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A Rhetorical Analysis Of How Smartphones Hijack Our Minds By Nicholas Carr

Decent Essays

In the article “How Smartphones Hijack Our Minds,” Nicholas Carr explains how the smartphone has a very strong influence on the minds and lives of the people who use them. Throughout the article, Carr uses rhetorical devices such as strong diction, establishing credibility of sources, personal connections, and statistics to support his argument throughout the article. These help strengthen and support his argument by giving detailed examples of his own experiences, drawing from studies to support his claim, connecting with the reader, and referencing credible and commonly known sources.
Nicholas Carr labels his sources to build credibility and support his argument. For example, Carr expresses “So you bought that new iPhone. If you’re like …show more content…

He states “We love our phones for good reasons. It’s hard to think of another product that has provided so many useful functions in such a handy form.” By using words such as “we” and “handy” Carr creates something akin to casual conversation with the reader. Eliciting this diction includes him into the topic showing that he too uses smartphones and relates to the reader, forming trust and catching the reader’s attention. Along with this, Carr creates more of a personal connection by starting a factual statement with “So,” using phrases such as “using it some eighty times,” and using words to refer to the reader like “you’re” and “you.” This casual diction builds a connection between Carr and the reader, making Carr direct the reader’s attention to the topic as well as build trust with the reader through tactful wording. Then he expresses “Their extraordinary usefulness gives them unprecedented hold on our attention and a vast influence over our thinking and behavior.” In this statement, Carr uses strong, hyperbolic, diction, such as “extraordinary” and “unprecedented,” to represent his claim in an eye-catching manner and to show how strongly he must feel about smartphones and their impact on those who use them. Overall, Carr uses strong and casual diction to appeal to the …show more content…

He communicates “ If you’re like the typical owner, you’ll be pulling your phone out and using it some 80 times a day, according to the data Apple collects.” Carr uses this detail to support his argument by elaborating how often the average iPhone user takes out their phone in a day and how it seems as though the average consumer cannot go a day without checking their phone several times. He also affirms “‘The mere presence of mobile phones,’ the researchers reported in the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, ‘inhibited the development of interpersonal closeness and trust’ and diminished ‘the extent to which individuals felt empathy and understanding from their partners.’” Carr uses this fact to support his argument by showcasing an example of how smartphones change and influence their users lives just by being present within a situation. Accompanying this, Carr elaborates “In another study, published in Applied Cognitive Psychology this year, researchers examined how smartphones affected learning in a lecture class with 160 students at the University of Arkansas in Monticello. They found that students who didn’t bring their phones to the classroom scored a full letter grade higher on a test of the material presented than those who brought their phones. It didn’t matter whether

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