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Margaret A. Miller's The Privileges Of The Parents

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Margaret A. Miller's The Privileges Of The Parents
In this ever-changing society in which we live in, is centered around many norms. A norm that has taken a large leap over the years deals with college education. In Margaret A. Miller’s “The Privileges of the Parents,” she discusses the impacts that a parent’s education has on their children. She does that by referencing the difference in the economic benefit received by individuals with a variety of educational backgrounds. To support her claim, Miller centered her essay around an old folk saying, “the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.” In which she used that saying and her knowledge to portray the concept of a student’s education being impacted either positively or negatively based on what their parents educational background it. Miller …show more content…
In a way of keeping the attention of her audience, she used words that evoke negative emotions and phrases that create images. An example of the imagery she created his through the story she told. She stated, “She tells him to study, but she can’t help him with the content….” (Miller 3). The image she portrays is one of the challenges and vulnerabilities of being an uneducated mother, and the sadden emotions of that mother, that effectively introduce the argument and the serious tone of it. Another feeling Miller reinforces with her word choice is very negative feelings, through the phrases of “dropout’s children,” “the best and brightest,” “gifted and talented” (Miller 6, 11). Miller utilized the phrase “dropout’s children” to make the comparison between the children of higher educated parents to the children of lower educated parents. This demonstrates a division in their abilities and implies a sadden or sympathetic feeling to the audience. Similarly, she utilized the phrases “the best and brightest” and “gifted and talented” to show another division between the children, thru their abilities and skills throughout their education. The positive and hopeful feeling evoked is made through the explanation of success that lower educated parents want their first-generation

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