Rhetorical Analysis: "Against School" Essay

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Rhetorical Analysis: "Against School" In the essay, Against School, John Taylor Gatto, expresses his strong belief in middle diction of how students in the typical public schooling system are conformed to low-standard education in order to benefit the society much more than the student themselves; causing schooling to be unnecessary as opposed to education . He believes that children and teachers are caught in extreme boredom as a result of repeated material. This boredom also causes a lack of maturity and independence in the students. Gatto wrote this essay in 2003 which appeared in Harper’s magazine. He gathered these observations during his 30 years of teaching in the best and worst schools of New York City. In 1991, he was named the …show more content…
For example he gives the six basic functions of modern schooling, while also explaining them in detail as opposed to just naming the functions and having only the knowledgeable audience know what is being said, as what would happen in a formal diction essay. Another example was, as shown before, the difference between school and education. Gatto clearly broke it down in case someone of lesser knowledge would take it in the wrong context. He also uses simple terms, for example “we must wake up to what our schools really are…” where he could have said for formal diction “our society needs to seize a point of reality in understanding what the true nature of modern schooling is about”. This also is a very effective strategy Gatto used. He was able to reach a variety of audiences to further his opinion of modern schooling, so people could come to reality and start making a change.
As a member of public schooling, therefore a member of the targeted audience, I can much relate to his opinions. Having just transferred, as a junior, to a community college from a public school that has very low standards, I can very well relate. There was much boredom and I felt like I was wasting much of my time in high school. This essay definitely raised a brow on me and I surely want to start making a difference as far as “schooling” and “education” in America.
Works Cited
John Taylor Gatto. “Against School.” Copyright 2003 by Harper’s magazine. All rights reserved. Reproduced from
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