The summary of the article
The current paper contains a rhetorical analysis of the article “Reading too much political news is bad for your well-being” . Brooks (2020) address an urgent topic of how political news affects people’s mood. The author concludes that it is vitally important to limit the amount of received information on political issues (Brooks, 2020). The article contains three helpful recommendations on minimizing the devastating impact that news on the event happening in the world has on us. More precisely, one should substitute passive complaining on an event with active involvement in them, avoid arguing about politics with friends and relatives and read articles from sources that promote views that are different from yours.
Outstanding in the article
The first thing that catches a reader’s eye is how the author introduces the topic. Brooks (2020) uses quotations from Buddhist texts to show that attachment is the root of all human misery. From first sight, it is not clear how this is linked with political news. However, the author explains that people become dependent on opinions; they want to know that some prominent politicians think in the same way. And this desire makes conflict with others to prove that their opinion is the right one and feel upset and angry about opposite views. Another noteworthy feature of the article is that Brooks (2020) clarifies how to minimize the previously described negative consequences.
The author’s credibility in the article
Brooks’s credibility is proven by the fact that he is a professor at the Harvard Kennedy School and is the author of the podcast “The art of happiness with Arthur Brooks.” Therefore, it could be inferred that he does know what he is writing about. Still, one could search for Brook’s scholarly publications on a similar topic and opinion of other social scientists on Brook’s works.
The use of facts and examples in the article
Brooks (2020) uses numerous examples that illustrate that political news has a strong negative impact on people’s mood and their satisfaction with life. These examples include the results of several polls and surveys. One of them is the General Social Survey that was conducted six years ago. The findings reveal that people who were interested in politics are more likely to be generally unhappy.
The problem presented in the article
The article’s problem could be described as follows: the more interested in politics people are, the less their satisfaction with life is. However, such people usually do not understand that the cause of their bad mood lies in the obsession with news on politics. People need to understand that it is unreasonable to argue about political views. For example, Brooks (2020) argues that more than 60 percent of American parents want their child’s spouse to have the same political views as they do. Undoubtedly, this fact results in immense stress for parents, children, and their mates.
The solutions presented in the article
I strongly agree with every solution proposed by the author. According to Brooks (2020), people should cease complaining and start undertaking some actions to change the situation that they do not like. I believe that if one does nothing to change the situation, he or she is not that dissatisfied with it and, hence, should not complain about it. Secondly, Brooks (2020) recommends reading newspapers and discussing politics less frequently. The final advice is to receive more information on the views that are opposite to personal ones. Even though these solutions are self-evident and straightforward, they will lead to positive outcomes.
The author’s voice in the article
I would describe the author’s voice as scholarly because he uses numerous references to prove his statements and promotional because he encourages the audience to pay less attention to politics. To communicate an idea, the author uses impressive statistics to show how politics destroys psychological well-being and then lists several solutions on how to escape these devastating outcomes.
An analytical thesis regarding the pattern in the article
In “Reading too much political news is bad for your well-being,” Brooks (2020) argues that excessive interest in politics undermines the chances of being happy. Individuals whose career is not related to politics should not spend too much attention on news, conflicts, and events in this sphere.
Reference
Brooks, A.C. (2020). Reading too much political news is bad for your well-being. The Atlantic. Web.