Allison Lenselink Assignment 1B Rhetorical Reflection Section HA - McGough September 18, 2013

Comment Around 1940, E.B. White wrote a recurring article called Notes and Comment in the New York Times. In one of his Comments, he described the future of reading in the new age of audiovisual learning. He stated that in 50 years around 1990 only 5% of people will be able to read; he also claimed that those rare people who could read would be the nucleus around which to found a university, making a comparison between the reader and a queen bee of a hive (White 60). While perhaps in 1940 this was a legitimate concern, the fact that this is printed in a textbook nearly 70 years after the publication of the original Comment is rather ironic. While the original publication and the textbook reproduction were meant to serve different purposes to different audiences, both manage to convey the same message: modern technology is driving us away from important skills such as reading and communication through literature. In the early 20th century, writers such as White had reason to be concerned about the rise in technologies which had the potential to lead to a decline in the written word. Although the radio and telephones were already much in use, inventions such as the television allowed audiences to obtain information both orally and visually. With conveniences such as this, reading was no longer a necessity. White describes a world where reading is practically a super power it is so rare, where everyone mindlessly works for the one who can read. Fortunately, over 70 years later, this is not the way the world has become. However, his point was relevant and clear at the time. White saw both the necessity of the written word and its slow decline; in writing this Comment, he expressed his concern and voiced his prediction of society if the progression of technology did not change. This was a real concern for people in the rising 20th century. Without understanding life with technology, they feared change, and hearing things like this from renowned authors such as White would cause even more fear. Since obviously his target audience was able to read, his purpose must have been to instill enough concern in them to help the future generations learn to read; based on the fact that the majority of Americans today are literate, their worries were not as concerning as they might have thought. Considering the major time difference between when E.B. White wrote this and when it was reprinted in the textbook, there is obviously an audience difference, and therefore it serves a different purpose. The publication in the New York Times reached probably millions of people, but the republication of it in Convergences will probably only be read by a few thousand college students. Although the idea of modern technology replacing the need to communicate through the written word is still prevalent today, the effect of the Comment on college students is far different than that of the past. After living in a world of technology and advancements, young people college students no less reading this in a textbook are probably not nearly as concerned about the literacy of America. Especially at a college like Iowa State, where they are

surrounded by over thirty thousand people who are literate and have promising futures, it is difficult to imagine a world where only 5% can read. In this case, Whites original purpose was not met in the reproduction because of the drastic differences in time from when it was written to when it was reproduced. Each version of the Comment is physically and thematically the same: both emphasize the importance of reading and written communication and relate a fear of its decline. Based on the audience and method of publication, the message received varies from social expectations to individual advice. This wide range of options demonstrates that the method of publication has a large effect on the message each audience member receives.

Work Cited White, E.B. Comment. 1940. Convergences: Themes, Texts, and Images for Composition. Ed. Robert Atwan. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2009. 60. Print.