Ipads, Kindles, Digital Books...The Future of Reading

Internal Medicine Associates recently launched a new online Patient Portal. The portal allows for patients to request appointments, view reports, and update personal information-via the internet. Many patients are frantically calling due to concerns with the new digital medical system. My point is that the future of communication, reading, receiving news & information, and even health care notifications are rapidly transferring to the world of digital systems. Jonah Lehrer confirms his fear of the conversion of digital reading within his scientific blog, "The Future of Reading." Lehrer’s begins by expressing his love for reading and fascination with books. In Fahnestock’s article, “The Stases in Scientific and Literary Argument”, Fahnestock states, “scientific articles occupy the first two stases. They are concerned with matters of fact, definitions, and cause.” (432) I will use Fahnestock’s idea of scientific arrangement as a lens for analyzing Lehrer’s article.

Scientific arguments are largely concerned with discovery and matters of fact. In Lehrer’s opening sentence he offers the audience a fact about the movement of digital reading, “I think it’s pretty clear that the future of reading is digital.” He then progresses his argument by stating, “It’s never been easier to buy books, read books, or read about books you might want to buy. How can that not be good?” The second stasis Lehrer’s argument works within is through definition. He examines the different forms of technology and defines their abilities to make reading and perceiving content effortless for the reader. Lehrer’s concern is, “making content easier and easier to see-could actually backfire with books. We will trade away understanding for perception. The words will shimmer on the screen, but the sentences will be quickly forgotten.” He then provides vast methods and explanation for his argument by forwarding researching conducted by neurologist, Shanislas Dehaene. The research he includes offers the explanation that the brain has “two pathways for making sense of words, which are activated in different contexts.” The ventral pathway is activated by familiar passages of prose. The second pathway is the dorsal stream- which is activated when is forced to pay particularly close attention to the sentence. He concludes with a proposal for the future direction of digital reading and e-readers, “we alter the fonts, or reduce the contrast, or invert the monochrome color scheme. Our eyes will need to struggle, and we’ll certainly read slower…We won’t just scan the words-we will contemplate their meaning.”

"The Future of Reading" by Johan Lehrer, The frontal Cortex Science Blog (8 Sept 2010)

Binary Society: Sept. 11 and 9-11

The American society holds 9/11 to be the most devastating day in the history of the United States. An article which begins by “September 11” undoubtedly persuades a [an] audience to devote their efforts and become actively involved with the article’s endeavors. Quindlen follows this persuasive beginning by describing her son’s birthday. The audience is left feeling somewhat uncomfortable and unsure of the direction of the article’s intent—the audience is quickly placed in the reality of the devastating event of 9/11 then shifted to an unknown world of her son’s birthday—one who must share his day of celebration with the most destructive event in history.
Quindlen tackles one of the most complex issues in society, and yet evolves extremely compelling and simple questions throughout her text. Quindlen’s skillful elocutio is one in which she includes multiple layers of rhetoric. She presents many rhetorical questions throughout the article, “Who are we now?”— Which leaves the intended audience feeling guilty or even at fault for this terrible disaster. The country, she explains, is “now,split in two”. Her argument seems as though she considers our country as a binary society. Facing this tragic ordeal, we somehow manage to deal with the simplistic happenings of our everyday life- “life goes on.” Time was the healing remedy after 9/11, Americans examined ourselves and goals a bit more precisely, called family and friends more often but as Quindlen states, “The edges softened…Time passed.”
The article’s content, when examined within the context of Kinneavy’s article, is overtly complex and argues against the static categories presented by Kinneavy. With an immense array of evidence, Quindlen’s article complicates Kinneavy’s cut and dry explanation of the categories within the aims of discourse. She begins by presenting the article as an expressive move—including her child’s birthday, his personal experiences. The next paragraph shifts to the rhetorical questions-“Who are we now?” She then progresses towards a more political approach by stating, “We are people whose powers of imagination have been challenged by the revelations of the careful planning, the hidden leaders, the machinations from within a country of rubble and caves”
Although this article is less than two pages, it is full of discursive acts which could be unpacked into several pages of explanation. However, for this specific intent, I will argue that Quindlen’s aims of discourse complicate every aspect of Kinneavy’s diagram regarding the purposes of composition. The genre of this article involves multiple layers of discourse and is profoundly blurred between each category of discourse. I think her article reaches slightly/immensely in each one of the genres of discourse.


"One Day, Now Broken in Two" by Anna Quindlen, Newsweek.

Invention of Ethos, Pathos, and Logos

“Honesty Is Always the Best Policy” Michael Lemonick

In Michael Lemonick’s article, “Honesty Is Always the Best Policy”, he initially establishes a foundation in which he builds upon the relationship between the author and the audience by the delivery of his introductive paragraph. The ways in which Lemonick plays on the notion of pathos is by his ability to focus the audience’s attention to his honesty within his attempts to persuade. He boldly pronounces, “Journalism simply gives me a way to make a living.” This proclamation in which he argues that honesty is always the best policy connects the reader in such a way that they can effortlessly depend upon his relevance as a scholar and devote their efforts in understanding his point of view. The invention of how he addresses this seemingly--complex subject of scientific matter, strengthens his ability to persuade the audience.

Lemonick conveys to the audience that, “I’m still refining my own sense of judgment” within his beliefs and challenges of the matter of climate change. Selzer asserts in his scholarly article, “Rhetorical Analysis: Understanding How Texts Persuade Readers”, “features of texts related to the trustworthiness and credibility of the rhetor.” (Selzer 284) This demonstration is an invention of ethos, where by his method of honesty gains public credibility.

The objective matter in which Lemonick draws upon is the ‘complex and messy’ nature of science and how he strives to see the truth emerge. He meticulously places sound reasoning throughout his arguments to convey intellectual knowledge of the content. This appearance of reasoning connects strongly to logos. Lemonick brilliantly ties together Aristotelian terms of ethos, pathos, and logos with his invention in the delivery, arrangement, and style of his piece. He crafts strong logical reasoning, attached to persuasive methods of delivery in capturing the devotion of his audience.