Sherry Turkle's "The Flight from Conversation"
Sherry Turkle’s “The Flight from Conversation” effectively employs straightforward language and rhetoric appeals. Turkle successfully conveys the message on the effects of technology on humanity to its audience; people of all ages. The use of a formal structure, appealing tone, literary devices, pathos, ethos and logos in “The Flight from Conversation” not only passes a clear message but also demonstrates the author’s mastery of language. The paper therefore is a rhetoric analysis of Sherry Turkle’s article titled “The Flight from Conversation”.
The Rhetoric Audience
The rhetoric audience of Turkle’s article is people of all ages. The author’s skillfully targets the society in relation to how modern technology has negatively shaped relationships (Bernstein, 2012). The author purposes to educate readers on the fact that individual relationships have been derailed due to overemphasizing on technological devices. Real life conversations are fading away as internet messages, emailing and phone conversations take over. Accordingly, the true meaning of humanity and society is bound to die not unless the current social behaviors change (Turkle, 2012). The rhetoric motive behind the article therefore is to criticize the overdependence on technological devices and caution generations who put at risk their happiness and health.
Employing Logos
The author employs logos in demonstrating the power of human reason. This style is used to encourage readers to rethink on the pros and cons of technology against relationships. The sentence “too busy on their email” shows that men in all social standards including businessmen are faced with the serious problem of cell phone addiction (Turkle, 2012). Turkle adopts reasonability as she says, “I am a partisan for conversation” (Turkle, 2012). It is normal for people to carry out conversations in the middle of emailing, texting, surfing and tweeting. It is however unfortunate that these new habits put at stake real life conversations and the true meaning of social set ups.
Establishing Pathos and Ethos
Turkle establishes pathos and ethos by focusing on her personal experiences and underlining the importance of face-to-face conversations. The use of ethos is seen as the author narrates her experience as a researcher for 15 years (Suen, 2015). Her studies in mobile technologies and its impact backs up the assessment that people have been highly affected by technological devices to the extent that their personalities and normal activities have reformed. The focus on pathos is exhibited in the emphasis placed on face-to-face conversations. Significance attached to face-to-face conversations is that it teaches patience, encourages self-analysis and clear sense of harmony. Pathos denote sad scenarios of overdependence on machines rather than humans (Bernstein, 2012). An example is whereby the writer narrates of an elderly woman inhabiting in an eldercare home with the comfort of a robot to which she confides in her problems.
The Structure
The structure of “The Flight from Conversation” is problem-solution framed. The challenges, problems and distractions in the society today are narrated and are evidently convincing. Reality is that people are connected to each other only through devices but the bond is nonexistent. The writer states, “we have sacrificed conversation for mere connection” to outline the losses the society are accounting (Turkle, 2012). The fading relationships at homes, workplaces among other places put at risk the future of a sustainable generation. Sherry Turkle in the end offer a solution to this problematic issue by introducing schedules purposed to maintain real life conversations. She urges all members of the society to reinforce face-to-face conversations as it carries with it great benefits.
Literary Devices, Language, and Tone
Literary devices, straightforward language and appealing tone have been used by Sherry Turkle to convey her message. To persuade and appeal to the readers emotions, the writer uses rhetoric questions. She asks, “…why would we want to talk about love and loss with a machine that has no experience of the arc of human life?” Ideally, the writer successfully woes the audience to rethink on their overuse of machines and other devices at the expense of building relationships (Turkle, 2012). Additionally, the author employs metaphoric language to restate her point of view. Sherry highlights that the “little sips” of technological communications slowly diminishes relationships. “Little sips” has been used to outline the effects of online conversations as invisible but detrimental (Turkle 2012). The writer uses the words “alone together” to demonstrate the harm of neglecting face-to-face conversations. The tone in the article has been skillfully employed in various instances amounting to clarity in passing the intended message. In exhibiting the views of her students for instance, the author uses a sarcastic tone. She ridicules the fact that the students are at ease with texting while conversing (Suen 2015). The article envisions the tone of worry and concern in the way in which human interactions have been negatively affected by the use of technological devices.
In Conclusion
In summary, the author employs rhetoric which allows readers’ understanding and unwavering attention of the audience. The New York Times article, “The Flight from Conversation” exhibits effective use of persuasive methods including pathos, ethos and logos. A clear argument is supported by well use of literary devices such as metaphor as well as appealing tone in the right context. Additionally, the writer puts her point across by using simple and comprehensible language.
References
Bernstein , N. (2012). Rhetoric and Civic Life: Response to “The Flight of Conversation” by Sherry Turkle. Retrieved from: http://sites.psu.edu/rclbernstein/2012/09/03/response-to-the-flight-of-conversation-by-sherry-turkle/
Suen J. (2015). Transcript of Flight From Conversation-Sherry Turkle. Prezi
Retrieved from: https://prezi.com/frdkh2bp1kw3/flight-from-conversation/
Turkle S. (2012).The Flight From Conversation. The New York Times
Retrieved from: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/22/opinion/sunday/the-flight-from-conversation.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
