“Globalization: the Super-Story”: a Story for Everyone
“Globalization: The Super-Story”: A Story for Everyone In Thomas L. Friedman’s “Globalization: The Super-Story”, he examines the features of globalization from various aspects and how it helps people better understand 9/11 events. He claims that globalization is the new improved system formed in place of the old “cold war system”(102), and through the patterns of which, people observe today’s world in an integrated way. Simple short phrases, organized structure, colloquial language, and punctuation are techniques Friedman uses to create a reader-friendly, convincing essay. To begin with, Friedman uses simple short phrases to emphasize his points. He starts with an enthusiastic term “big believer” (102), which establishes the colloquial tone of the essay and successfully capture the readers’ interest. The author goes on by a series of simple short phrases: “a big lens, a big framework” (102), and “look at the world, order events” (102) to illustrate his strong advocacy in the idea of “the super-story” (102). Here, “lens” refers to a novel perspective to examine the world; “framework”, on the other hand, refers to the new conventions the world operates. Both “lens” and “framework” relate readers to the daily tools and form the idea that the “super-story” is a practical intermediate that assists their understanding of the world. The word “big”, which corresponds with “super”, creates a huge landscape which shows readers that the influence of “super-story” is spread widely. Next, the author portrays the today’s bond between individuals and the world as “farther, faster, deeper, and cheaper than ever before” (102). Here, he chooses a sequence of comparatives, showing readers the rapid speed of the interconnections formed. The author describes people who feel “overwhelmed by it, homogenized by it, or unable to keep pace with its demands” (103) about the trend of globalization using short phrases. This follows the paragraphs which discuss the features of globalization
Cited: Friedman, Thomas L. “Globalization: The Super-Story”. The Norton Mix: A Custom Publication. Ed. Boston University. New York: W.W.Norton, 2010. Print. 101-105 4