Amusing Ourselves to Death: Rhetorical Devices
By Katy Zou
Rhetorical devices are methods of persuasion used by
authors to advocate their points across to the audience. Successful
incorporation of rhetorical devices validates the author’s argument, giving the
audience a “push” in the direction of favoring the author’s opinions. The three
types of rhetorical devices are ethos, pathos, and logos. In Amusing
Ourselves to Death, Postman emphasizes the use of ethos while restraining
from the use of pathos to show how television has begun to influence our lives
deeply as a communication medium that only provides entertainment.
Postman over excesses the use of ethos in Amusing
Ourselves to Death to give himself a “privilege” to speak on the matter of
television effecting society. Postman, on his imaginary soapbox, delivers a lengthy
speech full of pathos rhetoric, much of which refers back to quotes from famous
orators or statistics from professional evaluators. He brings up characters in
America’s history such as Henry Kissinger and Benjamin Franklin as well as including
members of America’s pop culture such as Susan Sontag and Dr. Ruth, mainly used
to appeal to the audience. His arguments on the influence of television are
supported by his references to historical figures and the famous, for example,
“Franklin describes this sentiment…” or “We have here a criticism of the
epistemology of the written word worthy of Plato” (Postman 24). Although Postman
deems television to be a factor of decreasing literacy rates and the
replacement of intelligent discourse with pure entertainment, he points out
that he enjoys the entertainment it provides. He admits to the audience that he
too has succumbed to the appeal of it. By relating himself to the audience he
connects with them in a psychological way, making the reader more likely to
agree with his argument. This form of ethos rhetoric gives the audience a feel
that the author is an “everyday man” which relates to them. He states that “I
raise no objection to television's junk. The best things on television are its
junk” (Postman 14). The way Postman relates to the audience and refers to
famous people using ethos rhetoric supports his argument greatly.
Postman also incorporates much logos rhetoric into Amusing
Ourselves to Death. He includes decreasing literacy rates and refers to
many specific time periods of which books were published. For example, “the literacy rate for men in Massachusetts
and Connecticut was somewhere between 89 percent and 95 percent” (Postman 25). The
logos rhetoric put into Postman’s novel gives credibility and evidence to
support his assertions. The relation presented between decreasing literacy
rates and the rise of the television age is supported by these included
statistics. Postman’s use of logos rhetoric helps to solidify his arguments.
Postman refrains from the use of pathos when referring
to the effects of television on society. He avoids the use of pathos mainly to
create solid, emotionless evidence in his arguments. This gives more credibility
to his arguments and validates his statements as they are not based on
emotional reasons. Pathos is mainly exempt from Amusing Ourselves to Death.
The use of logos and ethos rhetoric are clearly shown
in Amusing Ourselves to Death. Postman relies on rhetoric to convince
the audience to become more aware of the roles television plays in our lives. The
three types of rhetoric, logos, pathos, and ethos, gives the audience a forward
“push” in supporting the author’s arguments. Postman has successfully
incorporated the use of rhetoric.
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