Reading Response #1

When it comes to the topic of the writing of students today, most of us will readily agree that technology has put a very large hindrance on the quality of their work. Whereas some are convinced that technology has ruined writing forever, others maintain that it has actually helped us tremendously. In an article written by Clive Thompson, the topic of technology and it’s affect on the students of today is the focus. Thompson uses a study by Andrea Lunsford to back up his ideas. He urges that we are writing more than ever before, rather than what many people already think—that we are in an age where our students are becoming slackers in the writing department. In his opinion, we’re the opposite of that. Although Thompson doesn’t say so directly, he apparently assumes that engaging with an audience, has helped tremendously. He argues against the belief held by majority, saying that we’re writing for an audience more often now, thus it brings a meaning to most of the writing students are doing in today’s society.



My own view is that technology certainly has helped people, especially students. Though I concede that it has brought on new ways of speaking (chat speak), I still maintain that we have more knowledge on how and what to write when we have an audience. For example there is more of an interest of compelling an audience of people—not just one person. Like when you turn in a paper, the only person that’ll read it will be your professor. That isn’t exactly engaging. Although some might object that who reads our work has nothing to do with the quality, I reply that making our writing for an audience makes the process of working on our assignments so much more exciting. It makes it real—you’re doing it for more than just a grade. It’s also for an audience! This issue is important because writing to one person when your paper is about a topic that you worked so hard on makes our interest plummet into almost not caring about what we’re learning.


Thompson goes on to write that Andrea Lunsford’s study has shown us that “our way of writing today makes us closer to the Greek traditions of argument”. Why is this important? Because in her study, she goes to on to say that we imitate the Greeks by being able to adapt to the audience we’re presenting to, which in turn, helps us get our point across.


We’re comparing the new to the old… and even if tradition is your “thing”, it’s still nearly impossible to say that technology hasn’t helped our writing skills. It’s called a writing evolution, and that’s what we’re going through right now.