There are many different ways one can get their point across. Some people feel that there are scientific methods to writing, and John D. Ramage is one of these people. In fact, his method is seen in Jonah Lehrer's article, "The Future of Reading." Ramage feels that one should begin with answering the, "What's your point?" question, which Lehrer does. He also uses Ramage's stases theory, which has five different questions. He feels that "Proposing answers to these questions and responding to others' answers to these questions constitute our point; and our immediate purpose is to make that point with an audience" (Ramage 103). Lehrer does this, and in the following paragraphs, we will see how.
The first question that Ramage feels should be addressed is, "What is this thing?" Lehrer answers this question in the very first paragraph; obviously, the 'thing' in the text is the digital book. This question/answer combination is pretty straightforward, and it leads into the next question in Ramage's model, "How much is this thing like/unlike that thing?" This resemblance question is certainly conquered by Lehrer's writing. He spends most of the article comparing books and digital books. In order to get the attention of the audience, he compares digital books to i-pods, pod casts, ect. to the radio, which is not used as often these days due to these technological developments. He then goes into his personal thoughts about books to his apprehensions of digital books, which is a great comparison method. After this, he takes a turn by stating advantages of the digital book, "It's never been easier to buy books, read books, or read about books you might want to buy. How can that not be good?" (Lehrer). Finally, to grab the audience even more, he states his 'nagging problem' with books in digital form, "My problem is that consumer technology moves in a single direction: It's constantly making it easier for us to perceive content" (Lehrer). Stating these variations show how these two things have likes and differences.
This last quote also answers the third question in Ramage's method, "Why did this thing happen?" Lehrer is alluding to the fact that digital books were created due to accessibility and ease. That is what Ramage would say "motivated its occurrence." Lehrer mentions many things that answer Ramage's forth question, "How good or bad is this thing?" Ramage would say that Lehrer uses the evaluative term of 'bad' in his article, which is a verb. Although, Lehrer states that the accessibility and ease of the digital book is a good thing (quote mentioned above), he finds that the ultimate idea of it is bad. He shows this opinion when he says, "making content easier and easier to see -- could actually backfire with books. We will trade away understanding for perception. The words will shimmer on the screen, but the sentences will be quickly forgotten" (Lehrer). He accepts the ease of the digital book, he even admits to using his Kindle at night because it is so easy; however, he feels that this idea will make the readers get less out of the text that they are reading, "I worry that, before long, we'll become so used to the mindless clarity of e-ink -- to these screens that keep on getting better -- that the technology will feedback onto the content, making us less willing to endure harder texts" (Lehrer). In other words, Lehrer feels that if the reader continues to read the high definition digital books, they will no longer want to challenge themselves.
Finally, Ramage's last question, "What should we do about this thing?" is also answered in "The Future of Reading." Lehrer comes right out and says, "So here's my wish for e-readers. I'd love them to include a feature that allows us to undo their ease, to make the act of reading just a little bit more difficult. Perhaps we need to alter the fonts, or reduce the contrast" (Lehrer). He clearly states what should be done about this issue on digital books, he feels that we should make the picture not quite as clear, that way, "We won't just scan the words -- we will contemplate their meaning" (Lehrer) therefore, getting more out of the text.
Although, all reading is not written scientifically--all reading does have some form of organized (hopefully) arrangement. If an author is attempting to construct a persuasive article/text, I definitely feel that they should lay their writing out scientifically. Posing and answering the questions that Ramage has listed is a great way to organize a report, article, or any persuasive text. It not only walks the reader step-by-step through what is going on with the issue and why, but it also helps the author sway the audience into thinking the way that they do.
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