John Gatto Against School Summary

In the United States, education has not always been a right. Those that attended school moved on to their desired career path, while those without a formal education learned a tool of the trade on their own, and had the potential to become more successful than their educated peers. Time flowed on, and the education system became mandatory, which minimalized the chance of success without it, which caused the sink or swim system we know of today. In “Against School”, John Taylor Gatto expresses pure disdain for the current system, stating it does not encourage independent, critical thinking, and subjects students to division and scrutiny based on performance. Gatto argues against modern schooling due to its factory-like setting, and primary intention

to make children become mindless adults; therefore, he successfully questions the true purpose of school with minimal pathos, strong ethos, and an extensive use of logos.
Many people succumb to their emotions, especially on a subject that involves their children. It would be simple to manipulate Gatto’s audience with more pathos instilled in his argument.
On the subject of education and its unfavorable passive effects, Gatto could be considered an expert. He graduated from Columbia University, spent twenty-six years teaching junior high students, and has written multiple books in the past two decades dedicated to examining schools and how they work, as well as determining their true purpose. Gatto’s target audience is likely parents with school aged children, who will feel the brunt of such corruption. Additionally, his opinions could likely reach the wrong audience, such as people who feel school is not a necessity at all; these people are not likely to have well-formed opinions, and only use this as source material as a reason to why school would not be necessary at all. Though this is a minor downfall to the subject, it does not affect the overall point of the essay, and the validity of the statements. In addition, the formal tone of the essay can disinterest the wrong people. Gatto’s ethos comes in due to his credibility as an author, and experience as a school teacher. He does mention opposition briefly, naming James Bryan Conant as the precursor for the current method of standardized testing (Gatto 668). Ethos is moderately used, and used well in conjunction with logos, which solidifies Gatto’s use of rhetorical devices in general.
Education is a logical decision on neutral grounds.

As such, a logical subject demands logical considerations in order to further the system and make changes beneficial to those involved. Gatto effectively uses logos in his argument to cement that his ideals were not simply based on a whim without supporting evidence by mentioning credible people’s ideas and organizing his topics in an effective manner. He first mentions Henry Louis Mencken, a well-known American culture critic and satirist, who says the main goal of public education is to put as many people as they can at the same level of advertence, and dissuade any freedom of individuality (668). The second instance names Alexander Inglis, who is credible enough to have a Harvard lecture named in his honor, and states six basic functions of modern schooling, one of which involves an integrating function, “…its intention is to make children as alike as possible. People who conform are predictable, and this is of great use to those who wish to harness and manipulate a large labor force” (669). Lastly, as previously mentioned, Gatto names a contrast to these two men. James Bryan Conant, who held the title of president of Harvard for twenty years, is directly named by Gatto as the culprit of standardized testing and unsuitable conditions for teaching (669). There is a correlation in this line of thought to Gatto’s thesis because their ideas have proven to be true with his experience as a school teacher. His logos usage solidifies his argument, and is shown to be the most effectively used rhetorical device in the

essay.
The arguments work properly for the target audience, and use rhetorical devices effectively. Gatto uses logos, ethos, and pathos through naming specific people, and ethos by ascertaining his own personal reliability. There is a minimal use of pathos, but despite this, does not negatively affect the argument as a whole. As a result of this, Gatto’s call to action for his audience to teach their children to think and act while making critical decisions is grounded enough that the audience should definitely take something from it, even if it cannot be put into action. There is a certain kind of responsibility that Gatto expects from his audience, and those who are targeted should understand it and make the best of the information given to them. Therefore, critical thinking should be taken into account while reflecting on what they have read.