In “Life is Not Measured by Grade-Point Averages” by H. Bruce Miller, Miller announces that a young lady named Gabrielle Napolitano was suing the University for accusing her of plagiarism in her paper. Napolitano hired a lawyer and built the case stating that the so called “plagiarism” was just a, quote “technical error” (Miller, par.2). Miller announces this problem but doesn’t get his true argument out until the last few paragraphs of his paper, stating that students need to stop worrying about their grades or grade-point averages and need to start enjoying the process of learning, to embrace the knowledge and use it without the fear of lack of money in the back of their minds. Miller uses strong terminology throughout his paper and …show more content…
Miller does not take in account that Napolitano might have been suing for what was right, suing the University because she was having her life delayed for a mistake.
Miller doesn’t include Napolitano’s side of the story but he also does not relate to his audiences beliefs and includes fallacies in his writing. Throughout the paper there was no emotional statements or statements showing understanding for the students of the Nation, Miller automatically assumes that everyone is just worried about grades and not actually there to learn for the fun and joy of it. There are several occasions where Miller uses the faulty causality fallacy, for example; Miller states “Students get a lower grade in a course than they think they deserve; they sue. Students graduate and fail to get a job, or as good a job as they expected; they sue”(Miller, par.3). At this point he is using the faulty causality fallacy by making that the assumption that negative outcomes would automatically lead to suing, for example “Jacob got a bad grade on his school work so he sued the school”.
Even though Miller makes assumptions in his writing, he does keep the reader’s attention with a face-paced tone and long sentences with similes. For example, when Miller says “The notion that the principal, or only, purpose of going to college is to win a ticket of admission to the great upper middle
Also, the diamonds that Willy’s brother ben found symbolizes Willy’s failure as the provider for his family. Also, Miller uses flashbacks to capture what made the characters act the way they did and give us a back story as to why the characters have turned out the way that they did. In summary Miller uses all of these techniques to write his plays to give them a distinct difference from a lot of other writers in the
Throughout the novel, the author, Barbara Kingsolver, uses various stylistic devices to create complex, symbolic, and significant literature that is also rich in meaning. In the assigned passage, Kingsolver incorporates several literary devices to capture the audience’s attention and leave them with something to think about post reading.
Miller writes the story in a very unique way. He gives his readers a chance to explore the words written on his pages, with the hope that the reader is able to draw their own conclusions from his work. His unparalleled approach to the essay forces the reader to use critical thinking in order to make since of the essay. Miller’s feelings about reading, writing and the
Overall Miller causes us to respond to Giles Corey through his presentation of him as a “comical hero” who sacrifices his life for loyalty displaying qualities we only hope for in
In the article Avoiding Plagiarism, Sue Burkill and Caroline Abbey discuss the ambiguous details of plagiarism. I completely agree that plagiarism is hard to depict. The article talk a lot about using your own words but it did not speak of the fact that your vocabulary could be closely related to an author’s vocabulary. In my experience, I have had my own complete thought before I research an article. While reading articles, I notice that the author shares similar views as well as similar language. In education, a common vocabulary seems to be a big topic for most school. We all end up at the same seminars. Therefore, we develop similar language. So, it is sometimes hard to distinguish between your complete thoughts and the writer’s
Miller uses an arrogant tone to convey, the deluded nature of Willy. He uses tone to prove his theme of how easily people can stray from reality. Miller uses euphonious language to lighten the situation, for example "WILLY. [angrily] What’re you talking about? With scholarships to three universities they’re gonna flunk him?"(Miller, 1276).
His father, Isidore, owned a successful coat manufacturing business, and his mother, Augusta, to whom he was closer, was an educator and an avid reader of novels.… The affluent Miller family lost almost everything in the Wall Street Crash of 1929, and had to move from Manhattan to Flatbush, Brooklyn. After graduating high school, Miller worked a few odd jobs to save enough money to attend the University of Michigan.”
Another way the author helps convey the central idea is [Willy] “Your father came to me the day that you were born and asked what I thought of the name of Howard” (Miller 60). Willy is trying to convince his boss to give him a job as a floor salesman instead of being on the road all the time since he’s worked there for so long. This is another example of Willy’s problems and how tries to make the situation better by lying. Willy has had that jb for many years and never was very successful at it, so when he tries to ask his boss for a spot on the floor he tells him about how he’s been there since his boss was born and how he helped his dad name him which isn’t really true. One part that also resembles the central idea is [Willy] “No, wait!
Miller’s essay is very different when compared to Perelman’s essay from last week. I think that Miller thinks of language and writing as a tool to express one's foremost thoughts. At an overview of his essay, I see that Miller has tried to get the reader's attention by using a lot of metaphors - 'lens for exploring complexity', ' vehicle for arriving at nuanced understanding of a ....', etc. In his writing, I see that he has stated a lot of facts, in a very conversational manner - "fifteen dead, a cache of weapons, a large homemade bomb made with two propane tanks and a gasoline canister..."These facts are stated in almost like a point form (It would have been in point form if it were a PPT). This kind of writing shows that he is trying to get the readers to see what he is seeing; he is using visual imagery to help recreate the scene so that the readers feel that they too are in the moment of the (crime) scene. He is also an extremely detailed writer (style). I think, because he is recounting facts from incidents that have previously taken place, he has taken that extra effort to gather information from all different sources. This nature of his writing could mean that he wants the reader to know all aspects of the incident and then he is leaving the decision of whose side to take on to the reader - he isn't imposing his
It is often said that life imitates art: that we follow patterns, archetypes, and structures, conforming to the mundane and universal reality we are presented with. We are easily influenced and guided by popular cultural opinions, yet we strive for a unique human experience. Instead of following the path often tread, the movers and shakers of our world sculpt vivid escapes from our realities by drawing on inspiration from their journey. Their lives do not imitate art; on the contrary, their experiences create inspiration for their art. Many great writers throughout history have taken part in this conglomerate catharsis by sharing their own stories and opinions, but none
Miller blames the U.S government for his family’s poverty during the Great Depression, and therefore questions economic security as a theme in his plays. Wren highlights the effect the Depression had on Miller, “Miller was shaped by the poverty that surrounded him during that time” (Wren). Not only do his plays demonstrate this influence, but Miller states that, ‘While extending its hospitality to the wealthy and titled of Europe, the State Department has consistently obstructed Jews and Anti- Fascists” (Crandell)”, which shows his abhorrence for the State Department and the government, not only because of it’s role in the Depression, but also due to other adversities he’s had to face. Due to the
Miller was well-known for his ear for dialogue. There's not a lot of poetry in the language. Instead it sounds natural, like regular people talking. Even the most climactic moments register as believable, if dramatic, as when Chris confronts his mother just before the gunshot:
Miller skillfully was able to make characters which alone give subtle context to the surrounding society and culture. The overwhelming importance of image through physical appearance and materialization can be seen through the actions of his
The way that we live our lives is immensely affected by the way we take into consideration our education. Education is a huge part of our lives, especially today. There are some points in which I disagree with Miller, but I believe I agree with also. I also feel as though we have to take into account critical thinking in everything we do. On the other hand, we can take it too seriously. Critical thinking and education not only play a huge role in combating the chaos of our current culture, it affects it greatly. We, as students, need to take our education into account to better ourselves in the future.
He, unlike other writers, does not see morals as the major cause of cheating, although he does not discount the fact that they do play a part. Staples, while talking to a physics professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was told, "The big sleeping dog here is not the moral issue. The problem is that kids don't learn if they don't do the work" (Staples). So to put it simply, Staples does not think that morally our students are lacking. He thinks that the real problem is that our students do not want to learn. A friend of Staples, a professor at a well-known university who was interviewed for his article, had an eye opening experience with a student. One of his students blatantly plagiarized and then said that he would be ashamed to "go home to his family with an F " (Staples). However, he did not once say that he was remorseful. The professor stated, "This represents a shift away from the view of education as the process of intellectual engagement…toward the view of education as mere training." He goes on to say that in training, it does not matter how you come to the right answer, as long as you do, while in education, you are supposed to think critically and improve your mind (Staples). This seems to ring true in today's society. The world is changing, and the line of what is plagiarism and what is not plagiarism