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Summary Of The Things People Say By Elizabeth Kolbert

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The bi-partisan government in the United States of America is further divided by the ways of the internet. The internet only makes it more readily available to find false information to prove your side of the arguement right.In the article titled “The Things People Say: Rumors in an age of unreason,” published in The New Yorker (November 2009), staff writer Elizabeth Kolbert discusses The spread of rumors across the internet and how it further divides the bipartisan government and argues that due to the filtering of ideas people are more likely to go against evidence when there are people that support their opinions. The author supports this claim by providing examples such as the study done in 1970, quoting multiple sources beyond her political …show more content…

In Jones’ article “Finding the good argument or why bother with logic” she expresses her belief on what an argument 's purpose is; “the possibility you might change your mind, learn something new, or solve a problem”. Kolbert’s intention in this article is to educate her audience. Kolbert is aware of her audience and molds her argument to fit the type. Kolbert keeps them on her side while also hinting at the problems within their own group. Her main message of the article is not “republicans are evil and spread rumors” her argument is more based on the spread of rumors through the internet criticising both groups while it may be more obvious that she is criticising republicans in reality the main point of the article is to enlighten her audience on their own faults while still keeping them on her side. Kolbert uses the birther movement as an example to her argument because it is so extreme to liberals that they can 't believe anyone would ever believe such a silly rumor, it also allows the the audience to detach themselves from the article and listen more to Kolbert’s points. Kolbert is not trying to offer a solution to these problems as she is aware some of the most vital contributors to this problem will not be reading her article. Instead her purpose is to enlighten her audience of democrats and liberals to challenge themselves and find the faults within themselves. The last paragraphs in the article keep the audience on her side while also allowing her audience room to think about their own behaviors. A joke is inserted to remind them of the ridiculousness of the birther movement and keep the article focused on that specific group. However the paragraph following that tells the real message as Kolbert quotes Sunstein once again. Now the article has switched as this is now directed towards her audience as she say it is human behavior and something we all do.The last line of the article is “computers don 't spread rumors; people do” This is the main message

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