Analytical Review of Postman’s Book

In Amusing Ourselves to Death, Postman told the effects of television on American society; American culture used to be typographically based, but turned into an imagery-based one. Everything became a form of entertainment, whether it is current events, education, politics, etc. Postman explained these topics, along with others while using rhetorical devices and modes of persuasion.

Postman tried to persuade his audience with great amounts of statistics throughout the book to support his ideas. The facts were presented in various forms, which included references, quotes from various sources, statistics, etc. The readers can assume that they are getting valid information, because they were cited; pages 165-184 show where he obtained all the data. Chapter 3, “Typographic America,” was about the history of the printed word in our country. One of the many specifics I read was, “The influence of the printed word in every arena of public discourse was insistent and powerful not merely because of the quantity of printed matter but because of its monopoly…from the seventeenth century to the late nineteenth century, printed material was all that was available.” The whole chapter had many statistics throughout.

There is frequent comma usage in the author’s writing. Most of his sentences are long, with or without conjunctions, but almost always contain commas. On page 100, anaphora was used in the comma-filled sentence, “In part because television sells its time in seconds and minutes, in part because television must use images rather than words, in part because its audience can movie freely to and from the television set…”

Anaphora was also used in the following series of rhetorical questions on page 160, “What is information? Or more precisely, what are information? What are its various forms? What conceptions of intelligence, wisdom and learning does each form insist upon? What conceptions does each form neglect or mock? What are the main psychic effects of each form? What is the relation between information and reason? What is the kind of information that best facilitates thinking?...” Postman asked many rhetorical questions throughout the book to get the audience thinking about the topic, but doesn’t expect an answer.

The point of Postman’s book was to teach the audience the effect of television on American society and culture. His statements were valid and accurate. For example, I agree that we were once a literary culture, and now we are an imagery-based one. When a politician is mentioned, most would think of their image of how television portrays them, not for what was written about them (their beliefs, what side they’re on for controversial issues, etc.). Long ago, it would have been the opposite. Citizens would know about the politician (through written means and what they said) and wouldn’t have recognized him or her if they passed each other on the street. I was ignorant about George Bush until I reached high school. I only knew what he looked like and that he was a republican who was leading us in a war. I didn’t know his moral standings and placement on issues because I wasn’t taught the difference between democrats and republicans in school.

Postman’s intended audience was for anyone who was interested how our country is changed because of media. The intended audience was also for people who probably would understand the author’s intellectual vocabulary, because he does use some higher-level words. Even though Postman's novel wasn't in "layman's term" as much I wish it was, I still understood his general message. Hopefully, more people will be aware that the media controls our lives.

Entertainment and television is a huge part of many Americans, and I don’t think that is going to change. As more technology is being invented, those items will become popular, like the iPod did. Hopefully, more people will be aware that the media does control our lives and will take action to prevent it before it gets totally out of control.