Textual analysis - Assignment Example

Turkle effectively used the analytical structure to convey her ethos and logos-based evidence on the transformation happening to machines and its human users, but she lacks a conversational writing style that can engage lay people into taking her caution against humans behaving more like machines. In examining the emerging landscape of computer-mediated communication, Turkle used an analytical structure to layout the relevance and evidence of her arguments. She began with an introduction that generalizes human nature, according to Ralph Waldo Emerson’s diary entry in 1832.

Turkle (1995) cited and agreed with Emerson’s prophecy that “dreams and beasts” are “keys” to human nature (p. 36). She expanded Emerson’s human nature assessment by adding computers. The introduction effectively prepares the audience regarding the essay’s insights on the effects of interactions between machines and humans on human nature. Furthermore, the succeeding paragraphs explain Turkle’s evidence. . Her conclusion, for instance, is based on the implications of using computers to live another life and to perform work and social roles, where she asked: “Are we living life on the screen or in the screen?

” (Turkle, 1995, p. 39). The conclusion is effective in compelling readers to look into their own computer interactions and how it shapes their identities. The structure of the article helps readers understand the connection between what dreams and beasts can do then and what computers do now to human nature. In order to support the analytical structure and to provide evidence, Turkle employed ethos and logos. Before further discussing her claims about machines and human users, Turkle explained the ethos of her analysis.

She described that she has interviewed more than a thousand computer users for the past ten years, in order to understand how people use computers and how computers interact with users (Turkle, 1995, p. 36). By providing her work experience, Turkle established her ethos that can make her a convincing expert on analyzing computer-mediated communication. Aside from ethos, Turkle relied on pathos to emphasize her inferential analysis. She provided examples of how computers mimicked people successfully enough to pass as humans.

A case in illustration is Julia, a “bot” that computer scientist Michel L. Mauldin of Carnegie Mellon University created. Turkle (1995) described the wide range of activities that Julia can perform, which made it seem more like human than machine, because Julia can “chat about hockey, keep track of players’ whereabouts, gossip and flirt” (p. 37). Julia presents strong evidence that machines are humanized through its ability to