1. In your own words, summarize the core of each writer 's argument. The article by Rebecca Mead argues that the statistical advantage of a degree has declined, but that an intangible value remains. The article by Ken Saxon focuses on the intangible value of a degree and how it helps student determine who they are and what job they want. 2. What is the key issue for each writer? How does each frame the issue? How has the genre of each article shaped its argument? The key issue in Mead’s article is the value of a college degree. The issue is framed in a statistical discussion of the financial value of a college degree, and why they may be relevant to society regardless. The genre of Mead’s article is newspaper editorial, and this clearly influenced the article’s length. This also seems to have influenced the style, leading from problem to strong emotional statements Saxon’s article possesses a key …show more content…
Mead quotes a source stating this is evidence of the lack of value, whereas Saxon interprets this as evidence of college helping the student to find their direction in life. 4. Where do the writers disagree over values, assumptions, or analogies? The authors seem to have different assumptions on the value of a general degree. Saxon assumes it may provide a general set of abilities employers value. Mead assumes it only provides an unquantifiable advantage to a student’s life. Both authors compare a potential student to Steve Jobs who dropped out of college, but they disagree over the meaning of this analogy. Mead uses Steve Jobs as an example of how an individual can succeed without college. Saxon uses Steve Jobs as an example of someone who used college as an opportunity to broaden his horizons rather than prepare for a job. 5. What questions would you like to ask each writer? Where do you see gaps, fuzziness, or confusion in the
Recently, many have begun to attack and degrade higher education in the United States. In the book How College Works, authors Daniel Chambliss and Christopher Takacs claim, “As state support has eroded, and as more students attend college in an increasingly desperate attempt to find viable jobs, the price to students of attending an institution of higher education has gone up, especially at more selective institutions” (172). So is college even worth it? Caroline Bird’s excerpt from her book Case Against College “Where College Fails Us” is an adequately written article that agrees with those who question whether college is a good investment. Bird argues that although some students would benefit from college and succeed, many fall short, wasting
Thesis Driven Essay The article titled “Even for Cashiers, College Pays Off” by David Leonhardt is an article that tackles the different reasons why skeptics and critics think spending money and time in college wasting. Despite the advantages that have been experienced by America in comparison to Europe, it does not make sense having to explain why college education for the masses is a noble and profitable venture. The reasons among which are quoted by those opposing and critics is that it is an expensive venture. This might be true but it results in self improvement which is very valuable and not quantifiable in terms of price and can result in a good job which will, in turn, result into more money.
Although Rick Perlstein and Liz Addison both wrote their article with the same purpose of appealing to the readers’ sense of emotion, credibility
Samantha Nyborg LEAP Writing 2011-05 September 15, 2014 Critique Draft Megan McArlde is a journalist and blogger who focuses most of her writing on things like finance, government policy, and economics. In her article “The College Bubble,” a magazine article published in Newsweek on September 17, 2012, McArlde writes about how the “Mythomania about college has turned getting a degree into an American neurosis” (1). She focuses a lot on the value of getting a college education, and makes an argument that all the time and money spent on earning a degree may not be worth it in the end. McArlde uses several strategies to appeal to her reader’s, and does a great job of effectively using the Logos, Pathos, and Ethos appeals throughout her article.
The main point they make is higher education equals higher income. Becker and Murphy point out the difficulties in paying for college, but they look at the returns being worthy
As a college student who is currently spending thousands of dollars to further my education and achieve a career goal, it was, at first, disheartening to read Caroline Bird ’s essay “College is a Waste of Time and Money”. However, after thoroughly examining her points, I now see that her essay is illogical. In her piece “College is a Waste of Time and Money”, Caroline Bird argues against the idea that “college is the best place for all high-school graduates” (1); in other words, college isn’t for everyone. Throughout her writing, Bird supplies her readers with evidence that explains how, for some individuals, college is a waste of not only time and money, but of intellectual effort, as well.
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.
Brent Staple’s essay "Why Colleges Shower Their Students with A's" had various elements that helped provided evidence and persuade the readers. The first thing I noticed when reading this essay was the comparison between the marketplace and college. This comparison helps to develop Staple’s argument because it explains something that is unfamiliar by comparing it to something that is more familiar. I can assume that the target readers were business men and women. Since I am unfamiliar with some business terms, I found that this essay explained something that was unfamiliar with something else that was unfamiliar.
The authors’ emphasis on “on average” is very effective at showing how their point makes sense and why it should be taken into consideration. I found the way that the authors focused on the minority more than the majority was skillfully effective at showing how some career paths do not require a college education and that the return in investment would not be worth the cost. Throughout their argument I found the writers to mostly use Logos and Ethos in their writing. The Logos is evident by the way they use statistics and the Ethos by how they state telling someone the only way to be successful is to go to college is a disservice. This is effective at making the reader think about how this should affect the decision of going to college and whether they should push someone to go to
“On average, college graduates make significantly more money over their lifetime than those without a degree… What gets less attention is the fact that not all college degrees or college graduates are equal. ”(pg.208 para. 1) Stephanie Owen and Isabel Sawhill are senior researchers at Brookings’ Center on Children and Families, Sawhill is also a senior fellow in economics study at Brookings’. Owen and Sawhill authored the essay, “Should everyone go to College?” The authors use a wide variety of rhetorical devices in the essay, including ethos, pathos, and logos to persuade their audience to take another look at whether college is the right choice for them.
Throughout the essay, Charles Murray stresses the idea that college is the wonderland of finding oneself and to find the career that one would want to follow for the rest of their lives. “College is seen as the open sesame to a good job and a desirable way for adolescents to transition to adulthood. Neither reason is as persuasive as it first appears.” Murray, C (2008) Practically spoken, this is not normally the case. College is a fair amount of work, much more work than one would normally acquire through any course of a high school or secondary school setting.
3. The narrator reveals the characters. I feel for the narrator but that’s it. John seems antisocial and distant. The characters mimic the ages.
Is College Worth the Cost? Life’s success is achieved in different ways. (Director, n.d.) A lot of television programs and magazines instills the idea in us that being successful means; having a fulfilling career, having a lot of money and being powerful. Most religious and spiritual organizations, in contrast, claim that success means being at peace with God and finding spiritual happiness.
The final point is policy implications. The writers argue that it is a big mistake to tell students that are preparing for college that college is the best decision they can make, and I agree. It is important to insure that you are attending the college that best fits your educational needs. In closing, in the topic of is college the best option or not most will readily agree that college may not be the best option after graduating high school.
Even though people may be earning more with a college degree, they still suffer the burden of paying off extraordinarily high debts. This means less money is being saved for themselves. Another negative is that people may not have chosen the correct major. In Source F, only, “55%,” of people believed that their major helped them. This concludes that a high percentage of people did not believe their major was useful.