Kirn's 'Lost In Meritocracy'

In his piece, “Lost in Meritocracy” he tells the story of his own personal experiences throughout his educational career in high school and all through college. I believe Kirn’s argument is that through this educational system students aren't truly learning, just adapting and memorizing information that is being thrown at them. Especially now with this sudden importance of standardized testing from state testing to the dreaded SAT’s, the education system has simply become a competition of who can obey and memorize the best. Throughout his article he tries to persuade the reader that of the failing course of education with his story as well as give them a few words of wisdom along the way. As readers follow along Kirn’s story, he takes them

His intended audience were students who could relate to this, as well as faculty and administrators who have are stakeholders in the educational system. He connects his genre to the audience as a creative non-fiction that was originally part of his autobiography, as he recreates a personal story in order to interest his audience. All these factors link up with his overall purpose of this piece, to prove to his audience that the system now creates students that are made like a machine whose only function is to store information for a limited time then spit it back out. Kirn even describes himself as the, “system’s pure product, clever and adaptable, not so much educated as wised -up” (Kirn, 3). In this moment he basically acknowledges what he is just another part of an already rigged system, that only wants him to become a storage center. His education revolved around his motivation to receive a grade, “ I lived for prizes, praise, distinctions, and I gave no thought to any goal higher or broader than my next report card. learning was secondary; promotion was primary” (Kirn 2). He never really learned anything and didn't want to, simply aiming to gain a boost and appear to be