High School and Essential Cultural Observation

Devon Greenhalgh
5.06
“Our high schools my not adequately prepare drop outs for unemployment”
1. What is the essential cultural observation or situation being satirized? What clues lead you to this conclusion?
The author is making a joke out of how if you drop out of high school that they will become unemployed and the school system is not preparing them for the realities. A clue I recognized for this is when they quoted Margaret Spellings who said “ easy grading encourages students to be sloppy and late handing in homework- a skill that makes future deadbeats very competitive in stone walling landlords and bill collectors” this emphasizes the mockery of the school systems.

2. What rhetorical strategies does the writer use to achieve this satire? List them, and explain how each is used.
The author uses many rhetorical stragies to emphasize their satire:
Sarcasm- “wardrobe typical of the non-working class” , “wash your hair with a bar of soap”
Appeals to ethos by quoting a lot of people who are high up in the school system, like Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings, or James Dunham the Principal of HS 445 in New York
They also use a lot of irony- “students spend seven hours a day surrounded by adults who despise their low-paying jobs. If the critics out there know a better way to discourage a young person from entering the work force, I’d like to see it”

3. What is the social change for which the writer might be calling? Is this change achievable? Does the writer, through satire, imply any suggestions?
The social change the author is looking for is for the schools to take more care of their students and teach them the positives of being part of the working class as well as healthy living and not showing those miserable people as examples or role models. Although I do not see any methods to change this implied in the article, I do think this can be very easily achievable.
“Bush earmarks 1.5 billion gold stars for education”
1. What is the essential cultural observation or situation being satirized? What clues lead you to this conclusion?
The author’s observation is how the American government is poorly funding America’s school system. They state how the textbooks are out dated as well as the schools are in need of repair and how teachers are underpaid.

2. What is the essential cultural observation or situation being satirized? What clues lead you to this conclusion? The author uses many examples of rhetorical strategies to prove their point
They use symbolism of the gold stars to show how America’s government aren’t funding enough money and not funding it towards the right things.
Irony is also used like stating how badly need of repair the schools are, so children need a lot of encouragement to motivate them to learn.

3. What is the essential cultural observation or situation being satirized? What clues lead you to this conclusion?
The social change the writer is hoping for is proper funding for the school system. They imply a few ways of fixing it through satire, for example the author lists what is needed to be fixed in the schools like updating textbooks and repairing the schools themselves. I think the cause can be easily fixed as long as the person in charge has a good head on their shoulders.