Amusing Myself

I decided, as soon as I saw the cover, that I should very quickly to turn it over and see what Amusing Ourselves To Death was really about. As I started to read the summary, I began to think that this book is going to be one of those books that has a profound affect on how you think about life. I began to think about how much we depend on the media for our entertainment. Sometimes the entertainment isn't even funny but we laugh anyways. I began to think about the reason why we laugh, we laugh not because it's funny but because we know we are suppose to. Isn't that sad?

I found myself thinking "Is the Now this... effect really being used in the news?" and " Is politics really turning into a shameless media circus?". I think questions like these were what inspired Neil Postman to write this book. He knew that deep down every person who watched political debates was really thinking " Is that really what this man, who is running for office, is thinking or is that what he was told to say?" His analysis of the American culture was dead-on correct. We are a media nation and we will always will be because no one knows how to "use" a television correctly.

The arguement over media and public discorse was aided by the use of quotes from well known individuals. I believe this was the strongest rhetorical device used in this book. Two great individuals for the past that Neil used in his writings were Aristotle and Thomas Paine. The use of quotes by these two people made me belive in Neil's purpose that much more because they are from a time of no electronics. They only had the simplist media, the newspaper;if they were lucky enough to have that. Aristotle used science to prove things, he didn't go on facts. For instance, he thought that men had more teeth that women but in reality we all know that men and women have the same amount of teeth. In the days of Aristotle, he didn't have a Discovery Channel to turn on so he came up with this assumption all by himself, you don't need anything to help you think. Postman's use of quotes from all generations made him more reliable and his arguement go more in his favor.

The another rhetorical device that really stood out for me was hysteron proteron because alot of this book was about what was going to happen in the future because of what is happening now. For example, Postman's whole book is about life in the future and what it will be like if we don't stop depending on the media now. The quote in the book about people laughing and why they had stopped thinking is a perfect example of this. People have stopped thinking; purely because they think it's easier. What I am basically saying is that you can sit in front of the t.v. all day and not think about a single thing.

I however have proceeded to find another fantastic rhetorical device, hypophora. Hypophora is when you ask a question then answer it yourself.The whole book is basically a hypophora.The question was "Is the media going to be too much to handle?" and his end answer was "Yes." I agree with him.

In conclusion, I never thought I would actually like learning about the media and how it is effecting us but this book has peaked my interest. Neil's writing style makes me want to read more of his books! He is very openionated and very clear about what he believes. My favorite part of his style is that he like to include quotes and passages. I believe reading Amusing Ourselves To Death will really help me make better decisions in the future about whether I will trust the newsman and if the Seaseme Street is really an educational tool.