Pre-Writing of Summary

Mark Edmundson concludes that this generation of college students is cheerless and dispirited in his article “As Lite Entertainment for Bored College Students,” found in Harper’s Magazine. Edmundson believes that university culture is, much like American culture at large, is obsessed with consumerism. He feels that students are “sleepwalking” through their education (through their lives for that matter) and lack passion. We are all desperate to look cool or fit in according to Edmundson. He blames several factors for this attitude in today’s youth. Starting with blaming TV, preceding generations, and the university’s themselves. “[His] generation,” he says, “let the counterculture search for pleasure devolve into a quest for commodities.” The universities’ have transformed to mirror the aim of the entire culture, that of big business. These schools are now marketed to attract the brightest and richest kids. Edmundson says it’s different than when he was younger, when schools were sold on the merit of their faculty, and the description of the courses, not the best football team or best gym. The pandering to students and their parents wants doesn’t end once their admitted.

As Lite Entertainment For Bored College Students

Edmundson writes a compelling description of a problem he sees and describes in detail what he views as the cause of the problem. He begins this long essay with a personal anecdote that captures his view of the problem and then follows with a flowing diatribe in which he takes on the many causes. He says that liberal arts have taken a back seat in education because America is obsessed with consumerism. Edmundson says that no one takes liberal arts classes anymore because they’re afraid of losing their shot at success. He says kids have pressure to major in something financially lucrative as opposed to intellectually challenging. I’ve had personal experience with this since I am a finance major. Although I don’t necessarily know what I would major in otherwise, I do certainly feel pressure to major in something that has a career behind it. He goes on to blame part of the problem on TV, which everyone seems to do. He says that we are sleep walking and sleep deprived which I have certainly seen and felt. Edmundson’s diction is elevated because this article is scholarly and is geared towards educated people with experience in the educational system. Edmundson at the very least wants the reader to analyze their own opinion on education and how it should be valued.

Contrasting Descriptions of the Same Place

I sit in my dorm room slaving over seemingly endless work. One math problem is consistently followed by another until the very end when the dreaded finale is a study session of music which could be better described as torture. The sound of my tone-def roommate butchering his favorite songs as loud as he can drowns my ears. This is interrupted by the door repeatedly opening with the arrival of nuisances mooching one thing or another. My phone rings which can mean only one thing: a dreadful conversation with someone I don’t really even want to talk to. All of this is with the slow, steady rumble of a dribbling basketball heard from the room next door. My patience is wearing thin.

After a relatively easy day I returned to my room to finish a few math problems and study for a music test. I’m greeted by my lively roommate whose infectious spirit can’t help but be imitated. My hall-mates continually visit my room to joke and talk about the game last night. They occasionally ask to borrow certain things, but I don’t hesitate to oblige them because I’ve probably borrowed twice as much from them as they have me. One of my friends from home calls and we catch up. My friend next door is dribbling a basketball which means he must be about to go to UREC. He’ll probably invite me and I’ll happily tag along because I’m better at basketball than he is anyway. Today is one of those days where you really see how lucky you are.

With this assignment I was purposefully exaggerative. I was melodramatic in the first paragraph and too rosy in the second. This was done, however, to show how I can change how I can change my angle of vision even while describing the same events. By using different adjectives and a different attitude I can change how my writing is perceived. By using words like slaving, endless, dreaded, and torture I paint my experience as horrible. In the second paragraph I am much more hopeful with words like easy, lively, and joke. My first paragraph is almost melancholy with one dreadful thing happening after another. This changes in the second because everything is much more positive.

Chapter 3

I have a question about the UR Riddle letter. Why did the professor have to lean one way or the other in his letter? Why couldn't he present the facts explicitly and not frame or emphasize certain points? Why did he have to choose a side? He could have just stated his observations and opinions of Riddle and left it up to the bank to decide which decision was best.
Also, the rhetoric of clothing and other consumer items is clearly visible around campus. Whether it be wearing Polo, The North Face, or talking a certain way, we all send out symbols and messages about who we are, or who we think we are.
My only other question is about what the Indian villagers see in commercials for soap and shampoo. They repeatedly reference noticing motorbikes in these commercials and I just don't understand why there are motorbikes in commercials for soap and shampoo. Maybe when the villagers see motorbike commercials they only notice the soap and shampoo in the background.

Assignment #2

I’m not exactly sure what we should be doubting or believing in this essay. Should we be believing or doubting his diagnosis of a problem with society or his satirical suggestion for solving it? His solution is peculiar at best but probably necessarily over the top to prove his point. Miller’s thesis is obviously that capital punishment doesn’t work and that the only reason people support it is because they don’t have to see it executed.
First I’ll try believing this argument. Capital punishment may not work in discouraging murderers. If it doesn’t lower the number at all then it actually is counter-productive in terms of number of deaths because you’d have to add in the number of people executed. Many see it as uncivil or barbaric to execute people in the 21st century. Putting someone to death is certainly unmerciful. Probably most of us wouldn’t be supportive of the death penalty if we had to watch each execution or even worse be the one to pull the trigger.
Now for doubting Miller’s position. The punishment, most severely being the death penalty, has certainly got to enter the mind of someone contemplating pre-meditated murder. This inherently means it dissuades criminals. If it lowers the crime rates even a little then it means each one of us is a little safer. As for his other argument that we wouldn’t support it if we had to watch, at least in my own case it wouldn’t deter my support. You support the death penalty because you believe someone who kills deserves equitable justice, not because you want revenge or a thirst for blood.

The Real Story: Powering America’s Future is an article in the Breeze that poses an important question that affects every one of us. He discusses the energy crisis that faces our country right now. The author is clearly passionate about his subject matter and aims to inform the reader about our energy plan for the future. Moreover he tries to persuade the reader about the course of action our government needs to take.
The question he poses is significant because it affects everyone who reads it and is problematic with several positions to be argued and perhaps no definite correct answer. There is an explicit thesis stated which is, “Our leaders in Washington like to talk about achieving energy independence, but to make it a reality we need a new energy policy designed to meet the growing needs of 21st century America by creating both short-term and long-term solutions that will make energy costs affordable now.” He then goes on to support this thesis with points and information. As the article becomes more informative it naturally develops into a closed form with concise paragraphs and transitions. Although he gives information clearly he doesn’t cite any sources or give data to support, and the authority of a sophomore in college on a global problem has to be questioned. The author knows his audience is college students who should be intelligent and civic and who care about our nation’s future. He assumes they know about the current energy crisis and want to come up with solutions. The article is complete with first posing a problem, then stating why it affects the reader, and then proposing a solution.