Ideas on the Uses of a Liberal Education

Edmundson’s essay “On the Uses of a Liberal Education,” evokes a lot of different emotions within me. I am with the grain on some of his ideas and I am seriously opposed to others. His essay begins with his discussion on teacher evaluations. I believe that his argument is true. The fact that students would like easier classes and nicer professors is true. I also do understand that many teachers are worried about what their student reviews may say. I believe students to like to “enjoy” the course but that does not mean students cannot “enjoy” a challenging course (5).
His next argument is that the liberal arts education has become ineffective due to American culture. I understand and agree with the fact that American’s have become consumer based. I do not necessarily think this is a flaw of our generation. In today’s day and age, we are given many choices and all students do take advantage of the options they have. He also blames a lot of the problems with our generation on the television. I agree that many idolize TV characters, and have the “buy in order to be” mentality (15). Students do conform to dress an example being North Face jackets or Ugg boots throughout any college campus in America. An article that appeared in the Howard Journal of Communications entitled “Television Viewing and Ethnic Stereotypes: Do College Students Form Stereotypical Perceptions of Ethnic Groups as a Result of Heavy Television Consumption?,” shows that the TV does indeed affect the mentality of college students. This article proves with data that heavy viewers of television exhibit more negative stereotypes (pg. 101). This study clearly backs Edmundson’s theory that TV has an impact on the lives of college students. I also agree with the fact that the number of humanities majors has declined. There is no way to dispute this, I do understand this but it is also true that because of increasing technology and demand for business majors, these numbers have grown as well.
Even though he blames many of the problems in our education system on the students, he does attribute some problems to the professors and parents. Professors that are afraid to correct students just because of the awkward moment that may ensue should not be professors. It is the job of the professor to teach and enlighten the student regardless of the confrontation that may occur. I do not think students get angry as long as the teacher does not embarrass the student a simple and polite correction is fine under any circumstance. He also blames the admissions advisors for having a “servile attitude with students (41). This is necessary in order to attract students. With changing technology, comes new amenities and luxuries at college. These are a part of the consumer culture but I do not feel that these items interfere with education.
Where I disagree with Edmundson is when he says that students lack passion and fire. I disagree with this idea and I know that I along with the majority of students in my classes have a thirst for knowledge. Maybe students are subdued in class and do not want to be looked at as odd. I am sure no one wants to be seen as an outcast, but learning and having a normal conversation in class is certainly not frowned upon. I also disagree with the fact that students are too conforming and depressed. I feel in no way that our nation is depressed (23). I think students these days are much more involved and there are many ways students are able to get involved in many more ways that they used to. There are a variety of clubs and groups, where students can express their individuality.
Towards the end he encourages teachers to step outsides the box. I agree that it makes the class more interesting when the teacher changes their style or introduces a new lesson. However, I do not think our education system is faulty or ineffective. Hopefully professors and adults realize that our generation still does have passion and a strong desire to learn.

Rhetorical analysis

Edmundson’s essay “On the Uses of a Liberal Education” was published in Harper’s magazine. The fact that Edmundson is a professor and has his work published in a magazine gives him credibility and strengthens his ethos. He begins his piece with a story about his own experiences teaching. He uses a metaphor and compares the students to “informed consumers” telling the “producer” what they did well and what they did wrong. He continues saying that he no longer likes the reviews that describe him as entertaining, he writes that he would much rather his students be “changed” by the course.
He then takes a critical tone and blames the attitudes of the students on the consumer based society that Americans are enthralled in. His diction indicates this when he writes that the liberal arts education is “ineffective.”
His next point is that the idea of genius is becoming less and less prevalent. He uses an anecdote about a student he used to know that was so full of genius and passion. He explains that these types of students are extremely hard to come by in today’s culture because those who question are looked at as weird. He blames the lack of genius on the TV. He writes, “All must run perfectly.” This sentence is used to describe the characters on TV, as well as the attitudes of students who are afraid to be wrong and nervous about talking to their professors. This sentence is short and choppy and is also placed at the end of the paragraph to emphasize its importance. Edmundson places the topic sentence of many of his paragraphs in the last sentence in order to emphasize it. His use of the statement “—buy in order to be” is really the idea of the consumer culture summed up in one sentence. He uses this after giving a real life example, a Jeep commercial in order to build his logos.
Throughout his essay he asks questions to the reader, than answers them. This is an effective technique because it makes the reader think about what Edmundson is trying to say. He also utilizes the double dash in his essay a lot in order to indicate pauses in thinking. In paragraph 30, he utilizes logos a lot by displaying facts such as the number of humanities degrees and sciences.
In order to appeal to pathos he describes our future as bleak because students are unmotivated consumers. He also uses the word “disturbing” to make the reader think about the problems within our education system.
A bold move that he makes is he has a whole paragraph that starts with “My overall point is this:” This is placed towards the end so the reader is forced to read the entire essay and gather his opinion. Then, he is able to get his point out clearly in one sentence.
In the end he uses a circular story and comes back to the idea of his teacher reviews and says, “I’m getting back to a more exuberant style; I’ll be expostulating and arm waving straight into the millennium, yes I will.” This is a good closing statement because it shows that he is willing to change back to the teaching and is dedicated to changing the consumer-based liberal education.

Summary of "On The Uses of a Liberal Education

Edmundson begins his essay with a description of his feelings on teacher evaluations. He explains that he is fearful of what they will think and admits that he sometimes teaches to try and gain the good reviews from students. He then elaborates on the fact that he does not want to be described as "enjoyable." He wants them to be challenged and changed by his course. He places a lot of emphasis on the fact that American culture is very consumption driven and that the liberal arts education and the university system as a whole has taken a change for the worst. He than provides an anecdote about a student he had named Joon Lee. He compares Lee to students of today and explains that there are very few students who share the passion Lee had. He is worried by the lack of passion and fire that students now possess. He blames this problem on the importance of TV. He says all must run perfect on TV so confrontation in really life is avoided in real life. He thoroughly believes in the buy in order to be philosophy and feels that students buy in order to be "cool." He states that students will not ask challenging questions and teachers will not correct students just to avoid the awkward period associated with calling someone out. Edmundson also has a problem with the way that universities are becoming so consumer driven and explains that they now have a "club med" like atmosphere. Universities have now become marketers and have to sell their school not based on education but based on the amenities they provide students. Because of the consumer based mentality the humanities majors have to fight for students. This leads to grade inflation and easier classes in these majors, which should not be the case. Teachers must change their styles now in order to gain tenure and cannot step outside the box to learn. This clearly angers Edmundson who feels education has become too mainstream. Teachers even go as far as to not correct students who are factually wrong because they are afraid to disappoint the students. The teachers who do confront and challenge students are labeled as difficult and are punished for trying to further educate their students. He argues that students are treated to soft and are looked at like consumers and are treated with a "servile" attitude by the staff, leading them to become ignorant. He also explains that certain novels are not read due to political correctness. Teachers are afraid to read novels like "Things Fall Apart" because of the controversial ideas they bring out. He than transitions into the idea of genius and being unique. He writes that this idea is being eliminated slowly and that there is no genius because we all want one thing money. We are all trying to become the ideal person and are afraid to step out of the box and become genius. He is worried that in our future, there will be no genius. He says we are uninterested in being different and even references Prozac and the "depressed" nation that we live in. He goes as far as to call our outcome bleak. He concludes by placing the burden on the individuals to strive to be challenged and engaged in the classroom. He ends by saying his teaching style will definitely change and he will not worry about the evaluations, he will be the exciting and controversial professor needed in order to provide a solid education.

Response to "On The Uses of a Liberal Education"

I found the article to be very interesting. It is written in an extremely critical tone and I do not agree with most of what Edmundson says. He states that we are in a consumer era and that we have all become a certain mold without passion. I feel yes, times have changed and we are a consumer culture, however students still have passion. There are those students who will always voice their opinions and always be argumentative regardless of the times. He also writes that college has become a marketing game and I agree. College expenses have gone up a ridiculous amount and colleges now are much more luxurious and fancy than they were. Now with movie theatres and fancy gyms as opposed to museums or exhibits, they have become a place to have fun. This does not mean that large amounts of learning does not occur. He also writes that students are timid in class and are nice to the professors, I do not see that as a problem in that they are trying to respect the people that are teaching them and sometimes professors do not reciprocate in that respect. I feel that Edmundson would be one of those professors. He says that teachers have taught towards the book and are afraid to be vocal. I understand variety is needed every once in a while but it is important to get the basics regardless of major. This piece also goes into the subject about the increase in business majors. I think this is because of changing technology and because the determination of the new student. In the past fewer people went to college now many go to further their education. The ideas of the passionless student really bothers me because I feel each student is passionate otherwise they wouldn't be in college. I think that Edmundson is too critical on other professors as well he is not the only excited professor and school has changed but I believe for the better.

Description/reflection excercise

Description 1- It is a beautiful day in Harrisonburg Virginia on the lush quad of JMU. Students are outside frolicking and playing with their pets on the nice lawn. I sit on the cool grass and think about the natural beauty Harrisonburg has to offer. I watch the grand clock atop Wilson Hall and listen to it chime as the hour changes. Students are giddily playing ultimate Frisbee on the snow covered field. As I am sitting a cute golden retriever comes up to say hello, with his friendly owner in suit. She is glad to be out on this beautiful winter day. The trees are all adorned with a thin layer of white powdery snow. The sun shines bright in the horizon and all the students are ecstatic that they have found time in their busy days to come and enjoy the beautiful outdoors. I hope I can spend more time outside in the future.

Description 2- It is a bitterly cold day in the middle of nowhere, Virginia. I am sitting on this frozen tundra watching annoying kids attempt to play football as they slide all over the place. My hands are becoming numb as I sit and wait and look at the dead field and trees as they blow in the gusting wind. Then as I am close to freezing to death the huge clock starts annoyingly chiming over and over again while I am trying to relax. Than all of a sudden I am attacked by this annoying dog and her extremely chipper owner. The sun is shining directly in my eyes and being outdoors is extremely unpleasant. I cannot wait to get out of this hellish environment.

Reflection- This assignment was interesting because it shows how their are a variety ways to look at a situation. Depending on the attitude or mood a person is in can affect the way they look at a situation. Word choice is imperative in making a tone or shedding a certain light on a situation. words that have negative connotation such as "hellish" or "annoying." Seeing rhetorically is important because depending on the writers rhetoric, the situation can be shown in a different light depending. It can be misleading and authors can intentionally change the reader's perception of a situation by changing their rhetoric. Each author also has a different angle of vision that he or she will take on a certain subject. That angle is determined by prior experience and a variety of different factors. At the time of my observing, I was in a good mood, so I saw the landscape in a positive light. Therefore, writing the negative toned description was much harder for me. This assignment really helped me realize the vast amounts of ways that a situation can be looked at and interpreted.

Rhetorical Analysis

Text

The Fourth Amendment Diluted

With a lamentable 5-to-4 ruling on Wednesday, the Supreme Court carved a new exception to the nearly century-old exclusionary rule, which forbids prosecutors from using evidence obtained by the police as the result of an improper search. The result was a meaningful dilution of Americans’ Fourth Amendment protections and one more instance of the court’s conservative majority upsetting precedent without admitting that it is doing so.

The case centered on the 2004 arrest of Bennie Dean Herring by police officers in Coffee County, Ala., based on a mistaken belief that he was the subject of an outstanding warrant. It turned out that the warrant, although still in the computerized database of a neighboring town, had been withdrawn five months earlier. By the time the error was discovered, officers had stopped Mr. Herring, handcuffed him, searched him and his truck and found methamphetamine and an unloaded pistol.
No one disputed that Mr. Herring’s arrest lacked probable cause and that both the arrest and the search were therefore unconstitutional. Nevertheless, the Supreme Court declined to exclude the seized evidence, and upheld Mr. Herring’s conviction on drug and gun charges. The arrest was based on careless police record-keeping rather intentional misconduct, the court reasoned.
“To trigger the exclusionary rule,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for the majority, “police conduct must be sufficiently deliberate that exclusion can meaningfully deter it, and sufficiently culpable that such deterrence is worth the price paid by the justice system.” The decision instructs judges to use a sliding scale to decide whether police misconduct warrants suppressing evidence.
That may seem reasonable, but it ignores both the inadequacy in the real world of using a cost-benefit calculus to deter unconstitutional law enforcement conduct, and the harm of involving the courts in trampling on people’s rights by admitting the fruits of an unconstitutional search. The decision also overlooks the importance of preserving a strong incentive for maintaining accurate, up-to-date records in an era of increased law-enforcement reliance on coordinated computer databases. These points were noted by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in a thoughtful dissenting opinion.
The outcome was not very surprising. In recent years, the court has carved out several “good faith” exceptions to the exclusionary rule, and justices on the court’s right flank have made no secret of their ambition to carve out more. But until this week, those exceptions were limited to instances when the improper search resulted from nonpolice errors, say by judicial officers or a legislature — not solely from police behavior.
The danger of this ruling is that judges will read its broad reasoning to prevent the exclusion of evidence in cases of negligent police conduct going well beyond sloppy record-keeping.



Analysis



The title of the article is very eye catching as well as compelling. People are instantly frightened anytime the constitution is in question. The author is also instantly given credibility by writing for the New York Times. He also has an expansive vocabulary and seems educated on the topic.



His stance becomes clear in the first sentence when he uses the word "lamentable" in reference to the ruling that created a new exception in the introduction of evidence that was gained without a search warrant. He is very short and concise about the facts of the case, in order to help his point. He explains that the warrant expired and that the police than searched his car finding drugs and a gun. The Supreme Court than decided that the arrest was based on "careless" police records not on foul play. The word careless is important because it is open to interpretation and so vague.



The chief justice ruling that the conduct must be "sufficiently deliberate" in using wrongfully found evidence. The author than uses a good metaphor and compares that to a sliding scale that decides if police misconduct is worth the exclusion of evidence. This shows his feelings that this will lead to problems with interpretation in the future.



The fourth paragraph contains much of his argument. He goes through the points that this decision will lead to poor police record keeping, "tramples peoples rights", and involves the higher court system more than they have to be.



The last sentence of the article is the most powerful. He writes "The danger of this ruling is that judges will read its broad reasoning to prevent the exclusion of evidence in cases of negligent police conduct going well beyond sloppy record-keeping. This is important because he instills fear in the reader and makes them think about the variety of ways this decision could be interpreted. He strongly hints at the fact that police will now be able to use this decision to their advantage and maybe able to blame their misconduct on "bad record-keeping." This could really violate the rights of the accused and evidence that is obtained illegally maybe introduced through this new loophole.



The organization chosen by the author is fitting because he uses a closed form but his thesis is really the last sentence. He gives all the facts and leads up to his main point, which is given in the last sentence.

The author relies on logos mostly and explains the facts of the case and sites reliable sources such as Chief Justice John Roberts and Ruth Bader Ginsburg. He also uses pathos when he brings into the fact that the police may use this to bring in illegal evidence. The idea of a crooked police force and the removal of constitutional rights really frightens the general public.