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Chelsea's Academic Article

Page history last edited by chelsea 14 years, 4 months ago
In Dennis Baron's article From Pencils to Pixels he claims that the development of technology, specifically the pencil, computer, and telephone have been adopted into society and used as communication devices. To further his argument he uses credible sources such as Henry Petroski's The Pencil: A History of Design and Circumstance. Petroski provides Baron's article with a substantial amount of background information of the development of the pencil.  Without this source, Baron's would not be able to show how a simple device such as the pencil is considered advanced technology and how old technology has become invisible. He also would not have evidence to back his thesis up. 

 

Henry Petroski's main focus in The Pencil: A History of Design and Circumstance was to approach engineering through the history and symbolism of the common pencil (Petroski x). This ubiquitous and deceptively simple object is something we can all hold in our hands, experiment with, and wonder about (Petroski x). Petroski states that "The pencil is so familiar to us that it is an invisible part of our culture, and it is so common as to be taken up and given away with barely a thought" (x). He also focuses on when the pencil was in its primitive phase and how it eventually became today's pencil. He notes that Henry Thoreau and other engineers who helped create the pencil came across problems while trying to perfect it. "Finding the correct blend of graphite and clay so that the "lead" is not too soft or too brittle; and getting the lead into the cedar wood case so that it didn't break when sharpened" were a few problems the creators came across that were noted in Baron's article. 

 

Petroski provides Baron with evidence on how the pencil is taken for granted. The first chapter in The Pencil:A History of Design and Circumstance is titled "What We Forget". It begins with Henry Thoreau, a transcendentalist who was making a list of essential supplies to bring on a twelve-day excursion into the woods (Petroski 3). Thoreau goes into detail on the items that he brings such as the size of his blanket, matches, cord length, however, he neglects to mention one object that he needed to use for note taking and measurements (Petroski 3). According to Emerson, Thoreau always seemed to carry a pencil. By neglecting to list one of the most essential items to take it shows how the pencil had become too common a thing to mention (Petroski 4). Thoreau's excursion is mentioned in Baron's article, to show how old technology has become second nature to us. By using Thoreau's experience Barons is able to create a stronger argument for our impulsive actions of older technology.  At the conclusion of his article Barons states "As the old technologies become automatic and invisible, we find ourselves more concerned with fighting or embracing what's new". 

 

However, Thoreau is included in both From Pencils to Pixels and The Pencil: A History of Design and Circumstance in different contexts. In Baron's article, Thoreau is portrayed as a pencil businessman who "disparaged the information superhighway of his day". After reading this one could assume that he didn't support the use of pencils since it was a popular communication device and contributed to the "information superhighway". Petroski sheds light on Thoreau in a different way by stating "Without a pencil Thoreau would have been lost in the Maine Woods" and according to Emerson, Thoreau seems always to have carried a pencil (4).  Although this does not complicate Barons claim, this small detail changes how one may think Thoreau thought of the pencil. 

 

One of Petroski's sources that helped support his claim was The Evolution of Technology by George Basalla. Although this was a sub-refrence to Barons, it was also able to support his claim. In The Evolution of Technology, Basalla looks at primitive technology, which is what Barons and Petroski did. However, Basalla goes further back into time and focuses on stone knives made by cave men. These stone knives were the result of humans interaction, and Basalla reasons that for technology to reach perfection it needs to eventually have the aid of science. Baron's concept is similar to Basallas in that he talks about the early stages of technology and how it gets more complex over time. Computers and telephones are not the result of human interactions, they needs the aid of science to reach perfection. 

 

Dennis Baron's sources aid him in supporting his thesis because he is able to use them effectively. He is able to express one of the three stages of technology with his main source, which was Henry Petroski's The Pencil: A History of Design and Circumstance. His sub-reference is able to support his claim which again demonstrates how Barons has a valid claim in his article. This shows that sources can help expand a writers point in a paper. 

 

 

 

 

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Comments (1)

Sarah L. said

at 2:34 am on Nov 20, 2009

this is very well written; just a few last minute suggestions:

in your third paragraph first sentence- is it supposed to be Baron or Barons
length of cord or cord length
later in that paragraph- Baron's or Baron

Check where you use possession/plural and where you don't

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