Jessica
Patterson
592.66.4692
09.03.03
Prof.
Gagnon
ENC
1102
Although society has much influence on our values and beliefs, every
individual still holds their own opinions on every issue. Take the internet for example. Today
technology has advanced to the point where we are able to communicate with
people all over the world on a device similar in design to a television
set. Now there is a topic that has a tendency to really open some doors for
debate! Two authors who take on similar
viewpoints on the topic, yet contrasting ideas of expression are Esther Dyson
and Sherry Turkle. They both feel the
internet can be a new identity haven, yet use opposing tactics to convey their
opinion.
Esther Dyson wrote an essay entitled
“The Anonymous Voice.” In this she refers to the internet as a place for people
to be anonymous. It reflects upon her
life as a teenager and how she changed drastically into a vengeful young adult
once she left for college, due to a lack of transitional guidance by her
family. She states “Had the online world
existed, I might have tried out being a teenager online and had less need to
leave home – or perhaps the support from outside to stay home and change.”
Also, she describes the internet as a way for her to change her identity, “I
might have written something untrue, just because I didn’t want to be burdened
with my real identity of a
J. Patterson
slightly dumpy
fifteen year old with braces and horn-rimmed glasses.” Here Dyson points out
there are sometimes legitimate reasons for internet anonymity.
Sherry Turkle refers to the computer
as a “second self,” or seeing our images in the “mirror of the machine.” Her essay focuses more on the element of
online life and the impact it has on identity: creating a new persona for
oneself in the virtual world. She shared
an example of a woman in her late thirties who recently got an account with
America Online and used the fact that she could create five screen names on her
account as a chance to “lay out all the moods I’m in – all the ways I want to
be in different places on the system.”
Turkle also explains that for some people, Cyberspace is a place to “act
out unresolved conflicts, to play and replay characterological difficulties on
a new and exotic stage.” For others, it
provides an opportunity to “work through significant personal issues, to use
the new materials of cybersociality to reach for new resolutions.” Although these authors present a very similar
concept of internet use, they both use opposing writing tactics to express
their ideas.
The first aspect one notices when
reading an essay is the authors approach: How well did they convey their
viewpoint? What type of jargon did they use? What method of writing did they
portray? Each writer is different in that aspect. For instance, Dyson in “The Anonymous Voice”
takes a direct and personal approach by relating her own experiences to her ideas
and writing. She shares stories of when she was a young girl and how the internet
has affected her life. Turkle, however, takes a more research based approach
with her essay “Cyberspace and Identity.” Instead of involving her own history,
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she presents
researched information; which include stories of others’ experiences with the
internet.
Every author has their own style of
writing and use of language depending on the topic and what they feel will be
more effective. Jargon has a significant
involvement when attempting to depict ones viewpoint to a given audience. Dyson uses a proper yet less formal format of
language than that of Turkle. Turkle’s
Jargon tends to be more “textbook”, “dry”, and repetitive than Dyson’s. Dyson
speaks to the reader as an ordinary person and relates to them with a more
relaxed approach, yet proper enough to establish credibility as a writer. Turkle
establishes credibility through formal presentation and literature yet chooses
not to connect with the reader on a personal level. Neither of these authors are more educated or
skilled than the other, they simply maintain different writing techniques.
No matter what position one takes on
a given topic, there will be a writing technique that appeals to them more than
the other. The writer’s job is to find
what style coincides with their point the best.
Dyson and Turkle presented equally credible works on identities on the
internet with their essays “The Anonymous Voice” (Dyson) and “Cyberspace and
Identities” (Turkle). Although these
authors presented a very similar concept of internet use, they both incorporated
different writing tactics to properly express their ideas.
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