In "We've Got Mail-Always," Andrew Leonard effectively demonstrates how the use of E-mail is liable to be both a benefit and a setback. He provides the reader with a valid assessment as he gives series of examples and counterexamples, including personal anecdotes, and modern day examples though ultimately leaving the decision up to the audience. Although he is able to argue both sides of the coin, Leonard lacks the ability to recognize the middle of the two extremes.

Leonard begins his article with the burning questions "Is Email a blessing or a curse?" (230). He points out that the modern world measures their technological status by the amount of E-mail one receives. His first premise states the fact that a majority of E-mail in the internet world consists of only irrelevant letters and forwards, deciding that E-mail is nothing more than a waste of time. Quickly; however, his article takes a turn, arguing that it is those few relevant letters that make E-mailing the key to not only boundless communication, but also limitless opportunities. Leonard goes on to explain how E-mailing not only "[transcends] physical limitations," but also "encourages the shy" by offering easy ac

Leonard uses personal anecdotes to provide evidence either for or against E-mailing. In paragraph nine, the author describes how he got started on his own email account, saying that his uncle had Parkinson's, and although he could not write, he was able to type, thus proving that E-mail "[transcends] physical limitations," thereby breaking boundaries. The simple fact that Leonard uses personal anecdotes is enough to attract the reader into the article emotionally. The audience now knows that E-mailing connects people on a higher level than ever before- it incorporates those with disabilities and those without, making communication easy and efficient. Leonard also uses anecdotes to argue that E-mail is not beneficial, saying that he had "lost control over some valuable part of [his] life" ever since he made the "Devil's bargain with the wired world," that is, he lost track of what was work and what was play. Here, the author draws the reader to an entirely different conclusion, arguing that E-mail has instead made the once well-defined line between work and play more ambiguous. By drawing from personal experiences, the audience knows that the question at hand effects the common person.

Leonard's major fault in "We've Got Mail- Always" is the fact that he only recognizes the extremes of the scale. Either E-mail, he believes, is completely responsible for the lack of literacy today, or it is the sole reason why more people are able to write and communicate effectively. In actuality, it could also simply be the new way of forming a literacy. Fifty years ago, the world wrote letters, and now,

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Approximate Word count = 1087
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)