Cultivating Failure 
Mireles 1!
Servando Mireles
Dr. O’Hare
English 112
10 February 2015
Rhetorical Analysis for “Cultivating Failure”
In her article, “Cultivating Failure,” Caitlin Flanagan argues that gardening in schools is actually “robbing an increasing number of American schoolchildren of hours they might have otherwise spent reading important books or learning higher math” (Flanagan 1). She simply states that these are the things that have “lifted uncounted generations of human beings out of the desperate daily scrabbles to wrest suspense from dirt” (Flanagan 1). Through her use of a variety of rhetorical strategies, such as diction and tone, Flanagan makes a valid argument for why schools should not implement the gardening into their curriculum.
The first thing that draws the attention of reader is the title, “Cultivation Failure.” Not only is this a pun, but also a preview to the essay. Cultivation raises the notion of growth and farming, which is the main topic of the article. However, Flanagan contrasts this with the word
“Failure,” implying her feelings towards the gardening in the school system. A synonym for cultivating is “raising,” by using a word such as cultivating Flanagan is saying the school systems is raising the students for failure.
Flanagan’s intended audience is clearly the well-educated due to her diction used throughout the article. One does not necessarily have to know the words “galvanizing” or
“dowager” to understand the meaning of the essay. However, by doing so, Flanagan makes it clear that her intended audience is not the “poor Mexican man” but instead to those of a higher
Mireles 2! class. If the author wanted to talk to the working class she would have used words like “exciting” instead of “galvanizing.” Though using such elevated language Flanagan makes the point that instead of gardening, students should be focusing on more important subjects to improve their education, such as vocabulary. However, this is not the only time Flanagan reveals her
Servando Mireles
Dr. O’Hare
English 112
10 February 2015
Rhetorical Analysis for “Cultivating Failure”
In her article, “Cultivating Failure,” Caitlin Flanagan argues that gardening in schools is actually “robbing an increasing number of American schoolchildren of hours they might have otherwise spent reading important books or learning higher math” (Flanagan 1). She simply states that these are the things that have “lifted uncounted generations of human beings out of the desperate daily scrabbles to wrest suspense from dirt” (Flanagan 1). Through her use of a variety of rhetorical strategies, such as diction and tone, Flanagan makes a valid argument for why schools should not implement the gardening into their curriculum.
The first thing that draws the attention of reader is the title, “Cultivation Failure.” Not only is this a pun, but also a preview to the essay. Cultivation raises the notion of growth and farming, which is the main topic of the article. However, Flanagan contrasts this with the word
“Failure,” implying her feelings towards the gardening in the school system. A synonym for cultivating is “raising,” by using a word such as cultivating Flanagan is saying the school systems is raising the students for failure.
Flanagan’s intended audience is clearly the well-educated due to her diction used throughout the article. One does not necessarily have to know the words “galvanizing” or
“dowager” to understand the meaning of the essay. However, by doing so, Flanagan makes it clear that her intended audience is not the “poor Mexican man” but instead to those of a higher
Mireles 2! class. If the author wanted to talk to the working class she would have used words like “exciting” instead of “galvanizing.” Though using such elevated language Flanagan makes the point that instead of gardening, students should be focusing on more important subjects to improve their education, such as vocabulary. However, this is not the only time Flanagan reveals her
Cited: Flanagan, Caitlin. "Cultivating Failure." The Atlantic. Atlantic Media Company, 01 Jan. 2010. Web. 10 Feb. 2015.