Rhetorical Analysis Essay
Laurence Steinberg’s “What's Holding Back American Teenager” an article introduced on the eleventh of February two thousand fourteen to inform the reader that our education system is failing. Steinberg received his B.A. in Psychology from Vassar College and his Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology from Cornell University. The education system is causing students to not value education and the positive aspects it brings along with it. Steinberg believes the point in time where students start to perform poorly in school, is high school, because he believes we are not challenging the students to want to thrive education. In Steinberg’s article he aims to convince the reader through Logos that America’s education system is failing for high school students and the solution to the problem is to challenge our students.
…show more content…
The strongest form of persuasion is brought through Logos, because there is many facts to back up the claims informed in the article. Steinberg begins by saying that the president is confronted by education policies every so often but there are two issues that have caught not only his attention but America as a whole. These issues in our education are Childhood education and access to college. With that being said it captures the attention of its reader because we realize it is a big problem that everyone is now aware of. One fact provided is that students in Elementary do well in assessments, students in middle school do slightly above average, and students in high school do well below average. Therefore, Logos is introduced because he gives us data from the national assessment center to inform the reader that students start doing worse in high school. After capturing the reader's attention through Logos, he begins using comparison to prove his point. The two comparisons are about participation and belongingness at school. The measure of participation is based on how often students attended school, if the students arrive on time, and how often the students show up to school. The measure of belongingness is based on how much students feel they fit into school, if they were liked by their schoolmates, lastly if they felt that they had friends in school. Through logos he explains that through the measure of academic engagement, the United States scored at the international average but the United States scored much lower than their chief economic rivals: China, Korea, Japan, and Germany. On the other hand the United States topped the chief economic rivals in social engagement. The comparison of the United States and the other countries show us that there are specific areas where Americans excel in comparison, however, they excel in the area that may be one of the educational problems the high school students are having. It is clear to the reader that students do not intend to go to school for the correct reasons, instead they go to socialize because it is sometimes the only time students are able to see each other. AP students in America are some of the only students that are in route to attending some of the best colleges and universities and that find high school slow and unchallenging. Selected students were placed in an experiment based on moods measured to see how the students reacted through different parts of the day and the highest levels of boredom was when the students were in school. Logos and ethos was proven in the previous sentence because the students were tested by doctors to see how the students mood levels reacted and the results proves the logos factor, while the doctor proves the ethos part of credibility. The experiment proves the credibility that American students do not enjoy or value school. However, this might not be the largest issue because most students from other countries say that school is boring, and that school in America is even worse. Students in America have it easier, one example is that they spend far less time on homework compared to foreign countries. The national assessment of educational progress did an evaluation of nine, thirteen, and seventeen year olds on the progress in both mathematics and reading.
The scores rose six percent among nine year olds, and three percent in the thirteen year olds in the subject of reading. The scores rose eleven percent among nine year olds, and seven percent among thirteen year olds in the subject of mathematics. Sadly among seventeen year olds there was no difference, the progress has stayed in the same position in both mathematics and reading. In the past forty years after different curriculum, testing, teacher training, teacher’s salaries, and performance standards, and despite all the billions of dollars invested in school, there has been no improvement, none in the academic output of American high school students. This previous fact provides ethos because after spending billions, most reader knows how hard money is to earn and they realize its going to waste. Many experiments like the. no child left behind and the race to the top have failed, along with a large list of many different
experiments. Even with the best school institutions or private institutions, there is no benefit in education. Schools also do not do better in less diverse schools either. It is a fact that elementary schools are more diverse and those students do much better. Another factor disproven is that students do worse because they are poor, but high schools in America are actually not poor like they were thought to be. Another fact to disprove that poor schools do worse is that elementary schools are considered high poverty and they do the best out of middle school and high school. Salaries are about the same for junior high school and elementary school teachers. Both also have identical years of education and identical years of experience. Student to teacher ratios are also the same in our elementary and high schools. The time spent in the classroom is also identical. Our high school classrooms are not under staffed, now are they not under funded, neither, by international standards. Most American students need basic education skills before attending college or universities. This underachievement is costly because this remedial education would cost nearly three billion dollars. The president has made college more affordable for students which is one step forward but that has not fixed the full problem because nearly one third of college students drop out and half of the students that attend a two year college dropout at the end of the first year. Therefore, the issue follows the students because now in college, the issue is getting them to graduate. The solution to this issue is to give high school students classes that are challenging. Students should also be given something to think about because fewer than one out of six high school students believe school is challenging. Thus, even with the education students will not pursue college because of the lack of effort they acquired in high school. Works Cited Steinberg, Laurence. “What’s Holding Back American Teenagers?” Slate.Com. The Slate Group, 11 Feb, 2014. Web. 06 Sep, 2014.
time; yet, nerds and geeks are still oppressed by others. To illustrate his intolerant attitude of the
The article “The Coddling Of The American Mind”, written by Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt, was written about how teachers are afraid of what they are allowed to say during in class because of the emotional effect on the students. While writing the article the authors have many examples of logos, ethos, and pathos. The logos of the article appeals to logic by presenting facts and statistics. The writers provide definitions of words such as microaggression and trigger warning. While explaining the definitions they go on to give real world examples to further the understanding of the words. Also statistics of the amount of mental health issues are provided to enhance the logos. Secondly to make the article more appealing is adding an emotional
In the movie Bowling for Columbine, Michael Moore uses rhetoric in a very successful way by how he carried himself as your typical everyday American guy. Moore was effectively able to use the appeal to ethos, logos, and pathos by the way he conveyed his message and dressed when interviewing such individuals. Throughout the movie he gives his audience several connections back to the Columbine shooting and how guns were the main target. Moore is able to push several interviews in the direction of which he wants too get the exact answer or close to what he wanted out of them. He effectively puts himself as the main shot throughout the film to give the audience more understanding and allowing a better connection to the topic.
The authors of “Coddling of the American Mind,” Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt, use ethos, logos, and pathos convey their negative stance regarding trigger warnings and the effect they on education. Lukianoff and Haidt’s use of rhetorical appeal throughout the article adds to the author’s credibility and the strength of the argument against increasing the use of trigger warnings in school material. The authors, Lukianoff and Haidt, rely heavily upon the use of logos, such as relations between conflicts surrounding trigger warnings and other historical conflicts impacting student ethics. Examples of the use of these logical appeals are the relation between the Columbine Massacre and the younger generations ideology. The author goes on to mention other societal turning points such
The ability for all children from varying walks of life to receive a well-rounded education in America has become nothing more than a myth. In excerpt “The Essentials of a Good Education”, Diane Ravitch argues the government’s fanatical obsession with data based on test scores has ruined the education system across the country (107). In their eyes, students have faded from their eyes as individual hopefully, creative and full of spirit, and have become statistics on a data sheet, percentages on a pie chart, and numbers calculated to show the intelligence they have from filling out bubbles in a booklet. In order for schools to be able to provide a liberal education, they need the proper funding, which comes from the testing.
“A Generation of Slackers? Not So Much” written by Catherine Rampell is an informative article about today’s millennial generation after high school. It provides the reader with a deeper look into young people’s work ethic, or what some to think to be, lack-there-of. The author does a fantastic job using research, credible resources, and statistics to support her belief that Generation Y (children born in the 1980s and 1990s) is no less productive than previous generations. I will admit that before reading this piece, I was one of those who believed that Millennials were in fact the “coddled, disrespectful and narcissistic generation” (Rampell, 2011, para 3). After reading this article, my opinion has changed. It has touched on issues
Juveniles are being taught that in order to have a nice car, branded cloths and the house of their dreams, by getting into an expensive mortgage, they have to be an employee of a huge corporation. In addition, they have to undergo to a prestigious school, study hard, have excellent grades in order to become popular and respectable in the world. However, many people would not become those super leaders, but these majority of people have a great role in the capitalism society of the US. As Gatto says, “We buy televisions, and then we buy the things we see on the television. We buy computers, and then we buy the things we see on the computer. We buy $150 sneakers whether we need them or not, and when they fall apart too soon we buy another pair” (38). Such results are in part of a wrong education that teenagers have received trough many decades. In addition, Gatto highlights that modern educational system has been working in a six basic functions methods that makes the system strong and unbreakable: The adjustable function, indulge students to respect authorities. The integrating function, which builds the personality of the students as similar to each other as possible. The diagnostic and directive function, which allows a school to set permanent scholar grades in order to determinate his or her future role in society. The differentiating function, which gives to the student a good education and after his or her role is diagnosed, they prevent any educational progress. The selective function, function that the system has used to prevent academic growth for the non-selected students. The propaedeutic function, which works in the selection of specific groups of intellectual adults to keep perpetuating the system all over again making it a continuous sequence. (Gatto 34). Gatto’s facts revealed the survival of the educational system for decades,
When it comes to education, it is about helping people discover, refine, and develop their gifts, talents, passions and abilities; and then helping them discover how to use those gifts, talents, abilities in ways that benefit others and oneself (Bull, 2015). However, with education, there are many places where this does not happen and learners may fall between the cracks. Schools are heavily measured on testing, student outcomes and student numbers that it has become the main focus to excel the school district—but what about the students? I recall a time where I was sitting in a classroom and the teacher was going over a math lesson. Many students struggled and were having a difficult time following along with the task. The teacher started
The first issue that has been identified as a significant problem involved in the Achievement gap, is that it is partially the fault of America's educational system. Because of the suffering economy that has spurred the increasing lack of basic necessities in schools across America, there are an increasing number of children who are not being properly educated. Whether it is a deficiency in supplies, poor teacher selection, or administration and staff who are indifferent to the students at their sch...
Rothstein, Richard. The Way We Were?: The Myths and Realities of America’s Student Achievement. [Online] Available http://www.tcf.org/publications/education/way.we.were/Foreword.html, May 1, 2000.
Education is an integral part of society, school helps children learn social norms as well as teach them how to be successful adults. The school systems in United States, however are failing their students. In the world as a whole, the United States is quickly falling behind other countries in important math and reading scores. The United States ranked thirtieth in math on a global scale and twentieth in literacy. This is even more true in more urban, lower socio-economic areas in the United States. These schools have lower test scores and high dropout rates. In Trenton Central High School West, there was an 83% proficiency in literacy and only 49% of the students were proficient in math. Many of these students come from minority backgrounds and are often from low income families. There are many issues surrounding these urban schools. There is a severe lack of proper funding in these districts, and much of the money they do receive is sanctioned for non-crucial things. Schools also need a certain level of individualization with their students, and in many urban classes, this simply does not happen. While there are many factors affecting the low performance of urban schools, the lack of proper funding and distribution of funds, the cultural divide between teachers and students in urban districts, along with the lack of individualization in urban classrooms are crucial reasons to explain the poor performance in these districts. Through a process of teacher lead budget committees and further teacher education, urban schools can be transformed and be better equipped to prepare their students for the global stage.
Many people have heard black is the new orange, or pink is the new green, but in the grading system, F is the new C. Many people from older generations tell me how easy I have it in school now days. They also tell me that they worked twice as hard as I do now to get an A. However, the younger generations have had to do less work to earn an A than the older generations. A great deal of the younger generation uses the Internet to find almost all their solutions to their homework problems without having to actually do much work. Some people do not believe that grade inflation is a problem, but the following research suggests that it points our younger generations towards anti-intellectualism. Grade inflation might occur or become problematic when teachers face pressure from “helicopter parents,” pressure from school athletic programs, or pressure from maintaining common core standards.
In society, education can be seen as a foundation for success. Education prepares people for their careers and allows them to contribute to society efficiently. However, there is an achievement gap in education, especially between Hispanics and Blacks. In other words, there is education inequality between these minorities and white students. This achievement gap is a social problem in the education system since this is affecting many schools in the United States. As a response to this social problem, the No Child Left Behind Act was passed to assist in closing this achievement gap by holding schools more accountable for the students’ progress. Unsuccessful, the No Child Left Behind Act was ineffective as a social response since schools were pushed to produce high test scores in order to show a student’s academic progress which in turn, pressured teachers and students even more to do well on these tests.
Pressures on children in today’s society are a problem that is becoming more evident in academics as parents and teachers put more and more emphasis on these children to outperform their classmates, stress in the child’s life becomes an interfering problem (Anxiety.org, 2011 Weissbourd, 2011,). From preschool children to college adults, pressure to execute academic perfection extends across all areas of curriculum. In our highly competitive, American society, emphasis placed on academic achievement has never been so intense (Anxiety.org, 2011, Beilock, 2011). This need to be the best, fueled by our culture in America, has created a social force affecting education, a force to be reckoned with at that. Too often, parents and teachers sacrifice their chil...
School in America is a stuffed animal. Shot dead on arrival but preserved by elitist taxidermy, we cling to the fallacy that it is alive and well. If anyone who cared witnessed the totality of my high school (or middle or elementary, for that matter) career, they wouldn’t have let me graduate. Not only did I learn next to nothing, I barely did anything. Teachers were apparently satisfied with dull essays lacking insight, obviously BSed or copied homework, and intelligence-insulting lies I fed them to keep my 84% in their class. That was the game I played for all of middle and high school – see how long it takes them to notice that I’m a house of cards. Around the time I turned 17, however, I realized that no one was about to tell me to stop playing – that I could, in fact, play the same game the rest of my life without anyone noticing. Before I knew it I had college acceptance letters and a high school diploma, and an extensive contemplation set in. It culminated in the astonishing realization that my life, and consequently my education, is my own responsibility, and that I must stop waiting for anyone to help me advance either one. John Taylor Gatto, Michael Moore, and Jean Anyon all suggest exactly what my friends and I gradually became aware of in high school – that the public school system is rife with inequalities and deficiencies, only guaranteeing reproduction to replacement for the unskilled labor force, rather than encouraging innovation to change the world. Anyon and Gatto reveal the hidden pretext of the American public school, and Moore and Malcolm X explore the elitist avarice preventing things from improving.