Digital Sarcasm

Ginger Lee Dingus
Professor M. Lee
October 21, 2015
English 101
Digital Sarcasm
In the article “Google is making you more forgetful.   Here’s why that’s a good thing”   by Caitlin Dewey there are several different prominent discussions regarding the new ways that humans are recalling and seeking the data that they need.   Dewey outlines the points that many authors have and she adds some humor and evidence (Dewey).   She says that this is a modern way to manage this basic need and that, as a coping technique, the strategy presently used has been around since the beginning of time. The article was published online in The Washington Post on October 8, 2015.   Dewey’s account provides awareness of the digitally inclined and how that is shaping the direction of memorizing and recollection.   The author of this article attempts to do this with humor, sarcasm and evidence.   Here she is successful, and it falls near the mark of expressing her analysis due to her wry sense of humor. She fails, however, to convey the same theme when she quotes statistics that seem more copied than readable in the flow of her work.   The author uses Ethos, Logos and Pathos to convey these messages.
Dewey begins by using Pathos as she uses the word “ominous” in her opening sentence. The word ominous in an opening sentence evokes fear and stands as an attention-getter in an emotional appeal.   She is attempting to persuade the reader by using this form of Pathos, a word that should evoke strong emotion.   She speaks about an article by Ashley Rodriguez on the website Quartz (Rodriguez) titled “Brain Drain; “Just Googling it” is bad for your brain.”   She attempts to paint a picture warning of impending outcomes by quoting statistics that were the basis of the Quartz (Rodriguez) article from a renowned research group in the field of cybersecurity, Kaspersky Lab.   The word ominous looms over the name of the research; ““Digital Amnesia” is gradually blotting out our brains.” (Kaspersky Lab)   This is...