From even before their introduction into primary school, students are force-fed the idea that college is the only possible path to success and happiness. In a blog post, Pharinet included an essay titled “Is College for Everyone?” in attempts to challenge this belief. She builds her argument by appealing to emotions, logic, and her authority as a professor and by providing various examples that expound on her opinion that college is not for everyone. While she makes reasonably powerful points, her essay lacks solid evidence, which weakens her credibility and overall argument. Pharinet begins her argument by offering a contradiction to what can be simply defined as an aspect of the American Dream, the idea that all Americans have the right …show more content…
Why doesn’t every school not have an open admission policy?” (Pharinet 681). The reasoning here is that, if every American really deserves to go to college, why would the colleges focus on AP credits and/or volunteer hours? Clearly, the answer is what Pharinet has been arguing: not everyone is meant to go to college. She connects this to her previous point of college students coming in unprepared by comparing the differences in a high school course load to a college course load. Students who graduated from high schools that had lower than average standards, or who have yet to reach the mental maturity required to take on the responsibilities of adulthood are especially unfit for college. Unfortunately, despite being the most compelling point in her essay, Pharinet offers little evidence aside from generalized assumptions. Her answer to the rhetorical question she posed was simply a reiteration of her opinion on the argument. She writes “Quite simply, because not everyone should attend college” as if her opinion is correct and true (Pharinet 681). There is no support for her claims, leaving her argument lacking, and therefore ineffective in appealing to those with opposing …show more content…
She poses the question: “What good is there, then in attending college?” and swiftly answers with “None.” (Pharinet 681). This sentence alone weakens the entirety of her argument as it shows Pharinet as a person against the idea of college completely. She explains it as if there are no existing benefits to college if a student does not learn well, which could potentially offend readers. Even though her position as a professor has given her authority over the topic, she delivers her argument in a way that it comes off as biased and heavily
While some say that college is a good investment due to its tendency to grow a student's character and intellectual ability, the downsides to college sorely outweigh the potential benefits that it has. While college does grow a student in multiple ways, “57% say that the higher education system in the United States fails to provide students with good value for the money they and their families spend.”(Doc F). This majority opinion demonstrates that the growth you can achieve in college is sorely outweighed by its economic cost, and not worth doing.
“We want to emphasize that the personal characteristics and skills of each individual are equally important”. (Page #221, para #3) Owen and Sawhill are inquiring that to be successful in any major requires dedication and personal motivation, which is another example of the authors bringing pathos into their argument. Owen and Sawhill state that “if they don’t just enroll but graduate, they can improve their lifetime prospects”. (page #220, para #1) Owens and Sawhill statement is taken as, applying with great intensions is not good enough to be successful in college. Owen and Sawhill are completely open about the fact that college isn’t for everyone and that’s perfectly acceptable. “It may be that for a student with poor grades who is on the fence about enrolling in a four-year program, the most bang-for-the-buck will come from vocationally-oriented associate’s degree or career-specific technical training”. (Page #222, para #1) this statement opens the argument to be about both, is college worth it financially, and also academically. Owens and Sawhill want their reader to understand that, being pushed to achieve something that you have no passion for attaining, only robs someone of their true
In the essay, “We Send Too Many Students To College” by Marty Nemko, he argues that, contrary to popular belief, college is not for everybody. Nemko states that colleges accept numerous high school graduates every year, when they know that if the student did not do well in high school, they have a very low chance of actually acquiring a degree. However, If someone is fortunate enough to graduate from college and obtained a degree that costed them an exceptional amount of money, it is likely that they will have to settle for a job they could have “landed as a high school dropout”. Colleges are just out for money, and the only way they can get money is by accepting countless students into their “business”, whether the student will prosper from it or not is a different story. The article reports that there is no proof that students actually learn and remember everything they get taught during their college education. In fact, some college seniors failed tests that should be easily and accurately completed, and instead of these institutions getting penalized perhaps, they are “rewarded
However, Dale Stephen should have taken an alternative route by explaining the other side, which highlights how completing college and obtaining a degree can lead to success and a well-paying job. If Dale had used evidence and opinions from other sources, readers would be more likely to believe his point and investigate further. It is shocking that the article was published because Dale merely complains that college is a waste of time and not beneficial to anyone.
Are too many people pursuing a liberal studies degree when it is not necessary? When planning for the future, people need to be well educated about what they are about to be doing. People need to base their future stories on what will benefit them the most Charles Murray, the author of “Are Too Many People Going to College?”, seems to think to many people are going to college. In his article, he discusses many different points about why to many people are getting degrees. However, Murray’s text is ineffective because he is very vague, his points do not always correlate with each other, and he did not target a large enough audience.
In her article “College Is a Waste of Time and Money”, Caroline Bird attempts to pursued her readers that colleges are overflowing with students who don’t belong there. Her article first appeared in Psychology Today (May 1975). Since this material is outdated, I find it hard to believe that most of the responses by students and parents quoted in the article still hold true. The author has set out to pursue the readers that college is a bad and unnecessary choice for today’s youth. Yet the author holds a bachelors and a masters degree from two different universities. I would think that if she thought college was really a bad choice and a waste of time and money, she would not have gone back to get her masters degree.
The argument about if college is worth it or not has been one of the biggest arguments throughout the media for decades. Students suffer a lot from the debts that they get from college and also the amount of studying that they do in college and when they graduate they ask themselves “is graduation from college really worth all the money that we paid and all the work that we have done?”
In this society, almost every high schooler is told they need to go to college in order to be successful, but that is not necessarily true. Stephanie Owen and Isabel Sawhill questioned if everyone needs college to be successful in their article, “Should Everyone Go to College?”. In the article, Owen and Sawhill discuss that even though college is very helpful for many people, but for some the benefits of a college education do not outweigh the costs. Owen and Sawhill discuss this and show the statistics on the pricing of college and general student success throughout the article. Overall, this article does a very well job showing ethical appeals with statistics, does an average job with emotional appeal, and does a very well job showing logic
In the article “Are too many People Going to College” by Charles Murray a W. H. Brady Scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, argues that our educational system needs improvement and that too many people are attending college. Some of Charles arguments on why too many people are attending college are obtaining a Bachelor’s Degree gives you a high paying job, college requires classes that are unnecessary, skill/talent may not need a degree and because they do not want to be labeled as dumb or lazy. Charles Murray makes a lot of good arguments on why too many people are going to college and I concur with his arguments.
Her main purpose is to explain and inform why college may or may not be worth the cost.
The right and privilege to higher education in today’s society teeters like the scales of justice. In reading Andrew Delbanco’s, “College: What It Was, Is, and Should Be, it is apparent that Delbanco believes that the main role of college is to accommodate that needs of all students in providing opportunities to discover individual passions and dreams while furthering and enhancing the economic strength of the nation. Additionally, Delbanco also views college as more than just a time to prepare for a job in the future but a way in which students and young adults can prepare for their future lives so they are meaningful and purposeful. Even more important is the role that college will play in helping and guiding students to learn how to accept alternate point of views and the importance that differing views play in a democratic society. With that said, the issue is not the importance that higher education plays in society, but exactly who should pay the costly price tag of higher education is a raging debate in all social classes, cultures, socioeconomic groups and races.
The examples used to support Reeves argument are great, but he could have provided more exciting scenarios. Reeves did an excellent job at describing the other solutions outside of four-year universities such as job studies, community college enrollment, and raising the standard for admissions. Although he made many great examples and arguments, he also had noticeable flaws. Reeves’s tone and use of emotionally charged words; for example, referring to ESL students as “homegrown function illiterates,” can distract the reader from his argument. The reader may feel offended by his voice, while others might say that he is using specific language to convey his own emotions about his job and the future of education being in danger. Another flaw within his article is the paragraph that includes “the college years are a moment in time that will never return.” That sentence is completely absurd! Rebecca Mead, a staff writer for the New Yorker, would completely disagree with Reeves due to the fact that in Meads article “Learning by Degrees,” she argues that college should be used for intellectual enrichment. Mead would claim that college should be available at any time to anybody who is open to expanding their knowledge. Outside of those flaws, Reeves did an
Many kids beginning the college - decision process may be feeling lost at first, and ”By telling all young people that they should go to college no matter what, we are actually doing some of them a disservice.”(Owen and Sawhill 209) For a seventeen/eighteen year old, going to college is arguably the biggest decision that they have had to make in their life thus far, and having the facts that Owen and Sawhill produce can be invaluable to the decision-making process. It is clear that the purpose of their essay is to better inform these young adults and guide them on their journey that is life after high school. The primary claim that Owen and Sawhill attempt to drive in using rhetorical appeals is that on average, having a college degree will lead to a higher income than not having one; however, it is not universally
The author Charles Murray says there are too many people going to college without really saying it. The essay is written in a way that his audience will understand by the time they finish reading that he has many valid points. He Persuades his readers with facts and counters arguments to false stereotypes involving college and success. By questioning whether college is for everyone makes "you" the reader want to rethink if your time spent in college was really worth it in the end.
Pharinet. “Is College for Everyone?” Practical Argument. Ed. Lauren G. Kirszner and Stephen R. Mandell. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2011. 635-636. Print.