1) Isaac Hourwich’s purpose in writing this book is to oppose the claims of the Immigration Commission as there are also many stereotypes of Immigrants created by Native born Americans and also challenge the findings of the Immigration Commission. Hourwich uses his economic aspects to explain that Immigrants do not cause the labor market to decline, decreases wages, and increase unemployment in the United States. Most of the native-born Americans fear that as the rate of Immigration increases, it might hurt the American wage-earners. Therefore, there is an assumption that most American workers made was that “undesirable” Immigrants should be out of the country and keep the American workers busy. (82)
“For the first time in American history, we have a law authorizing the worldwide and indefinite military detention of people captured far from any battlefield. The NDAA has no temporal or geographic limitations. It is completely at odds with our values, violates the Constitution, and corrodes our Nation’s commitment to the rule of law.” “For the first time in American history, we have a law authorizing the worldwide and indefinite military detention of people captured far from any battlefield. The NDAA has no temporal or geographic limitations.
Is college still important and relevant? The question is answered and confirmed when Liz Addison, author of “Two Years Are Better than Four”, wrote a counter argument in order to disprove the opposing views of Rick Perlstein, the author of, “What’s the Matter with College”. The topic that is being brought to light is the subject of whether or not college still matters. Perlstein that college is no longer what it used to be. It was after reading Perlstein’s article that Addison masterfully wrote her counter argument which successfully contradicted the opinionated, inaccurate views of Rick Perlstein.
In the beginning of the book, Christopher McCandless is graduating college. Before he took his journey to Alaska, he and his family went out to eat. He excites his parents when he tells them if he has good enough grades, he can get accepted into Harvard law. After having dinner with his family, he goes back to his apartment, trashes everything he owns, and unwisely prepares for his journey. In my perspective, I believe McCandless was inconsiderate and an idiot for his actions.
In Charles Murray’s essay “Are Too Many People Going to College,” he believes that the concept of college has changed over the years. According to him, a four-year college is no longer as necessary as it was when it was first created because most jobs requires more on job training. He also adds to his reasoning by mentioning that because of the advancement of internet, physical libraries and the physical proximity of student and teachers is less important. Because of the changes he noticed he believes that people should go to college but not for liberal education. He makes the claim that the basic core knowledge of liberal education should be learned in elementary and middle school and that only people with high academic abilities should be encouraged to go to college.
The general argument made by author Charles Murray in his article, “Are too many people go to college,” is that the college is not necessary for everyone. More specifically, the Murray argues that students who went to school should have learned the core knowledge they will learn in the college. He writes, “ K-8 are the right years to teach the core knowledge, and the effort should get off to a running start in elementary school” (236). In this passage, Murray is suggesting that start teaching the core knowledge in elementary school until high school is better than to spend money and more time to the college. It is not important to go to college.
McCandless values education and is an intelligent man who graduates Emory University with a degree in a grueling major (Krakauer 20). He never contributes much effort into school since the work was easy for him, unlike his colleagues. This makes him extremely confident in all his abilities and is never faced with any problems. The absence of conflict affects him and provides a belief that to find his individuality and identity, he should find something to test his life skills. McCandless is also able to gain traits of being stubborn.
Liz Addison’s essay, “Two Years Better Than Four,” was first published in the New York Times Magazine back in September of 2007. Addison went to two community colleges and majored in biology; earning her degree in 2008. In her essay, she is responding to Rick Perlstein's article “What’s the Matter with College?” in which he claims, “College as America used to understand it is coming to an end” (211). Addison refutes Perlstein’s claims by saying, “My guess, reading between the lines, is that Mr. Perlstein has never set foot in an American community college” (212).
Notably, Patrick Sullivan establishes that college requires quite the preparation, that not every student is suitable for it. Moreover, Sullivan’s point in his extensive, yet beneficial letter to ninth graders is to inform, and educate not just ninth graders but everyone, that one can solely, genuinely be prepared for college if they had initiated their preparation in ninth grade. In addition, he covers the immense significance reading and writing have in the process of students bracing themselves for college. Hence, Sullivan is having his letter be, for the most part, emphasized in how, depending on the student’s reading and writing skills, they are predisposed for college. Furthermore, this source results to be quite useful and reliable
This is completely different from what Delbanco liberal education promotes. Yet, it could be similar to the part that Mr. MacFarland challenged him to think for himself and opened his world to new and better possibilities. These three authors expose their experience with education at three different levels: high school, college and self-education. At the end, it does not matter how people get it, but it does make a different in their lives.
The Greek Philosopher Aristotle identified “The years between puberty and age twenty-one as the formative time for mind and character.” It was customary for young Greek men to attend a series of lectures that resembled our notion of a college “course”(Delbanco 36). Aristotle is a believer of education and the power it has on the development of the young mind. Likewise, he believes college is a place to establish one’s character. Caroline Bird’s essay, “Where College Fails Us,” definitely does not correlate with the opinion of Aristotle.
Martha Nussbaum, then reminds the reader that these types of colleges are very active in class and to stay afloat in them, it’s highly recommended that you participate in class, no longer can just relax and look out of the class’s windows and expect to pass, “is its characteristic emphasis on the active participation of the child in inquiry and questioning.” This relates back to what Ronald Barnett wrote about. Both writers are trying to convince their readers that college is no place to fool around. If you plan on succeeding you must push yourself, ask questions, participate in classes and do hours of library work that might just lead you nowhere. College is a time to grow and isn’t always
It’s way different than high school in the way that class is way more important and you are actually paying for your classes in college while throughout your whole life before if you went through the public school system, school was free. This little decision can determine what path your life is going to be on. With the Daniel Flanagan story we see that it’s an inspiring story and had the potential to be an effective essay, it lacked in important details. Having the necessary details throughout the essay could have created a bigger impact and made it easier for
The early 14th century Book of Hours in the Nelson Collection poses an interesting case where the author is not entirely clear. There are some important features of this text to address before searching for its author. In a Book of Hours, such as the one in the Nelson Collection, there are many levels authorship. Depending how the term “author” is defined, the “author” could include the patron, the illuminator, the scribe, God, the director of the scriptorium, and those who composed the prayers. Without a clear definition of “author,” it becomes difficult to pinpoint just one in a book as old as this Book of Hours.
Murray believes that students need to learn more about science, history, art, music, and literature than they’re being taught now. His argument is that they need to be taught this information before college, so that in once they become a freshman they can immediately begin focusing on their intended major (Murray 225). As a college freshman at a liberal arts school, I can confidently say that my previous schooling has prepared me well for a liberal arts education. I am continuing to learn things in my freshman year that I believe will prepare me well for my future endeavors. I am able to focus on my current major while still learning how to write better, solve difficult problems, and learning more about culture and the world which we live in.
