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America’s Broken Bootstraps

America’s Broken Bootstraps. By Marghi Demer, Nancy Harris, Jonathan Herron, and Tanner Scott. The Passage. Vocabulary. Audience. Well-educated – middle class and above Written on “The Washington Post” People who have power – people who can act on his argument Doesn’t propose plan

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America’s Broken Bootstraps

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  1. America’s Broken Bootstraps By Marghi Demer, Nancy Harris, Jonathan Herron, and Tanner Scott

  2. The Passage

  3. Vocabulary

  4. Audience • Well-educated – middle class and above • Written on “The Washington Post” • People who have power – people who can act on his argument • Doesn’t propose plan • Americans • Addresses Americans • “Americans must head the warnings…” • Families • “Families are the primary transmitters of human capital”

  5. Purpose • To persuade – through use of logos • “Graduates earn 70 percent more than those with only high school diplomas. In 1980, the difference was just 30 percent.” • “by the time they reach age 3, children of professional parents have heard some 45 million words addressed to them -- as opposed to only 26 million word for working-class kids, and a mere 13 million words in the case of kids on welfare.” • To address a broken system in his opinion • “This orientation favors the intellectually nimble.” • “Who gets ahead, who struggles to keep up, and who gets left behind are now determined primarily by how people cope with the mental challenges of complexity.”

  6. Persona • Educated • Diction: “relatively minor role”, “particularly educable”, determinative of academic and vocational success” • Middle/upper class man • “All education favors the middle- and upper-class child”  Educated himself, possibly speaking from experience. • Neo-conservative • “Heroes of modern conservatism” • “Expanding equality of opportunity increases inequality” • Thinks there is not much of a solution • Essentialist • Fixed and biological • “Some people are simply better able than others to exploit opportunities.”

  7. Argument • Education system is flawed • “Dominant distinction defining socioeconomic class is black and white, those with and without college degrees” • Favors upper classes • “All education favors the middle and upper class child” • Not much of a solution • “Individualism cannot survive unless upward mobility is a fact”  Can social mobility ever be fact? Ever a solution? • Social mobility is declining in America • “People raised in upper middle class are far more likely to stay there than move down”

  8. Tone • Simple, direct, straightforward • Cited research • “Lindsey cited research showing that “ by the time they reach age 3…” • Slightly opinionated, critical • “Small wonder those with college…” • “less favorable” • “they rake in money” on colleges

  9. Syntax • Use of italics to add emphasis • Couplet in the beginning • “All education favors the….” • “….vocabularies are already large among toddlers.” • The use of dashes to elaborate • “And ‘assortative mating’ – likes marry likes – concentrates class….”

  10. Discussion Questions What was your interpretation of the couplet? Why did he chose to use it in the article? Why didn’t George F. Will offer a solution to the problem of education in America today? In our society, do you believe that “individualism cannot survive unless upward mobility is a fact”? Why or why not?

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