Going Cold Turkey

This study guide will help you analyze Cazzie David’s article “Going Cold Turkey”, which was used for a written exam in English A STX on the 11^th of August 2023.

In addition to help with your analysis, you can find a summary of the text and ideas for your discussion.

If you need help with Assignments 1-3 from the STX A exam on the 11th of August 2023, you can check out our guide here.

Uddrag

Direct address

David uses direct address as a way of engaging readers and making them empathize with her experience. When she uses the pronoun “you”, David appeals to other millennials who might be thinking about trying life without their smartphones: “I struggled most when I was waiting. Waiting no longer exists today because what you do when you wait is the same thing you do when you’re not waiting, which is look at your iPhone”.

Here, David also makes a general point about society being unable to simply be in the moment and do anything else than look at phones.

Rhetorical questions

David uses rhetorical questions when she wants to engage readers and make them reflect on the issues she discusses. First, she uses rhetorical questions when she tries to figure out the reasons behind her brain fog: “Was I depressed? Can you just one day wake up with a new foggy personality?”. Here, the rhetorical questions help the readers follow her tought process. It also invites them to reflect on whether they might have experienced similar mental issues in their own lives.

Sometimes David also uses rhetorical questions in a more humorous way: “You know how people say there isn’t enough time in the day? Well, those people are addicted to their smartphones. Because there is plenty of time when you don’t have one”. Although she is ironic, David makes an important point about phone addiction and the things people tend to miss while mindlessly scrolling away.