Rhetorical Analysis

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Author Gunther Kress once noted, “The world told is a different world to the world shown” (Kress, 2003,1). As human beings, we are beginning to loose sight of our existence’s authenticity without the dependence of electronic devices and social media- a digital facade of who we project ourselves to be. Adolescents and adults are growing up in a society that is surrounded by interactive social networking cites and smart phones, which has turned social media into a vital aspect of their life. The articles “Found on Facebook: Empathy,” published in 2015 by American novelist and author Teddy Wane, and “I Tweet, Therefore, I am,” published in 2011 by Psychotherapist Nancy Colier, report how the digital world has redefined the way individuals communicate…show more content…
On the other hand, as a psychotherapist, Colier attempts to persuade her readers that social media is a fabricated sense of connection that promotes a society based on personal popularity, diminished privacy and loss of identity- a view that she presented four years ago. Whereas Wane effectively asserts his credibility and strengthens his argument by citing convincing facts, case studies and introducing counterarguments, Colier successfully employs emotional appeals and rhetorical questions that strengthen her credibility, but her lack of reputable sources weakens her argument. In 2015 his article, writer Teddy Wane features social media’s harmful effect on empathy, and introduces his readers to an innovative way to perceive virtual empathy. Setting the stage of social media’s adverse effects on children, Wane presents criticism of technology: “They [children] don’t look at people when they talk to them and they don’t build empathy… Kids are mean, and it’s ’cause they’re trying it out” (Louis C.K, Found on Facebook: Empathy). Actor Louis C.K claims that cellphones are destroying the ability of children to feel for others, and C.K believes that hiding behind a screen while using the Internet…show more content…
Though Colier doesn’t present statistical evidence or facts, she asserts her credibility by discussing her personal experiences as a psychotherapist who deals with adolescents. Colier begins her article by pulling in her audience with a personal experience from her office to create an emotional response: “The experience is this: The young person is crying and feels compelled to find a mirror in which to watch themselves cry…I can't believe that I am really crying, they often say... eerily. The mirror helps to show them that they are real; that what is happening is real” (I Tweet, Therefore I Am?). Here, Colier produces an emotional impact on the reader by illustrating an individual crying and having to physically see themselves cry in order to believe what they are feeling. Appealing to both ethos and pathos, Colier persuades her audience that technology has caused individuals to feel inexistent without the reflection of a lens. Colier writes, “They [social media users] become the object rather than the subject of their own experience” (I Tweet, Therefore I Am?). Her goal is to make the reader feel sympathy for the social media user who lost their sense of identity. Attempting to further persuade her readers, Colier extensively uses rhetorical questions throughout her article, such as “What will be the result

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