Summary Of Margaret Miller The Privileges Of The Parents

In “The Privileges of the Parents” Margaret Miller, a writer, argues that we must focus on motivating first generation kids to go to college. She claims that the “privileged “ will attend anyway, but in light of the difficulty of the modern world, a college education is essential not just for financial reasons, but also to achieve the many responsibilities of life including completing tax forms or filling out the FAFSA. She offers statistics that show how educated parents raise kids with better vocabularies and reading skills, hence higher grades. Educated parents, Miller claims, are also promoters for their kids in high school and “hover” over them which, according to a National Survey of Education (NSSE) study she cites, contributes to

She concludes by claiming that success of first-born college students is important for us now and for future generations. Margaret Miller writing in the essay “The Privileges of the Parents” goes further and argues that we must encourage especially first-generation students to go to college to avoid a “caste system” in which only the rich are educated. Miller cites statistics that show how educated parents raise children more likely to succeed in school : the benefits “ripple down through the generations”.

The main idea from this article is that there are benefits that accumulate to individuals from having a college education. Miller emphases on others that have proven on the economic benefits such as the income differences between those with a high-school education or even some college education and those with a bachelor’s degree or higher. But when it comes to the private benefits of higher education, possibly even more important is how advanced intellectual abilities help people navigate contemporary

Miller uses a very light, possibly even friendly, tone throughout her whole essay. She makes this tone apparent by mainly trying to relate to her audience. For instance, Miller says, “We have to be able to hop from job to job…as we acquire new skills and knowledge. We have to deal with a wider variety of people…” By doing this, Miller is trying to zero in on exactly what she trusts her readers could be going through. Also, Miller jokes with her audience, saying things such as, “We need to fill out FAFSA forms for our children (there, even a doctorate may not be enough!)”. Miller wants to make it apparent that she can relate to her audience. Her use of the word “we” itself, can go a long way, and accompanied by the discrete jokes, gives the reader a comfortable feel and more willingness to see her perception of the argument. Yet another tactic Miller uses to relate to her audience is her personal life. Miller states, “So I was aware of the stakes when my daughter-in-law told me about a friend of hers who hasn’t been to college…” Here, she is attempting to make her readers relate to her by mentioning her daughter-in-law, and the conversation which are held between them. It is quite possibly her readers have had similar conversations with their family; therefore understanding where Miller may be coming from. This insight into her life is simply a strategy to induce feelings on