Occasion
Joanne Lipman’s stressful high school experiences take place around the late 1970s, when she herself was an impressionable fifteen-year-old student in Mr. K’s class. The author wrote this article because her teacher died; it is her belated, glorified opinion of her late educator.
Audience
This piece is primarily directed to educators and administrators. This article seems like it is attempting to convince them, …show more content…
education system to return to the old-fashioned methods of strict expectations and less praise. Joanne Lipman wants the audience to feel inspired and determined to restore old-school practices. The author wants the audience to understand, and endorse, stricter teaching methods.
Subject
The subject of the work is in the title; Lipman presents it very overtly. She is writing about tough teachers and their effect on the American education system through the students. Harping on returning to the traditional methods is Lipmans’ calling card throughout the piece.
Tone
The tone of this piece was slightly condescending. Joanne Lipman’s writing has a slightly negative connotation to the formation of her sentences. She cites an abundance of research, but much of it seemed unrelated to the point she was trying to make. Lipman instead relied on a series of opinion statements to prove her point; “Because here’s the thing: it works…. But the conventional wisdom is wrong…. Wrong again.” Her diction seems chosen for the express purpose of glossing over the actual findings of the studies, and instead substituting in what she wants the audience to believe; her flimsy connections to the facts that she wants them to