Rhetorical Analysis Of Gatto's Essay 'Against School'

Ruide Bu
College Writing I
Dr. Iler
Rhetorical analysis of “Against School” Fake and gay. Most people would have the same sentiment about the primary and secondary school systems in America. While the argument against the public school system is often presented to the masses in segmented bits and pieces, John Taylor Gatto attacks the meat of the issue in his essay, “Against School.” A retired teacher of thirty years, he engages readers in a conversational dialogue and outlines the ways the educational system fails to address the age-old question: how do I reach these kids? It turns out that the solution is not to try to reach these kids, but to make these kids reach for the knowledge themselves. By differentiating between the definitions of
He uses rhetorical questions to introduce new topics to the reader, and subtly suggest the supporting facets of his argument. “Could it be that our schools are designed to make sure not one of them ever really grows up?” These rhetorical questions allow Gatto to dig deep toward the issues at hand, and shape the rhetorical situation of the piece. While these questions suggest dramatizations of certain topics (“Do we really need school?”), he guides the reader to various arguments that justify his skepticism on the educational system. Diction and tone play a particular role in these questions, showing an obvious bias towards one way, because even one carefully chosen word can sway one’s opinion. “Is this deadly routine [of forced schooling] really necessary?” exemplifies this concept because “deadly” and “really” imply that not only is forced schooling unjustifiable, but also harmful to the development of children. Gatto takes advantage of the casual tone he has set by creating contrast and introducing claims of absolutes. By staying away from using too much complex language, these claims stand out and cement themselves clearly in the reader’s mind. Early in the essay, after his anecdote about his grandfather’s lesson on boredom, he recalls that he learned “people who didn’t know [how to entertain themselves] were childish people, to be
He brings historical context into the essay, and attacks the argument for schools by introducing the reader to the man who engineered the American public school system. Gatto introduces James Bryant Conant with his various titles, which include “WWI poison-gas specialist, WWII executive on the bomb project, high commissioner of the American zone after Germany.” By including these details, Gatto shows that our school system was fabricated by someone heavily involved in war, and was also responsible for some of the most atrocious acts of violence in human history. Because of the effect that Conant’s earlier products had on people, this truncated resume suggests that students are just another subject of Conant’s evils. The theme of alluding towards systematic oppression is furthered through diction by asserting that students are “warehoused,” creating the effect of making students seem like some kind of merchandise instead of people. In the same paragraph, Columbine High School is mentioned, to further provoke images of unrest that had been introduced by Conant. The language presented in the latter half of the essay allude to some kind of dystopian society, where people mindlessly follow everything the government tells them. For