In Best in Class, Margaret Talbot explains how the position of valedictorian should be kept in the school system, though the gravity around holding the position as well as how it is chosen should be changed. She uses logos to appeal to her massively student-based audience, as well as selective presentation to keep focus on her argument, rather than anything else. In her appeal to logos, Talbot mentions how GPAs play a massive part of how a valedictorian is and was chosen. In explaining how important a GPA is, and how weighted classes make it overly easy to get over a 4.0, she sets up a background for why it is becoming so hard to chose valedictorian by grade point average alone.
In the essay, “School’s out for Summer,” by Anna Quindlen, she writes about the prevalent hunger problem in the United States that’s amplified in the Summer months. Anna Quindlen uses many familiar rhetorical devices to efficiently get her point across to us, the reader, throughout the entire essay. Anna Quindlen effectively gets her message about child hunger in the United States across by using rhetorical devices and appealing to emotions. The main message of the essay is to inform the reader of the child hunger problem in the United States that spikes during summer months.
In many high schools across the nation, valedictorians are appointed to represent the senior class at graduation. Many people see the valedictorian as the best student in the entire class or maybe just the most popular. Either way, stakes are high when appointing a single student to this position, and much controversy has been discovered as to what qualifies a student to become the one. Academics are generally the aspect that principals consider most when deciding. In “Best in Class,” author Margaret Talbot uses rhetoric devices such as effective quotes and expressive personal anecdote, two assets tied to ethos, to support her claim that appointing a single valedictorian is an unfair custom among U.S. high schools.
Being named the highest academic achiever of anyone in your school is quite the achievement; however, in “Best in Class” by Margaret Talbot, she puts forth the message that the fight for valedictorian is causing much more harm than good. Talbot reinforces this argument through her uses of hard evidence to appeal to ethos and her anecdotal interviews to appeal to pathos. Being one of the strongest parts of her article, Talbot’s use of great amounts of hard evidence strengthens her appeal to ethos. Being a reporter, and a female reporter at that, Talbot must be very careful to avoid using overly-emotional appeals to try and convey her argument. The reporting industry is one in which someone can lose their credibility to critics very quickly
Free College Tuition From Bernie Sanders Bernie Sanders believes that college tuition isn’t in the interest for our country’s future. Bernie Sanders states “It is insane and counter-productive to the best interests of our country and our future, that hundreds of thousands of bright young people cannot afford to go to college” (Bernie). Bernie Sanders’ point is that many of the talented people in our society may not be able to pursue their dreams or pursue their desired job because they and their parents can’t afford college. If Bernie Sanders is right that many Americans can’t afford to go to college, as I think they are, then we need to reassess the popular belief that FAFSA and other scholarships will considerably lower the price for college.
Academic argument is used among many writers to portray their view on a certain situation. Authors writing academic argument are trying to persuade the reader to think about the issue they are passionate about. In The Humanist magazine, Julia Wilkins writes a strong article on school uniforms. “School Uniforms: The Answer to Violence in American Schools or A Cheap Educational Reform?” takes statements from The Manual on School Uniforms and explains Wilkins’ disagreeing opinion. While Wilkins’ article is not perfect, especially with contradictions, it is overall mostly effective by showing the readers how the issue is relevant to their lives, clearly revealing her stance with a strong thesis statement, and providing sufficient and relevant evidence
Helping Hands In the essay Schools Out for Summer, Anna Quindlen touches a topic that is very important in American society. Quindlen has chosen to talk about child hunger in America. Quindlen's effectiveness of the evidence has proved that kids need the school lunch program and that the school lunch program has been a greater success.
Caroline Bird in her essay titled “College is a Waste of Time and Money” argues that college education is a useless endeavor that is often forced on students. According to Caroline Bird, students lack motivation and enthusiasm for college education. If money is the goal of education, she opines that there are better ways of investment. She also claims that college education does not make a student more ready for jobs and neither are there jobs that are relevant to the field of study. When there are some students who become very successful she says that the contributing factors are mainly intelligence and family background rather than their college education.
The authors gathered research from the Hamilton Project and also created graphs to provide the reader with the facts and statistics they need to make their own decision whether they should go to college or not. When the provided data is considered, it’s hard to see why someone wouldn’t choose to attend college and earn a degree. The authors were successful in achieving the goal of getting their point across by simply stating hard undisputed facts on earnings which is why this is a good example of logos in the authors’
Video advertisements like Visit California’s “Living the Dream” ad plays on the viewers’ desired fantasy of luxury and adventure. The ad reels in the desired audience with various sights, sounds, and emotions displayed throughout the video. The advertisement includes the myths and stereotypes of California culture to pull in the viewer, also linking Californian culture with American culture. Anyone can look at the ad and think, “Wow.
In the article, The World Might be Better Off Without College for Education, written by Bryan Caplan, explains how people do not apply what they learned in college into their actual jobs. He mainly focuses his argument on people who are deciding if they want to go to college or not because he is expressing if going to college is actually worth the money being spent. Through the use of rhetorical strategies like testimony, statistics, exemplification, and authority they help the audience have a clearer understanding of his argument. Throughout the article Caplan uses testimony to prove to high schoolers that a lot of people do not apply what they learn in college to their jobs.
No one's written your destiny for you. Here in America, you write your own destiny. " This quote highlights the importance of education in achieving success and breaking the cycle of poverty. Similarly, the article "Even With Debt, College Still Pays Off" explains that "college graduates earn more over their lifetimes than those without a degree, and also have better job security and more job opportunities. "Thi demonstrates the long-term benefits of obtaining a college degree.
Education – An investment and stewardship Benjamin Franklin once said, “An investment in knowledge pays the best interest”. However, in today, some people opine that college education is a worthless investment and waste of time. Against this opinion, law professor, Rodney K. Smith, in his USA Today essay in December, 2011, “Yes, A College Education Is Worth The Costs,” analyzes the importance of education in providing people with job and benefits. His first goal is to raise awareness of the correlation between the educational attainment and income as well as unemployment rate.
In my opinion, I agree with Murray’s claim that four year college is not worth, job satisfaction for intrinsic reward, and the dark side of the Bachelor's degree. In my view, Murray’s is right, because college requires student to take 32 courses in four years or longer and not all courses are relate to the field they study with. More specifically, I believe that four years college will take more time to achieve our goal and knowledges doesn’t teach us how to make a living in our society. Murray described in his article, “More people should be getting the basic of a liberal education. But for most students, the places to provide those basics are elementary and middle school” (235).
Rita Pierson, an educator of 40 years, as was her parents were as well as her grandparents. She appeals to educators on the issue of creating relationships with students, rather than just teaching a lesson she embraces each individual as a concerned educator. Being in a room full of educators means that she has to appeal to them in a way they want to learn. She does this by using powerful anecdotes to engage the audience. In the speech Every Kid Needs a Champion by Rita Pierson, she speaks to introduce, convince, and persuade educators that they should form relationships with their students due to higher academic achievement as well as self-esteem; she continues to use many rhetorical devices including soaps, ethos, pathos, and logos to achieve her argument.
