Robby Gamble Essays (940 words) - Education, Liberal Arts Education

Robby Gamble Essays (940 words) - Education, Liberal Arts Education Robby Gamble Professor Kelly English 1102-024 16 February 2017 Rhetorical Analysis In modern America, many feel that college is to serve as a stepping stone on the path of development, and many believe that college is a bulletproof post-secondary plan that will guarantee a career upon completion, however in many situations that is not the case. In his article "Are Too Many People Going to College? (2008) " , Charles Murray, a W.H. Brady Scholar from the American Enterprise Institute, discusses the flaws of the American post-secondary education sy stem, and refutes common misconc ep t io ns about it to prove too many people are going to college , an d further open a discussion to i mplem e nt change to the American post-secondary education system. Murray's article is divided into 8 sections , in which he tackles different points, but when looking at the work , it can be separa ted into 3 sub arguments : Liberal E ducation, Structural Changes to Residential Colleges , and The Results of Normalizing Bachelor's Degrees. In the liberal education section of Murray's argument , he discusses the importance of liberal education in social development and function in society. Murray believes "Full participation in any culture requires familiarity with a body of core knowledge (Murray 235) ", and "This core knowledge is an important part of the glue that hold the culture together (235) ." Murray's beliefs are based upon E. D. Hirsch Jr.'s book Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know , in which he suggests the best time to learn this body of core knowledge is during elementary and middle school. Murray discusses the guidelines College Board researchers use to determine "college readiness" to post the question "Should all of those who do have academic ability to absorb a college-level liberal education get one (238)? " In order to answer this question, he exemplifies a young woman in the 98 th percentile of academic ability. Ultimately, he conc ludes that "dealing with complex intellectual material is what students in the top few percentiles are really good at , in the same way that other people ar e really good at cooking or making pottery" Li beral education in college has much depth, and would pose a challenge to students that do not find joy in spending hours reading intellectual works and testing their knowledge of these works. I support Murray's stance on liberal education. His overall argument that liberal education on a collegiate level is not for everyone is accurate, and while a college education in liberal arts may produce more cultured people, the fact of the matter is students are more likely to excel in careers in which they have compassion. Upon completing the liberal education portion of his argument he shifts his focus into the structure of "the Four-Year Brick-and-Mortar Residential College". Murray takes notice of the way advances in technology have altered the structure of colleges. Throughout the history of universities in the United States , proximity has always played a major role . Before the major expansion of the internet in the 1990' s , living at university for four years was a standard method of obt aining the knowledge and social skills necessary to excel not only in a degree program, but also in a career of ch oice. Because of relatively recent advances in technology, the structure of classrooms has changed. Sitting in front of a teacher to intake information is not the only option. We live in a time of flexibility. "The two-year community college and online courses offer more flexible options for tailoring course work to the real needs of [jobs] (242) , " and Murray even beli eves because of technological advances, academic hubs such as a universities library is on the verge of extinction. While some of changes may seem negative " [the advantages of physical proximity] depends mostly on the personality of the scholar (243) ." To conclude his argument , Murray discusses the value of a bachelor's degree . and the results of normalizing bachelor's degrees . Through the last section of his argument Murray exemplifies a high school graduate seeking to be either an electrician or pursue