Television as Teacher - Rhetorical Analysis

Bernadette Kwisera

Prof. Wolfe

11/09/15

Television as Teacher

Television and education are two different things: many Americans today agree with this statement. However, one American author, Neil postman, who wrote “Television as Teacher,” argues that television, in particular, mixes information and entertainment so thoroughly that viewers have come to expect even newscasts to be entertaining. Postman begins building up his credibility with specific examples of television shows that people see as educational. He continues to build it through quotations of another author like him who has the same standpoint in this so called issue and makes many appeals to logos. Postman ends it all with an extended example of a specific science and math project and relates it to the classrooms in schools. However, throughout his article, he weakens his credibility by not including the contradicting side or the other side of the issue and only uses evidence to support his own argument and claim.

In his article, Postman first sets the stage with a reflection on the origins of a well-known television show Sesame Street. Postman continues by discussing his disagreement on public opinion and media that Sesame Street teaches kids to enjoy learning and actually going to school. He actually quotes that” As a television show, and a good one, Sesame Street does not encourage children to love school or anything about school. It encourages them to love television.” He is saying that even though the media characterizes these kinds of shows to be educational and have a good influence on children and their choice on education, it is just hindering the ways that people learn and see the world through shallow images.

Throughout his piece, Postman uses many strong sources such as quotes and parental opinions of the why they embraced specific shows. One parent said that she embraced the show Sesame Street because it assuaged her guilt over the fact that she could not or would not restrict her children’s access to television. He used this kind of example to show how strongly he feels about the topic he is writing about and to also add on to the real reason why parents get blinded on the fact that education and entertainment are different and the choices and control they have on how their children learn in general. He emphasizes that children shows do not really trigger a child’s brain to react positively about school unless for example school was just like the show. Sesame Street shows kids having fun and learning new things every day with a smile of their faces and also shows guest speaker like music artists and celebrities to make the environment more “fun” and interesting to be apart of. However the real world is not all about fun and meeting new people but requires independence and dedication through the learning process itself.