'From Brain Gain: The Underground World Of Neuroenhancing'

Neuroenhancing drugs which are filled with a mix of amphetamine salts are commonly prescribed for people who have been diagnosed with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder are now being abused, becoming cognitive enhancers. In Margaret Talbot’s article “From Brain Gain: The Underground World of “Neuroenhancing” Drugs” Talbot uses hyperbole, basic diction, examples, and statistical evidence to show how neuroenhancing drugs are being abused by people who want an academic aid. In her writing, Margaret starts out by using an anonymous student as an example describing how a boy, Alex attended an Ivy League school and describes how he lied to a doctor about a list of symptoms that he supposedly had. This lie allowed him to get a prescription of this ADHD medicine. She says how he took fifteen milligrams most every evenings and built a dependency on the drug. She draws a comparison to how throughout schools there are many students who feel the need to use stimulants to achieve greater amounts of focus in school. Talbot uses hyperbole to describe the negative aspects of these stimulants. For example, when she states “neuroenhancers don’t offer freedom. Rather they facilitate a pinched, unromantic, grindingly efficient form of productivity.” Talbot gives a strong personal opinion here as seen when she uses words with negative
Compared to many scientific based readings which has diction that is incomprehensible by many common people, the word choice in this is fairly basic. This can be seen throughout the story although in specific when she says “Alex’s sense of who uses stimulants for so-called nonmedical purposes is borne out by two dozen or so scientific studies.” Many of the words in this sentence could replaced words with a stronger scientific