Nick Smith Professor Rocha Intro to College Writing 7 October 2017 Analysis Essay In The Article "Are Too Many People Going to College?" Charles Murray claims that there are too many people attending college. While this seems like an easily disputable claim, there are three reasons that he believes less people should go to college. The first point Murray brings up is that a liberal education can and should be gained in elementary and middle school rather than college. He also believes that there are many people going to college who don't need to because they already have the knowledge and skills necessary for a career. Murray also thinks that many students arc going to college solely to get their ticket for employers to consider their resume: …show more content…
He believes that a young man should become an electrician, something he is already good at, rather than go to college to become a manager, something that he doesn't have natural skills for. Murray is comparing the income expectation and says, speaking of the young man, "Realistically, he should be looking at the incomes toward the bottom of the distribution of managers." (p. 2). In this statement Murray is assuming that the man never gets better at the skills needed to be a manager. He assumes that after four years of college the young man is still only average in interpersonal and intrapersonal abilities. This assumption does not play in Murray's favor because most people in his audience have been to college. Most people who go to college feel that it is a growing experience; during college years people learn and develop various new skills and capabilities. Murray is also assuming that the young man will not need above average interpersonal and intrapersonal skills to be a top …show more content…
He is targeting people in the education field, student, and parents. Many of his arguments against college do not have strong enough evidence to support someone in his audience. His biggest weakness is his assumptions. Many educators would not agree with what he is assuming, therefor foiling his logic. Had he assumed less and provided more facts, he would have won the vote from much of his audience. I Iis argument as a whole also would have been more effective if he had stuck to his claims instead of breaking off on random tangents for paragraphs at a
Recently, many have begun to attack and degrade higher education in the United States. In the book How College Works, authors Daniel Chambliss and Christopher Takacs claim, “As state support has eroded, and as more students attend college in an increasingly desperate attempt to find viable jobs, the price to students of attending an institution of higher education has gone up, especially at more selective institutions” (172). So is college even worth it? Caroline Bird’s excerpt from her book Case Against College “Where College Fails Us” is an adequately written article that agrees with those who question whether college is a good investment. Bird argues that although some students would benefit from college and succeed, many fall short, wasting
Summary: “Are Too Many People Going to College” In the article “Are Too Many People Going to College,” writer Charles Murray explains that more people should be going to college instead of fewer. Murray states most people should get the basics of a liberal education and that begins in elementary and middle school.
“America’s university system is creating a class-riven nation. There has to be a better way,” starts Murray (235). Are Too Many People Going To College is a piece written highlighting alternatives to traditional education, as well as the repercussions we are facing as a society as a result of the strict guidelines of traditional education; a point that is spotlighted throughout the piece is the subject of Liberal Education and the core knowledge that we as a people should maintain, as well as the flaws of college as an establishment. Though the title and points made in the writings of Murray may lead one to believe he is standing against the college establishment, it is clearly stated from paragraph one that he believes more people should be
In Should The Obama Generation Drop Out Charles Murray talks about the flaws found in the Obama education plan . He brings to the attention of the public the fact that many student in America graduate lacking the skills necessary for the proper college education. Murray goes on to argue that in today 's society students who graduate from High-school go on to technical college to pursue a vocational education in their field of study; whereas, older generations have pursued an all around education, enrolling in classes that were irrelevant to the career they were pursuing. Murray claims that if you test the vast majority of Americans (including himself) in the more rigorous subjects, they would most likely fail. Murray mentions that he does
The authors’ emphasis on “on average” is very effective at showing how their point makes sense and why it should be taken into consideration. I found the way that the authors focused on the minority more than the majority was skillfully effective at showing how some career paths do not require a college education and that the return in investment would not be worth the cost. Throughout their argument I found the writers to mostly use Logos and Ethos in their writing. The Logos is evident by the way they use statistics and the Ethos by how they state telling someone the only way to be successful is to go to college is a disservice. This is effective at making the reader think about how this should affect the decision of going to college and whether they should push someone to go to
From a surface level, it seems as if Charles Murray presents a logical solution to a problem with a valuable argument to back it up. Diving deeper, I realized that this was far from the case. Not only do I not agree that the traditional college system should be completely abolished, but Murray presents a very weak argument to attempt and justify his conclusion. I do not agree with Murray because there are many careers in the world where education plays an extremely important role. For example, doctors go through years upon years of education, learning everything from the littlest things about the body to the way that those things should be treated.
He finishes his argument by saying that instead of liberal education, most people would be better if they focus on career education in college. While I agree with Murray’s idea that people would benefit from getting a liberal education before college, I disagree with his statement that liberal education is not needed in college. Due to the wide range of knowledge a liberal education provides it can help a person become more adaptable to the constant change and demand of the job market, allow that person to have an advantage over another, and ultimately help a person figure out what they feel more comfortable doing in
The general argument made by author Charles Murray in his article, “Are too many people go to college,” is that the college is not necessary for everyone. More specifically, the Murray argues that students who went to school should have learned the core knowledge they will learn in the college. He writes, “ K-8 are the right years to teach the core knowledge, and the effort should get off to a running start in elementary school” (236). In this passage, Murray is suggesting that start teaching the core knowledge in elementary school until high school is better than to spend money and more time to the college. It is not important to go to college.
Murray and Ungar focus on the nature and achievements of higher education, but from two opposite view points. Ungar’s main argument urges that a Liberal Arts/College education is beneficial for students in giving them ways to grow and improve communication and literacy as well as enlighten their lives. Drastically different is the approach Murray stands for in which he renounces the amount of students currently earning a degree in higher education. Murray asserts the opinion that what students are taught in college should be taught earlier in the education system to give all students a fair advantage of integrated and high capacity learning without the expense and pressures of University. Ungar, however, implores the well-rounded education
He is agreeing with the overall argument that college is very important and that those who dream and want to further their education should have the right to. Regardless of the many obstacles such
College Isn’t for Everyone "By telling all young people that they should go to college no matter what, we are actually doing some of them a disservice" (Owen). This quote from “Brookings Paper: Is College a Good Investment” goes into detail about how college isn’t for everyone. By educators, parents, and authority figures telling graduating high school seniors that college is necessary, they are limiting the potential of that student’s true skills. College isn’t right for everyone and not everyone wants to go to college.
In “Are Too Many People Going to College?” Charles Murray offers his opinion on the number of students that pursue a B.A. He believes that two year or four year colleges are not needed for a majority of students who could instead pursue other life paths. He discusses the ability for the general knowledge needed to be learned in primary and secondary school, and for a lessened need for a “brick-and-mortar” institution the problems with the current secondary and higher educational issues including the lessened need to acquire a B.A. All members of society need certain skills in order to be productive members of society. They need to know general facts about the country they live in, general history, and general geography.
“Is College the best option why or why not discusses the controversial issue of whether college is important or not. On one hand, while some argue that college is very important. Stephanie Owens and Isabel Sawhill writers of article “Should Everyone Go to College” asserts that we may be doing a disservice by telling all young people that college is the best option. Owens feels that college may be of service to some people, but not the best option for everyone.
A rising issue in today’s society is deciding whether or not college is worth the cost. There is an extreme amount of pressure that is forced upon high school students by parents, teachers, and peers to further their education and attend college. However, there is research that challenges the thought that college is the best possible path for a person to take. College may be a great investment for some people, but it is not meant for everyone. This is supported by the arguments that colleges are expensive, jobs do not always require a college degree, and students are forced to choose a lifestyle before being exposed to the real world.
If a person’s parent or guardian drilled the idea of college into your head, or if they told you ‘do what you want’ or ‘I don 't care’, or ‘You’re not going’. While college is great, there are other means of education. The value of college is a low because there are people who do not qualify for a college education, and also because there are other ways of post-secondary education other than college. College is not valuable because many people will not make it into a 2 or 4-year college, much less graduate from one. To support this, in the article Why College Isn 't For Everyone, it says, “As a general rule, I would use graduates in the top quarter of their class at a high-quality high school should go on to a four-year degree program, while those in the bottom quarter of their classes at a high school with a mediocre educational reputation should not.”