Sry Gotta Bail Mayb Nxt Tme

            As modern technology advances, texting and instant messaging has made it easier to navigate our social lives, but at the same time it as turned us into ill-mannered fools. Not long ago, the only way to break a social engagement was to do it in person or on the phone. An effusive apology was expected, or at least the appearance of remorse. But now, when our fingers tap our way out of social obligations, the barriers to canceling plans have been lowered. The author of this article is Caroline Tell. Caroline Tell is a fashion and lifestyle writer based in New York. Caroline is a contributor to The Wall Street Journal, Women’s Wear Daily, Conde Nast Traveler, Style.com, Robb Report, 1st Dibs and more.

            The context of this article that prompted the author to write this was her inner need to speak up about how the offline rules of etiquette no longer seem to apply with the use of e-mail, texting, etc. She believes people hide behind their e-mails or text messages to cancel appointments, or do things that are uncomfortable in a face to face situation. Caroline Tell’s purpose in writing this article was to address the societal corruption caused by the use of cellphones and computers to avoid social confrontation. She wants people to step out behind their cellphones and communicate with people face to face. The audience for this article includes a wide range of ages. This article can be applied to kids as young as 10 to adults as old as 50. Simply, anyone who is a virtual communicator is the target audience for this text. Caroline Tell even writes, “You’re not treating anything with any weight, and it turns us all into 14-year-olds. We’re all 14-year-olds in suits and high heels.”

            There are several rhetorical elements used in this article. However, the two used most frequently are anecdotes and repetitions. An anecdote is a short and amusing or interesting story about a real incident or person. Caroline used several anecdotes to give real-life examples to explain how cellular communication has affected our daily lives. This gave the audience amusing, relatable stories to illustrate and assist the author in accomplishing her purpose. The author was showing the evidence rather than plainly telling it. The second rhetorical element used frequently was repetition, the repeating of a word within a sentence or a poetical line, with no particular placement of the words in order to emphasize someone or something. This is such a common rhetorical device that it is almost never noted as one. The word repeated in this article was flakiness. The author thinks virtual confrontation encourages and promotes flakiness. This word is constantly used through out the article and repeated in several anecdotes. The constant repetition makes the word stand out and stick in ones mind. The idea then sticks in the readers mind that texting and e-mailing will cause flakiness, or carelessness and laziness.  

            Overall, I do believe the author accomplished her purpose of showing people how cellular communication is corrupting our society. She used anecdotes and repetition to constantly reiterate her point, and she provided example after example to support every claim she was making. She is a credible author and used her expertise to provide her audience with an informative article that was packed with information from beginning to end.