Rhetoric and Composition
A1: Summary and Analysis
Final Draft
In Mark Edmundson’s article Who Are You and What Are You Doing Here, published in the Oxford American on August 22, 2011, he talks about his college experience and what others need to do in college to be successful. Getting an education is hard because there are too many distractions, but find something you enjoy doing or else you’ll be bored and work hard to become that. There are a lot of paths to choose from in life and going to college is one of the best to choose. Edmundson must also agree with this since he is pushing kids to try harder in school. However, Edmundson points out some very key points as to what students need to do.
There are not strict rules in most…show more content… Edmundson talks about his college experience and what others need to do in college to be successful. The author’s purpose was to inform college students that they need to work harder and do what they love. The text wants to influence the reader to focus on school. It wants them to do what they love and their primary goal should be getting good grades, not partying and hanging out with friends.
There could be a lot of purposes as the article is very long but the overall purpose if clear. The author assumes that the reader has been educated and is looking forward to getting a college degree. The author is writing from the point of view of someone that has been through college and knows what to do. They know what is needed to be successful. The author doesn’t misjudge the readers knowledge but does talk down to them a little assuming that they are messing up in college and need to change things. Or that their assumption of what college will be like needs to change and they should prepare for having a job afterwards while in college. The key problem the author addresses is that college isn’t what it should be. Its focus for most people is hanging with friends, partying, and just having fun. Edmundson inquires, that college needs to be about being academic to prepare you for job opportunities afterwards. He states in his article that colleges aren’t strict enough and let kids slack off. He says
