blog on paper A

Kyle Hamilton
Blog 4
Argument on paper A revised
Argument –
WATCO making high school more difficult on the preparedness of students to enter the work field?
A -> B
Making high school more difficult will cause American high school students to be more prepared and serious as they enter the work field.
A -> C
More difficult classes and tests will obligate high school students to take their high school experience more seriously giving them a greater maturity and capability to study at the college level.
C -> B
Greater maturity and capability to study at the college level will give students a much better understanding of their chosen materials and make them a greater asset for the work force
Target Audience –
Originally when writing this paper, I chose an audience that would be rather difficult to convince. My initial idea was that only the President of the United States would be able to initiate such an enormous change on a nation-wide level. Realizing this audience would be much more concerned about other things, I decided to make the audience much more local. I chose to write to the Alpine School District. These are the leaders of the schools (elementary to high school) in all of Northern Utah Valley. They feel they are running the schools to the best of their ability and feel they are doing a good job, but none the less they are always looking for ways to improve the schools.
Goal of the Piece –
The goal of this article is to convince the leaders of this school district that the high schools in the district need to be made more strict and difficult. I want to show them that currently the students in high schools are struggling to take their studies seriously. They are entering colleges unprepared and unable to keep up with the demanding pace of the universities. I want to convince them that more difficult high school studies will increase the preparedness and maturity of these students which will make them a greater force for the work field.
How the Argument is Made –
The argument is made a lot through logos. I present facts showing that students in America are much less successful at the high school age than those in most countries in the rest of the world. I show from personal experience and from several books written about the educational system in France which shows that a more difficult program will not cause students to give up and feel bad about themselves, but rather will motivate them to work harder and will help them to be ready for the university level. There are also some pathos arguments because the leaders of this school district sincerely care about the students in the district and want them to be as successful as possible.
Effective –
I believe this argument can be made to be very effective. The school district is much more likely to make some changes than Mr. Obama. Even if they make a few small changes in procedure, it will be a small victory. As they make more and more small changes, they will be able to see more and more successes which will eventually lead other school districts to make similar changes.