Steven Johnson Everything Bad Is Good For You Analysis

In Everything Bad Is Good For You, Steven Johnson writes about how society criticizes popular culture activities such as TV, Video Games, and the Internet. Johnson then argues back, using that context that these popular culture activities are more complicated than people may believe them to be. In this excerpt, Johnson talks about why reading is important and uses it to setup context for his later on arguments. By using well organized description, quotations of trusted people, and a direct statement of his arguments, Johnson is able to effectively convey his argument to the reader and hook them in to stay for his analysis. Johnson uses the organization of his writing to the greater ability of his argument by setting up what he will be arguing …show more content…
After using quotations of other people, and while pertaining to the organizational structure, Johnson ends this passage with two of his clear arguments that he wanted to make sure his readers knew: “I aim to persuade you of two things: 1. ...the non literary popular culture has been steadily growing more challenging over the past thirty years. 2. ...the non literary popular culture is honing different mental skills… just as important as the ones exercised by reading books.” Johnson first explains with true mind that he does believe books are important in paragraph one, but then once he is done explaining that he doesn’t dislike books, he then goes on to say he will argue that popular culture activities can be and are just as important as reading books today. Because Johnson comes right out to state his argument, he is able to lead his readers into a situation where they have to stay to see just how Johnson can argue these points. With the arguments clear in their minds, Johnson can use his explanation skills through the rest of the book to show his readers just how important popular culture is today compared to books. The clear statement of two arguments also makes the reader more curious about Johnson’s book because from the title of his book, Everything Bad Is Good For You, the reader really only knew of there being one argument. But since Johnson came out to state a second argument, it may just allure his readers further into his book as they become more curiously attracted to the interesting addition Johnson has made part way into his book. And with this persuasive addition, Johnson can be self-assured that he has gained interest from his readers, making for a fascinating