The Importance Of Conversation Essay Sample

Do you know how to start a conversation? Sherry Turkle wrote an expert about how we are slowly unlearning how to have conversations. In the expert, The Flight from Conversations, by Sherry Turkle she uses anecdotes and ethos to strengthen her claim which is “the little devices most of us carry around are so powerful that they change not only what we do, but also who we are.” (para 3)

To start, she uses anecdotes to establish a connection with the reader. In paragraph 6 she says“A businessman laments that he no longer has colleagues at work. He doesn’t stop by to talk; he doesn’t call. He says that he doesn’t want to interrupt them. He says they’re “too busy on their E- mail.” But he pauses and corrects himself. “I’m not telling the truth. I’m the one who doesn’t want to be interrupted. I think I should. But I’d rather just do things on my BlackBerry.” Turkle uses this anecdote to make the readers think about their own lives and make them think “have I ever done this”. It makes them think about how they can change it and what they should do instead.

She again uses anecdotes to help the reader understand how this happens in real life, not just something that people are saying. In paragraph eight she says “A senior partner at a Boston law firm describes a scene in his office. Young associates lay out their suite of technologies: laptops, iPods, and multiple phones. And then they put their earphones on. “Big ones. Like pilots. They turn their desks into cockpits.” With the young lawyers in their cockpits, the office is quiet, a quiet that does not ask to be broken.” In this anecdote Turkle wants the readers to think about how technology has changed the way we do things.

Lastly, she uses ethos to show that she is a credible source and knows what she is talking about. In paragraph 17 she says “During the years I have spent researching people and their relationships with technology, I have often heard the sentiment “No one is listening to me.” I believe this feeling helps explain why it is so appealing to have a Facebook page or a Twitter feed — each provides so many automatic listeners. And it helps explain why — against all reason — so many of us are willing to talk to machines that seem to care about us.” In paragraph 17 she writes these sentences to show the readers that she has been studying how technology affects us and that we can trust her when she says we need to learn how to have conversations again.

In conclusion, Sherry Turkle is concerned that we are losing our ability to have conversations face to face. That's why she wrote this expert, and she uses anecdotes and ethos to strengthen her claim which is that “the little devices most of us carry around are so powerful that they change not only what we do, but also who we are.” (para 3)