"College is a Waste of Time"
The first of the Four Pillars of Argument, known as the thesis statement can be identified in paragraph one as the author says ",I believe higher education is broken".
This serves as the thesis statement because it it where the author takes a position to agree with the topic presented.
The evidence, the second pillar of argument is located in paragraph four where the author shares facts such as "The College Board Policy Center found that the cost of public university tuition is about 3.6 times higher today than it was 30 years ago, adjusted for inflation." The author uses the following as evidence to support his position in the argument by providing indisputable statistics. Stephens also backed up his claim by providing expert opinions. For example, he says "...sociology professors Richard Arum and Josipa Roksa say that 36 percent of college graduates showed no improvement in critical thinking, complex reasoning or writing after four years of college. "
I would like to point out the third pillar of argument, refutation which acknowledges the opposing argument while continuing to debate against the antithesis. For instance, the refutation located in paragraph ten states " Some might argue that college dropouts will sit in their parents' basements playing Halo 2, and Jello-O shots, and smoking pot."Although Stephens accredits the opposing argument, he manages to reinforce his position which brings me to the concluding statement also located in paragraph ten. "We can change the world regardless of the letters after our names" is the author's way of strongly restating his position in the argument.
The author appeals to the audience logos to persuade the audience to agree with his position. For example in paragraph five, he says "Becoming the next Mark Zuckerberg..." to refer to social media inventor of Facebook, a very popular website that encourages others to expand their personal profile. Considering Zuckerberg did not finish college but created a multi-millionaire invention/investment in technology without a four year degree. Because Stephens used logos as a method to persuade the audience, it is easier for him to secure his position in the argument.
Source Reference: Stephens, Dale College is a Waste of Time (CNN.com)
Kirszner Laurie G. Practical Argument Third Edition 2015
This serves as the thesis statement because it it where the author takes a position to agree with the topic presented.
The evidence, the second pillar of argument is located in paragraph four where the author shares facts such as "The College Board Policy Center found that the cost of public university tuition is about 3.6 times higher today than it was 30 years ago, adjusted for inflation." The author uses the following as evidence to support his position in the argument by providing indisputable statistics. Stephens also backed up his claim by providing expert opinions. For example, he says "...sociology professors Richard Arum and Josipa Roksa say that 36 percent of college graduates showed no improvement in critical thinking, complex reasoning or writing after four years of college. "
I would like to point out the third pillar of argument, refutation which acknowledges the opposing argument while continuing to debate against the antithesis. For instance, the refutation located in paragraph ten states " Some might argue that college dropouts will sit in their parents' basements playing Halo 2, and Jello-O shots, and smoking pot."Although Stephens accredits the opposing argument, he manages to reinforce his position which brings me to the concluding statement also located in paragraph ten. "We can change the world regardless of the letters after our names" is the author's way of strongly restating his position in the argument.
The author appeals to the audience logos to persuade the audience to agree with his position. For example in paragraph five, he says "Becoming the next Mark Zuckerberg..." to refer to social media inventor of Facebook, a very popular website that encourages others to expand their personal profile. Considering Zuckerberg did not finish college but created a multi-millionaire invention/investment in technology without a four year degree. Because Stephens used logos as a method to persuade the audience, it is easier for him to secure his position in the argument.
Source Reference: Stephens, Dale College is a Waste of Time (CNN.com)
Kirszner Laurie G. Practical Argument Third Edition 2015
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ReplyDeleteOkay so let's just dive right on in this bubble bath. The first Pillar (Thesis Statement) we actually came up with two different ones. The thesis statement I found was located in paragraph 3,"college fails to empower us with the skills to become productive members of society." However for your thesis statement you stated that " I believe that higher education is broken" was the thesis statement. I felt as though the thesis you've selected was more so based on the author's opinion. I initially thought to select that phrase as the thesis statement, however it seemed too opinionated.
Pillar 2: Evidence- was awesome we were both right on track with selecting the right evidence to defend the thesis statement (although different). Recognizing that the author used statistical evidence to further indicate that there is indeed some truth to the matter.
Pillar 3: The refutation argument was awesome. I do see that we both came up with differences as well. From your perspective I am going to assume the statement about "...Halo 2, Jello Shots..." was your refutation argument leading up to the concluding statement, Pillar 4.
Pillar 4: Concluding Statement: The concluding statement for us were both different but I agree with your more so than mine which states,"we can change the world regardless of the letters after our names .