TOW #10 – Article: “Against Headphones”

The New York Times

"Against Headphones"

By Virginia Heffernan

January 7, 2011 

First appearing in the Sunday Magazine of the New York Times in January 2011, “Against Headphones” is an argumentative essay written by Virginia Heffernan.  She often writes as a culture critic, focusing specifically on digital culture, and is currently an opinion writer.  Responding to the recent increase in cases of teenage hearing losses, Heffernan cites credible, convincing research in a narrative manner in order to redefine the public’s perception of how headphones actually serve the world. 

The author immediately catches the attention of parents, guardians, and teachers with a shocking statistic.  She bolds the indisputable numbers, “One in five teenagers in America can’t hear rustles or whispers, according to a study published in August in The Journal of the American Medical Association” (para. 1).  With this astounding factual declaration of a health problem found in 20% of all teenagers across America, Heffernan brings out the worry in mothers and fathers, effectively giving them a stake in the subject of her argument.

After a short paragraph of additional statistics, Heffernan narrates the history of the headphone, clearly defining the disparity in the intentions of its uses.  She tells the story of Nathaniel Baldwin, who invented headphones “to block out crowd noise and hear sermons,” or in Heffernan’s words, “a technology of submission (to commands) and denial (of commotion)” (para. 5).  Baldwin’s headphones were then utilized in WWII for communications.  Upon returning home to postwar society, war veterans “craved… submission-and-denial” (para. 6) that headphones could provide.  Heffernan ends her story with present-day children using headphones for privacy and individualized thinking spaces; however she plainly states, “It’s antisocial,” (para. 9) which leads to a whole slew of other problems, in addition to the health-related. 

Heffernan successfully presents a new perspective on how headphones are not only harmful to the ears of children, but also to the development of their brains, calling for the general public to consider using headphones less, and reminding America that there is a difference between technologically produced sounds and genuine, human sounds.

TOW #9 – Article: “Denial, global warming and the slaughter in Paris”

USA Today

"Denial, global warming and the slaughter in Paris"

By James S. Robbins

November 14, 2015

James Robbins is a commentary writer for USA Today.  His expertise is in national security, and foreign and military affairs from his experiences as the former special assistant in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, and today, the Senior Fellow for National Security Affairs on the American Foreign Policy Council.  Robbins has many sources on major national security issues, including the recent Paris attacks and activities of the Islamic State.  By asking rhetorical questions and logical argumentation, Robbins calls for the public to agree with his critical review of the White House administration’s policy in dealing with ISIS.

In order to get his audience thinking, Robbins asks several questions about what the White House believes caused the Paris attacks, and what is, to Robbins, obviously the true cause.  He writes, “What will the White House say caused the terrorist massacre in Paris? Will it be lack of job opportunities for an at-risk population? Will it be outrage over an offensive YouTube video? Or maybe… practical national security effects of global warming? Whatever the administration says… they will never blame radical Islam,” (para. 1).  By asking the audience to develop their own opinion, Robbins instills a sense of responsibility in his readers to put their faith in the White House; however, by ending with “never” is a letdown and creates a sense that the administration is acting illogically.

Robbins also presents a logical argument to bring his audience onto his side and put the blame on the Islamic State.  He states that ISIS has already claimed credit for the attacks, but President Obama is quoted being in denial of the Islamic State’s threats (para. 2) and focusing on insignificant progress (para. 3).  Robbins also cites, “ISIS threatened to send 500,000 refugees to Europe to sow chaos… there have been over 700,000 asylum claims… but recent experience has shown—whether in Paris, Madrid, London, Boston, or with the 9/11 attacks—that it only takes a small number of committed terrorists to wreak havoc” (para. 3).  Making appeals to both logos and pathos, Robbins reminds readers of how terrifying past attacks led by only a few terrorists have been.  He concludes with “The Paris massacre shows that half-hearted attempts to degrade, contain, or diminish the jihadist threat are failing… we need a strategy to defeat and destroy… there is no substitute for victory” (para. 6). The author effectively ends with a call to action for his readers to realize and perhaps, help change the White House’s current methods to a more radical plan of action.