Identity A Reader For Writers By Cathy Davidson

Throughout the entire novel, she utilizes numerous anecdotes from her characters – allowing the reader to relate to Joy, Regan, Whitney, etc. Robbins knew that by implementing a relatable element, such as high school, she could grab her audience’s full attention. Additionally, she dedicated a section “31 Tips for Students, Parents, Teachers, and Schools” that thoroughly indicates what to do to “set things right and reclaim their schools” (Robbins, 379). For students, she suggests that they consider what is best for them; for parents, she suggests that they consider what is best for their child; and for schools, Robbins suggests that they consider everyone of equal status, harbor connections rather than awkward friendships, and promote creativity rather than conformity. Easier said than done, Robbins’ call to action would only take effect if all three parties were to put effort and educate themselves on the

Logos convey facts, such as data collected from surveys, while filmmakers express their opinion. The narrator does a stellar job at presenting the often heartbreaking statistics. The narrator claims, “When eighth graders across the country were tested for reading, most score between 20% and 35% of grade level.” After hearing

Gerald Graff’s article “Hidden Intellectualism” asserts that academic settings, such as public schools, need to incorporate students’ personal interests into the school policy so that students are more inclined to engage in an academic mindset. The problem, however, is that the school systems do not attempt to tie non-academic material with academic assignments, therefore neglecting students the opportunity to engage in intriguing, intellectual conversation (Graff 245). Targeting students, educators, and administrators, Graff makes an effective explicit, qualified claim of policy as he utilizes the rhetorical strategies of ethos, logos, and pathos.

The documentary Corridor of Shame tells the story of rural schools that are going through hardships as schools and their school systems. The images in this documentary really depict what is going on at these schools and how terrible their conditions are. In a certain part of South Carolina, students are not getting the education they deserve. They are not getting the sufficient funds needed to improve the school's situation and to complete their needs. Help and attention are needed for these schools. They need a better school system and equal education as other students in South Carolina. This documentary shows us this by using rhetoric techniques through ethos, logos, and pathos.

In Literature, rhetorical devices are often used to place emphasis on certain ideas or descriptions, to make an idea clearer, or to provide insight and to smoothly relate topics. Throughout his collection of essays, Scott Russell Sanders utilizes rhetorical devices in order to make his statements and ideas more vivid and clear for the reader. The rhetorical devices offer a more descriptive and insightful look into Sanders’ thoughts on his childhood, personality, and view of the world around him. Throughout the book, Sanders’ uses rhetorical devices ranging from allusions of events and people from the past to employing a varied tone in order give the audience a clear view into his thoughts

Additionally, Donna uses the appeals to logos and pathos throughout her article, displaying student’s comments during the survey which show:

In Project Classroom Makeover by Cathy Davidson, the author explains the faults of standardization in the education system; she prefers customization so each student would receive a catered education. However, in standardization, conformity is not only commended but also strictly enforced to

The Essentials of a Good Life by Diane Ravitch was an essay that really got me rethinking what we call the school system today. It felt extremely relatable since I have spent over 13 years in school and I recognize almost all the points she made about the problems with school today. Many of her main points have to do with how schools are too focused on standardized testing and how they don’t teach creativity in school. This is a big problem in today’s society because school seems to be doing a lot less of what it was first meant to do which is prepare their students for the future. After reading her essay I believe we shouldn’t be focused on standardized testing and we should be spending more time teaching students how to be leaders, independent, and creative because these are qualities that promote success in today’s society.

Many are quick to disregard education’s role outside of the classroom. According to Mike Rose, “a good education helps us make sense of the world and find our way in it” (Rose 33). Rose emphasizes the value in the experience of education beyond the value of education for the purpose of custom or intelligence; he explores the purpose of going to school in terms of how he defines himself and his personal growth in the stages of his academic career. By reflecting on his personal experiences and how those gave him the tools applicable to his daily life, he emphasizes why education should never be overlooked. Rose’s use of referencing relatable experiences in a logical manner makes his argument persuasive to the readers and he succeeds in making the readers reconsider why education matters to them. Mike Rose’s Why School?: Reclaiming Education for All of Us effectively persuades his audience of the importance of education beyond the classroom, which proves true in our everyday lives because the essential aspect of education is what we do with it and how it helps develop one’s personal growth.

Prose's purpose in posing one rhetorical question after the other is to force her audience to contemplate the teaching strategies that are given to high school students. Prose makes plenty of attention-grabbing points and by presenting it within the variety of queries, she asks her audience on why instructors and teachers are not teaching their students what is very vital regarding

“I won’t learn from you” is a classic and powerful group of essays written by Herbert Kohl. The first three chapters “I won’t learn from you”, “The tattooed man”, and “Excellence, Equality, and Equity” all explore ideas that students are more in charge of their learning than most individuals believe. With these theories, students and teachers can help improve each other in every way. Kohl writes a variety of humorous stories, lessons on teaching, and inspirations to be a teacher to any child, regardless of their race, gender, religion or abilities. He addresses serious issues in the public school system, such as reforming to the demands of the school district, adapting the curriculum, and the many pressures as an educator. Kohl helps the

Emerson from “Education” is trying to spread his message that the current school education is not in the perfect shape but rather in a broken state. Because of the problem, the students are not able to learn as well. Emerson gets his message out by using diction to strengthen his position and Emerson also appeals to pathos.

To make clear how damaging this practice is, she sets up an attempt at an appeal to logos, which is persuasion through logic and reason. Her strongest appeal to logos, though, is in her use of sources. Although she speaks as a parent and reader, throughout the essay, she backs up her ideas by demonstrating her wide and deep knowledge with much of it being research-based. She incorporates sources, usually with direct quotations, throughout the essay. Logos is evident in Prose’s

Education means something different for everyone. According to Mike Rose, “a good education helps us make sense of the world and find our way in it” (33). The truth to this is that education affects us in every aspect of our lives. Rose emphasizes the value in the experience of education beyond the value of education for the purpose of custom or intelligence; he explores the purpose of going to school in terms of how he defines himself and his personal growth in the stages of his academic career. In Rose’s exploration of the purpose of school, he also reflects on his personal experiences and how those experiences gave him tools that are applicable to his daily life. Mike Rose’s Why School?: Reclaiming Education for All of Us persuades his audience of the importance of education beyond the classroom, emphasizing how those experiences become crucial to one’s personal growth and potential.

The question of how to properly teach children has been constantly debated over ever since the existence of the education system. On the precipice of such debate are two outspoken critics, Cathy Davidson, author of “Project Classroom Makeover,” and Jean Twenge, author of “An Army of One: Me,” who have both denounced the traditional school curriculum. Their beliefs, that public school have ruined students by placing too much emphasis on self-esteem as well as content heavy lesson plans; have been loudly reverberated throughout their writings. I too agree with them that our present day educational system is failing our students. However, there are other ideas regarding our schools that both authors may or may not mention or only glance over. Cathy Davidson merely expresses the benefits of inquiry based opportunities based on her mother in laws own personal experiences, therefore forgetting to explain the prescience behind inquiry based learning. Jean Twenge on the other hand has briefly restricted her views on narcissism by not delving into the students’ perspective to these self-esteem programs. It is clearly unwise to just connect the self-esteem programs that schools have to narcissism without considering the students point of view in the midst of the correlation. What Twenge and Davidson disregard to mention is that current self-esteem programs in schools bring out these feelings of self-importance and false complacency in