Against School Vs Idiot Nation

648 Words2 Pages

The public school system has always been a hot topic in politics, since this is the system that produces children into the leaders of our nations. “Idiot Nation” is a piece by Michael Moore published in 2005, and “Against School” was written by John Taylor Gatto in 2003; these are two pieces that express discontentment in the American public school system. Moore and Gatto’s piece were written in the same context, they take very different approaches to their arguments.
In terms of the purpose, context, and intended audiences of the two pieces observed, they are strikingly similar. Both “Idiot Nation” and “Against School” have a purpose to bring the issue of fading American intellect into light, and pinpoint the American public school system …show more content…

Moore’s argument is an anger charged satirical piece seated deeply in pathos that simultaneously makes fun of Americans and highlights very pressing issues in the education system. He has an arsenal of pathos techniques to use the audience’s emotions to his advantage; using simple speech to imply authenticity of emotion, slandering presidents to induce patriotism fueled anger, elaborate storytelling to demonstrate the authors values, and identifying his own tactical flaw to get the audience to pay attention. On a completely different footing, Gatto uses a delicate system of logos, ethos, and pathos; validating his credentials, presenting facts, while touching on emotion. He is direct and tactical with his techniques, quickly stating the goals of his essay and begins to place blame to control the issue. He uses nearly every trick in the book: concession, storytelling to give himself relatable value, tapping on patriotism by bringing American heroes in to support his argument, unannounced emotion, and identifying virtue and values of the audience and hitting them on the

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