A Review of Margaret Wente's "Inside the Entitlement Generation"

A college education is valuable and its quality is of the highest importance to most Americans. In his essay, “On the Uses of a Liberal Education: As Lite Entertainment for Bored College Students,” Mark Edmundson utilizes ethos, pathos, and logos to effectively deliver his argument that the current educational system, especially in college, revolves around consumerism which in turn has negatively impacted students, teachers, and universities in general. However, although Edmundson presents an overall logically sound argument, there are few instances throughout the article that may hinder the reliability of his claims to the audience.

Andrew Simmons published his article for The Atlantic, “The Danger of Telling Poor Kids that College is the Key to Social Mobility” on January 16, 2014, which raises his concerns that higher education is only being promoted as an opportunity to increase their economic status, when it should be an opportunity to experience an education (Simmons). Through the use of students such as Isabella, Simmons disagrees with the way students now look at higher education and blames the educators through the students’ lives for this view. Instead, Simmons views education as an intellectual opportunity rather than a way to elevate ones economic class which is all people see when they see “higher education.” He believes that education, ambition and work ethic is how you have a satisfying life, not with how much you make. He makes the point that when economics becomes the main goal of education it’s all children begin to think about and they might not pursue something that they are truly passionate about or what they want to learn about, which then does not create an intellectually awakening experience (Simmons).

At the beginning of the essay, the writer expresses the difficulties experienced by high-school graduates in gaining admission to universities, nowadays. She states,” College as America used to understand it is coming to an end” through Rick Perlstein (Addison 3). To show contrast between the past and modern days, Addison brings another character to the scene. She states that Perlstein had a ‘beatnik’ friend alongside him. The term ‘beatnik’ makes reference to a person of the artistic Beat generation of the 1950s and 60s. During that period, college education, offered in universities, was highly regarded. To further her argument, she claims that admission to universities, nowadays, relies solely on their Curricula Vitae.

The context of this definition implies that people in American society today have aquired such a demonstrative way to define those who choose to apply themselves in and out of the classroom. The writer illustrates the statement that even at the prestigious institute Harvard University, the concept of being academically superior to others is not only frowned upon, but is hidden. With its notorious success and respect from all over, a feeling of shock is taken in a sense that students are known for their great attitude and drive for greatness. However, students at Harvard have adopedt the sense of being “ashamed” for their success and passion. Following the claim, the phrase “Nerds are ostracized while athletes are idolized” is expressed to provoke awareness from the reader of this harsh characterization of those who put academics first. Within the opening paragraphs, the writer values getting the concept across that people today have a problem of looking down upon those who are intelligent, resulting in these certain individuals being penitent in regard of their talents and aspirations, regardless of the school or academic

Published in Harper's Magazine’s September 1997 issue, Mark Edmundson’s essay, “On the Uses of Liberal Education: As Lite Entertainment for Bored College Students,” presents a very personal argument for an apparent crisis in liberal education–the lack of passion in students. According to Edmundson, a professor at the University of Virginia, “liberal-arts education is as ineffective as it is now…[because] university culture, like American culture writ large, is, to put it crudely, ever more devoted to consumption and entertainment, to the using and using up of goods and images” (723). He believes that consumer culture is responsible for students’ dispassionate attitude towards his class because they view liberal education as a paid service or product that should cater to their wishes. Further, he writes that universities feed into consumer culture, maintaining a “relationship with students [that] has a solicitous, nearly servile tone” (725). In this way, Edmundson lays out the reasons for why he thinks liberal education is failing.

George Bridges’ argument refutes the AAUP’s claim that trigger warnings can be counterproductive. Bridges expresses that by not providing trigger warning professors do not

When we as human beings are born into this world, there are things that we have control over, and other things that we have no say in. We control what we do with our lives, what schools to attend, what activities to be a part of, and who we marry, for example. This seems to be quite fair, and for the most part, we take it for granted. While we do have these kinds of freedoms, there are other aspects of life that we have no control over. One thing that we are born into, is our social class. No matter who you are, there is a social class that you fall into, and you really have no say in it. The one social class that seems to be the most populated is the middle, or working class. These people usually classify

Mark Edmundson, the author of “On the Uses of a Liberal Education”, is an English teacher at the University of Virginia who expresses his concerns about the trajectory of the universities and colleges in America. Edmundson depicts how college students today have “little fire, little passion to be found,” towards their classes (4). In an effort to find the source of this lack of passion, Edmundson describes contacting other professors about this issue while refining his own ideas. Ultimately, Edmundson comes to a conclusion. He believes that the consumer mindset of college students has hindered American universities as a whole. My target audience is my professor, Professor Chezik. Looking closely at his wording, formation of sentences, and idea structure, one can see a recurring theme throughout Edmundson’s essay. Edmundson uses fragments, specifically at the beginning of his paragraphs, to start his point, pose counter arguments, and to have a poetic refrain.

Before the second segment begins, where a modern case study is applied to Marilyn Frye’s theory of oppression; it seems necessary to briefly mention a few ways that Frye believes that oppression can be surfaced unknowingly between men and women. The first example touches on the simple actions that men do for women such as opening a door, “The arresting of vision at a microscopic level yields such common confusion as that about the male door-opening ritual. This ritual, which is remarkably widespread across classes and races, puzzles many people, some of whom do and some of whom do not find it offensive. Look at the scene of the two people approaching a door. The male steps slightly ahead and opens the door. The male holds the door open while the female glides through. Then the male goes through. The door closes after them” (12). This particular quote receives a lot of backlash, as many people feel that this act is simply a helpful gesture between a man and a woman. This type of gesture is often times defined as chivalry. Frye argues that these “chivalrous” gestures are condoned oppressive behaviors, “The gallant gestures have no practical meaning. Their meaning is symbolic. The door-opening and similar services provided are services which really are needed by people who are for one reason or another incapacitated – unwell, burdened with parcels, etc. So the message is that women are incapable. The detachment of the acts from the concrete realities of what women need and do

The true substance of this editorial comes from the authors use of logical appeals and its relatability to students. [These are two different ideas—which is going to make your paragraph rather jumbled. How could you reorganize to make sure each paragraph is focused on a single unified idea?] The author argues the importance in not going “so far in protecting undergraduates” (n.p.) from controversial or touchy subjects. A substantial part of education consists of understanding your opinion, as well as, the

Immigrants today now have the privilege of entering and residing in Canada but along with this privilege, there are also barriers that impede their integration and deprive them of equal opportunity in the society. The undervaluing of foreign education and credentials has emerged over the years as a huge obstacle faced by recent immigrants who seek employment in the areas that they have been trained, and worked in for decades in their respective home countries. For years, newcomers in Canada have been denied inclusion into the Canadian labour market simply because of policies that were

a. “Students are expected to say Dr. or Professor to teachers because of their credibility” (Klein & LaPolla “How College is Different from High School”).

The universal truth that feelings of entitlement restrict enlightenment is evident in the essay “What is Poverty?” by Theodore Dalrymple through effective presentation of the Marxist Theory and Psychoanalytical Theory. Firstly, the universal truth that feelings of entitlement restrict enlightenment is displayed by the idea that enlightenment is not given, but it is achieved and discovered. Being given something is not the same as working for it and earning it. When an individual may be given something that the feel is an entitlement, they do not feel or understand the effort that went into gifting or giving them the object. The idea is showcased through a quote from the essay “What is Poverty?”:

In his editorial, “The Year of the Imaginary College Student,” Hua Hsu asserts that “alarm about offense-seeking college students say[s] more about critics than the actual state of affairs.” Hsu begins his article by discussing James O’Keefe’s attempt at Vassar College to depict that college students are as politically sensitive as they appear. He goes on to demonstrate that college students are getting increasingly more “hypersensitive.” Hsu then questions the “surge of interest in campus life,” wondering why people who are not in college are questioning the behavior of those in college. Next, Hsu states that this panic about “offense-seeking college students” says more about the people criticizing rather than the system. Elucidating, he

What does today’s society expect from students? A question that can either end with a positive or negative answer. With any kind of education there comes responsibility, commitment, and consequences. As a student, one must develop qualities in him or her to enable him or her to lead a successful life. The older one gets the higher people’s expectations seem to be. Many of the expectations set for students may be the same, but the repercussions of the actions one choses to take are what differs the most.