Writing Assignment Full Rough Draft

Alex Schlack

RWS100

Chris Werry

September 7, 2014

Writing Assignment Rough Draft

            In the text Smarter Than You Think, written by Clive Thompson, is a very interesting piece of work that talks about the change and evolution of reading and writing over the past thirty to forty years and stresses upon the benefits of the new technological advancements today.  A little background information about Clive Thompson; Clive is an American Journalist born in Canada and graduated form the University of Toronto where he studies political science and English.  He then started working 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 is mainly trying to get 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.

            One of the many claims that Clive uses to support his main argument was to specify exactly how much more reading and writing benefits that way you public think. In doing this, he uses various journalists and American scholars who study this stuff as well to assist him.  In Deborah Brandt’s view, “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 of the strategies that Clive 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. Clive also throws out tons of facts and statistics 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 notes that they never knew about. The use of numerical statistics and experimental research studies was the right path of evidence to prove and back up Clive’s main argument. One aspect that Clive 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 Clive 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 this dispute. 

            Another one of Clive’s claims is how powerful of an impact an audience can stress upon a writer.  This is really important to Clive for he shows how writing where there is a huge audience such as the Internet can alter the way a person writes.  According to Clive’s observation, this is called the “audience effect.”  This 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 Clive’s argument, and is a situation in which other people can relate to. Having an audience read you writing changes and clarifies your thinking process. Knowing that people will se 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.  Clive uses the interview and expert testimony as concrete evidence that establishes the benefits of the Internet and in publishing written work.  When people write online they self-consciously don’t realize 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 Clive’s overall argument.

            Clive’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. Clive 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 Clive’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.  Clive 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 Clive’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 anecdotes from other people, historical events, numerical statistics and expert testimony all contributed to his overall 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 Clive 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, Clive 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.