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Analyzing The Essay 'Lazy Eyes' By Michael Agger

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Analyzing The Essay 'Lazy Eyes' By Michael Agger
“Skimmers”
KAYLA CARR

“Skimmers”
In “Lazy Eyes,” Michael Agger explains that when reading electronic texts, we tend to skim through various types of manuscript. I agree with Agger in that we do tend to skim electronic texts. This seems to be a normal reading pattern for most people. This is the 21st century, we want everything faster and faster so it is no wonder why skimming is becoming more prevalent and that it is becoming the norm. Although Agger’s essay is mainly about reading electronic texts he does seem to lean more towards the written word. He believes that paper is the new “Prozac, a balm for distracted minds” (Agger 611). Reading text on paper keeps us more focused because we do not have all of the online information like ads and unnesccary pictures to stimulate our minds. He lists some of the ways how reading electronic texts poses several attention problems. Although Agger likes the written word better, he knows that sometimes there is no way to avoid reading online so he includes a list of ways to increase your focus while reading online texts. He explains how we tend to lose attention
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Agger writes that “pleasure readers would be the sloths hiding in the jungle while everyone else is out rampaging around for fresh meat” (Agger 612). We constantly like finding out new facts about random and cool things, but if we do not find what we are looking for by skimming a particular site many of us will just go on to the next site and repeat the process. In Agger’s essay, he suggests that writers eliminate some of the unneeded material in order to sustain a reader’s attention longer. He says that it is the writer’s responsibility to change their writing style and methods by using only one idea per paragraph and providing less word content than conventional writing. These techniques will enable writers to connect to their readers

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