt’s thoughtful insight, Weinberg’s idea on the “audience effect”, and the list of statistics, Thompson was able to structurally create a backbone of evidence for his argument. His strategies seemed very proficient as well; the way he organized his text, the way he established ethos, use of style and tone, and the way he addressed the reader were additions to his so called masterpiece. However, there were some flaws as well. One thing that Thompson lacked in his writing, was the opposing view and opinion. When writing a persuasive paper, the most important thing to do is state what most people think or whom you are disagreeing with, thinks. That way your opinion is more specifically distinguished from the majority, yet clarifying your state of mind.  Also, Thompson did provide lots of evidence on how much people write today but didn’t really stress upon the average amount of writing that was done in the past, which is what he is ultimately comparing it to. More structural evidence on that topic would have brought this piece more together. Overall, I would have to agree with Mr. Clive Thompson.  People underestimate and overthink how much writing is done today.  And believe it or not, through all the new advanced technology and social media, people have overall gotten smarter because of all the writing they do each day. People need to open their eyes and realize the true significance in all this new technology, and all the benefits that come out of it.