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Thompson claims that writing can help clarify our thinking. According to Thompson, things such as a post on Tumblr, Facebook or even a text message all involve writing for an audience which inadvertently improves the way we write and think. A study done by Professor Andrea Lunsford shows that back then most of the essays that were written by college freshmen were typically shorter than those of college freshmen now. This is due to the fact that now people have access to social media and other forms of communication which they did not have back them, restraining the older generations to practice their writing as much as the newer generations do. Referring to the study done by Professor Lunsford Thompson himself writes, “Because they were often writing for other people…they were adept at reading the tempo of a thread, adapting their writing to people’s reactions.” (p. 67) What he means by this is that writing for an audience betters the way people write. In other words, Thompson believes that if a person knows that whatever they are writing is going to be seen by either one person or a large group of people they will tend to be more careful about what they write and how they present their text.

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​Technology, some might consider it to be beneficial to our society while others believe it is destroying it. “Public Thinking”written by Clive Thompson, a Canadian freelance journalist, blogger and science and technology writer, talks about how technology has changed the way we read, write, and think for the better. Thompson’s aim in writing this text is to inform his audience about the benefits technology has brought us. Additionally, he claims that writing for an audience can also help improve the way a person writes. In order for Thompson’s claims to be accepted as true he provides evidence to show how technology has actually made a large amount of people better writers and he supports his argument by using ethos as a rhetorical strategy. In this paper I will explore Thompson’s strategic use of evidence and ethos that he uses to inform his audience about the benefits technology has had on the way we write.

​In “Public Thinking” Thompson discusses how not many people in the United States are pushed to become better writers. Clive Thompson himself writes, “Literacy in North America had historically been focused on reading, not writing; consumption, not production…The advent of digital communications…,has upended that notion.” (Smarter Than You Think 50) Basically, Thompson is saying that in the past people have been encouraged to read a lot but not to write as much but luckily advancements in technology such as social media has changed this. Thompson 

uses historical comparisons to point out the differences between what people encouraged to do in the the 1980’s and 90’s to what they are pushed to do now.

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Clive Thomson who is the author of Smarter Than You Think: How Technology is Changing Our Minds For the Better is a Canadian freelance journalist, blogger and science and technology writer. He writes to inform the public about the great benefits advancements in technology has given us by using real life examples and testimonies of people. Thompson does this to show people who might be skeptical about how the internet can actually benefit our society and not destroy it. In the portion of his book that we will be focusing on, “Public Thinking”, Thompson claims that the more a person writes the better they will become at writing over time. In this paper, I will examine Thompson’s claims and show the different types of strategies he uses to support his claims and possibly sway his audience.

Thompson begins his text with a story of a woman named Ory Okolloh whom is a perfect example for one of his main claims. While studying law she was encouraged to start a blog by some of her colleagues. At first she had no idea what to write but eventually the more she did it the easier it became. She says, “I became very disciplined,…Knowing I had these people reading me, I was very self-conscious to build my arguments, back up what I wanted to say.” (Smarter Than You Think 48) Her quote ties in perfectly with one of Thompson’s main claims which is, a person can become a better writer if they have an audience. A study done on students by professor Brenna Clarke Gray proves this. She assigned her students to create Wikipedia entries on Canadian writers to see if it would change the way they wrote and it did. Thompson writes, “ …the students explained to her, was that their audience—the Wikipedia community—…were harder “graders” than Gray herself.” (Smarter Than You Think 56) Thomson uses concrete evidence, a study, to show that the audience really does have a great affect on how careful people are when they write. 

Exploring Thompson

       In Clive Thompson’s “Public Thinking” he goes into detail about how having an audience improves the way we write by providing the reader with a lot of evidence such as studies and statistics. Some questions I have for Thompson about his text are, Do you Clive Thompson believe that everyone who has some sort of social media account can write better than someone who has never had one? and Is there ways to become a better writer without the presence of an audience or technology?

Thompson makes a lot of good claims in his text but one that stood out to me the most was when he talked about how an audience can make people better writers. He writes, “Audiences clarify the mind even more. Bloggers…think about he fact that someone’s going to read this as soon as it’s posted. And suddenly all the weak points in their argument, their clichés and lazy, autofill thinking, become painfully obvious.” (Smarter Than You Think 52) I found this claim to be very persuasive because he states something that everyone who has ever written something for the public to read has been through. In other words he makes his argument very relatable.

Another element from Thompson’s text that I found most persuasive was that he used a lot of evidence to support his claims. Such as, “Researchers have found similar effects with older students and adults. When asked to write for a real audience…students write essays that are substantially longer and have better organization…than when they're writing for their teacher.” (Smarter Than You Think 55) In the presence of an audience people tend to think more about what they write which in exchange turns out to be a better essay. 

Although Thompson does a great job of appealing to the reader by providing them with text that they can relate and with a substantial amount of evidence to support his claims he misses out on one thing. He does not provide any views from people on the opposing side. This was one big weakness in his text. Thompson persuades his audience but never includes counterarguments which he can rebuttal to. 

Other than that flaw in Thompson’s text he does a very god job at everything else. Such as when he introduced Kenyan-born Ory Okolloh at the beginning of “Public Thinking”. I believe Thomson does this to show as an example of how much the effect of an audience can have on a blogger which is also the main claim for his whole text. He uses Okolloh’s story as something that people can relate to because it’s something that actually happened. In sum, Thompson writes a very good and persuasive text that can sway the reader very easily.

Response to “Public Thinking” by Clive Thompson

In Clive Thompson’s “Public Thinking” he goes into detail about how much writing has changed over the years and what kind of impact it has had in many different aspects of life. Thompson has many questions throughout the text such as, How did the internet drastically change the amount of writing people do per day? or How can we improve the way we write using simple tactics?

I believe that the larger question Thompson is trying to answer in his text is, How has the internet been a great addition to not only writers but others? Thompson himself answers his question when he writes, “…the Internet, which encourages public thinking and resolves multiples on a much larger scale…It’s now the world’s most powerful engine…Failed networks kill ideas, but successful ones trigger them.” (Smarter Than You Think 61) In the citation Thompson is saying that the internet motivates the common man to want to have their voice/opinion be heard by posting their own opinions on the world wide web but it also allows people from around the world to come together and solve a certain issue that might be present.

Along with explaining how the internet has opened up a window for people to be able to express their own opinions freely, Thompson also includes other important information on how to become a better writer not only on paper but also on social media. In Smarter Than You Think, Thompson introduces a woman named Ory Okolloh whom is a blogger. Okolloh decided to make a blog in 2003 so she could talk about Kenyan politics. For seven years she had plenty to write about and became a better writer by updating her blog constantly.  Okolloh says, “I became very disciplined…Knowing I had these people reading me, I was very self-conscious to build my arguments, back up what I wanted to say…” (Smarter Than You Think 46) What helped Okolloh become a better writer was realizing that she had an audience. It allowed for her to make sure she had solid evidence to support all of the claims she made.

In addition to having an audience to help make someone a better writer, not knowing what to write is also a good thing. Cecil Day-Lewis once said, “I don't sit down at my desk to put into verse something that is already clear in my mind…If it were clear in my mind, I should have no incentive or need to write about it…” (Smarter Than You Think 51) When a writer does not have a clear idea of what to write about it is a good thing because if it was clear then someone most likely already understands the topic enough to not have to read someone write about. This in change allows the writer to have more freedom on what to write about and how to present their text.

Moreover, the most obvious way to become a better writer is to write more. Studies have shown that the more people write the better writers they become as time goes on. For example, “..kids who message a lot appear to have have slightly better spelling and literacy abilities than those who don’t.” (Smarter Than You Think 67) It does not matter what type of writing or the length of a text, it all contributes to helping the individual improve on their writing skills.                                                                                                     In sum, Thompson used “Public Thinking” to not only show how the internet helped writers and others to a great extent in allowing them to exhibit their opinions but also to show the reader how to become a better writer. Having an audience has shown that it pushes the writer to write in a clear and straight forward manner. Knowing what not to write can also be beneficial, given that it allows the writer to have more liberty, and the more a person writes the more it allows them to practice which then improves their writing in the long run.

Response to Jeremy Rifkin's "A Change of Heart About Animals"

Jeremy Rifkin writes a both moving and informative article about a very important question that many people may have, can animals experience some of the same emotions that we as humans do?

In this article Rifkin does a great job at providing readers with plenty of evidence to support his claim such as facts, examples, and statistics. One of the many facts Rifkin provides us with is, “Studies on pigs’ social behavior…have found that they crave affection and are easily depressed if isolated or denied playtime with each other.” This provides some awareness to the people and show them that pigs along with other animals can have feelings. Such as elephants, whom after the death of one of their family members will stay by their side and mourn their death (Rifkin). Even more impressive is an experiment that was conducted on two birds, Betty and Abel, Betty “ fashioned a hook out of the wire nine out of 10 times.” This experiment proves that like humans, Betty, has exceptional cognitive abilities.

Rifkin not only includes a lot of great and credible information in his text but he also was very selective in the evidence he picked to include in his text. He only used evidence that shows to a great extent how animals can experience the same emotions and feelings as humans. These strategies are very effective because it opens the eyes of the public to hopefully call them to action in doing something about the way animals are being treated.

Response to “Do We Have the Courage to Stop This?” by Nicholas Kristof

        In Kristof’s short text “Do We Have the Courage to Stop This?” he goes into detail on why gun laws and regulations should be stricter. I believe that Kristof’s main claims are that he believes that making guns harder to obtain by regular civilians can reduce the rates of people dying due to being shot.  Kristof takes evidence and uses it in his favor to support a lot of the claims he makes in his text. He writes, “The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has five pages of regulations about ladders, … Ladders kill around 300 Americans a year, and guns 30,000.” This statement shows a fact that laws on gun regulations aren't as strict as those imposed on ladders even though guns kill one hundred times more people that ladders do. Statistics is also used in Kristof’s text he writes, “In Australia in 1996, a mass killing of 35 people galvanized the nation’s conservative prime minister to ban certain rapid-fire long guns…The law did not end gun ownership in Australia. It reduced the number of firearms in private hands by one-fifth, The murder rate with firearms has dropped by more than 40 percent…” Kristof not only uses facts and statistics to support his claim but he is also very selective of the evidence he puts in his text. He only uses evidence that will gravitate the reader to be in agreement with his claim which is a very effective strategy because he can easily persuade anyone who is reading the text.