Walt Watkins Summary

Watkins’ purpose is to persuade audience to cut back on media consumption due to the detrimental consequences. There is a connection to semiotics in Watkins’ argument because on the surface, or denotatively, we’re just watching videos or consuming media. Although, connotatively we’re wasting time, thus hurting our productivity and chance to learn. Watkins also uses different methods to achieve his purpose. He utilized a comparison between candy and media to show the level of self-control among consumers. The comparison featured his target audience consuming media and a young child devouring candy. The child woke up in the candy shop and immediately starts stuffing his mouth. This relates to his target audience who do the same, just with media
The first showed “at least a third of young children” (397) have the ability to use technology in their bedrooms. The second study found that it is common for tweens and teens to use other devices while on the computer. Watkins implies that learning to use media in the bedroom and multitask at such a young age increases their risk down the road. Consequences could include death, as the 2008 train accident showed. The conductor of the train was on his cell phone instead of operating the train, which neglected him from seeing the warnings and commands to stop the train (400). The result was twenty-five deaths because the conductor was trying to multitask. Watkins’ use of this example appeals to pathos, as death is a very emotional topic. The audience naturally believes what he is saying, as disobeying him could result in another
He asked them about their tendencies to multitask and their responses were all along the same line. Their answers showed they all multitasked and felt it was an important method to getting work done. This benefits Watkins’ argument because other college students will be the same way and want to stop after reading his essay. Watkins cemented his purpose with a strong conclusion, which called his audience to action. He urged them to stop multitasking, as it will hurt academically and sociologically. His powerful last sentence explains to the audience that if they continue to multitask and consume huge amounts of media, they may know information, but will lack intelligence. In addition, Watkins notes the potential consequences as being more radical than ever before, which discourages the audience from disobeying him. Overall, Watkins’ essay effectively caters to his audience and provides the necessary support to achieve his