Composing my compositions from 2 genres differs from writing a traditional essay because It forced me to change my approach to designing visual appeals. In a traditional essay, I needed to adapt to the structure of having an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. However, genre compositions are different as they are a means to express a message to a specific audience through a different medium than a traditional essay. I used a poster because I felt if I expressed my concerns in bullet points, it would be successful in bringing my message across to my audience. I want to make my opinion of American education transparent to the audience. Also, since the photographs stand out tremendously, it has a visual appeal to the audience that encourages them to be engaged. This poster helps display my subject because, through captivating pictures as well as words, it shows the shortcomings in the American education system. Another genre I used is a meme to exaggerate this ridicule of American education that can draw the attention of the educators as the problem can be serious. In doing so, to make things up to date with other countries, this might bring some kind of improvement within the framework. Instead of reading paragraphs, some individuals want to see visual pictures, which is why this is a good way to use when addressing problems with the American education system. In my meme, one rhetorical technique I used is logos by explaining how America is ranked behind countries when it comes to education. This is shown when America states that they are ranked 11 in terms of education. Another rhetorical approach that I used is a pathos that catches the audience’s emotions. By using pathos, by showing that teachers are underpaid, I appealed to the emotions of the audience. This appeals to their concerns as the audience sees that teachers are underpaid, so they will feel empathetic to the teachers in the education system. Also, in this poster, I used the sad face to talk about how the education system relies a lot on grades to represent how the students feel that the educators feel sympathy for the students should relate to. Using pathos makes the viewer of the education system feel a sense of sympathy for both students and teachers.

The topic that I’ve chosen was American education and the flaws it contains. The main audience for my essay was educators since they are mainly in charge of ensuring the education of students. I would like to educate the educators in charge of our education about the flaws that occur within the American education system. The primary characteristic of my audience is that they are mostly in the adult age range. I want them to understand the problems students are facing within the American education system. The strategy I might use would be using logos by presenting statistical information, having some sort of pathos to make them feel guilty of how they are not doing anything to change the system, and maintaining a formal style of tone. The genres that would make the ideas more accessible would be having visuals because they might be good for the audience which in this case would be the educators since it shows them a bigger picture of what the issue is and gives them a general idea on how to solve certain issues. Furthermore, another genre I can use would be a poster because it would be easier to convey my message about the problems within American education towards educators. Currently, I am planning on having my poster contain bullet points on the flaws of the American education system as well as including some sort of picture that demonstrates those flaws. My next visual genre is leaning towards a meme in which it would be a mockery towards American education but the mockery would be an exaggeration which can bring the educator’s attention since the issue can be serious. 

The topic of my research essay was how to improve the quality of American education. My purpose was to present potential solutions in improving American education with the help of many sources. The main audience for my essay was educators since they are mainly in charge of ensuring the education of students. They need to understand possible solutions in improving the quality of American education so the students can be nurtured well and not fall victim to the flaws of the system such as being pressured to perform well due to certain expectations. For this assignment, I plan on using visual genres to convey my message about how the American education system is flawed. I think visuals are good for audiences like educators because it shows them a bigger picture of what the issue is and gives them a general idea on how to solve certain issues. I can use a poster to convey my message about the problems within American education. For now, I thought about making bullet points on the flaws of it as well as including some sort of picture that demonstrates those flaws. My next visual genre is leaning towards a meme in which it would be a mockery towards American education which can bring the educator’s attention since the issue can be serious. I have a general idea of what to include in my meme in which it would show how the American education is lacking behind other countries by including the difference between them like the concept of standardized tests, homework, and teacher pay.

My research topic was finding ways to improve the quality of American education which I had initially thought about this research question prior to the essay because it was a similar topic for my last essay and I wanted to dwell even further into it. I felt that this was an important social issue because I feel like there are a lot of things wrong with the quality of the education system. I didn’t find any trouble finding information for my media sources since most of the groundwork was laid out there for me in my first essay. However, I did have to search for some scholarly articles which were a little tedious because I found a lot of scholarly articles relating to my issue, but I had to dissect which was the most effective for my essay. The problems I encountered when analyzing my text were trying to figure out which quotes I should use because there were a lot of good points in my articles and I had to scrutinize which was the best quote for me to analyze. Most of the negative feedback I had received in my essay was the quotes I used were not effective since my evidence was unclear in how it led up to my analysis and didn’t line up so I had to find a different quote to fit my analysis. Furthermore, I needed to organize the information from sources relating to my research question. The role of my intended audience played an important role since educators were the intended audience for my question and I wanted to write this essay to show them various ways on how they can improve the educational quality. This process has influenced my writing because it has helped me increase my researching abilities which can be utilized in the future. Also, it showed me that quotes are very important in writing an essay because it leads up to a good analysis. A bad quote can be detrimental to my essay because it can make my analysis look unclear so I need to be more careful in choosing my quotes. In order to be an effective writer, I must present valuable research information about my topic and choose effective quotes regarding my issue.

I have found 4 scholarly sources and 3 media sources. I found all my scholarly sources using the CCNY library database and my media sources online. My scholarly sources are reliable since they are peer-reviewed and are written by people who have a lot of experience in that area. 

My first media source is called “How Are America’s Public Schools Really Doing?” by Valerie Strauss, which talks about the state of American public schools and observes how students are performing. There is a lot of statistics involving confidence in American public schools, standardized test scores, and classroom performance. This is clear throughout the article because it mentions a lot of statistics for the performance of public high schools. This can help me with my essay because it is completely objective as the article utilizes statistics to analyze the situation of American public high schools instead of having a position. My second media source is “Is America’s School System Truly Broken? By Zastrow, Marvin C . This article goes through various issues like the lack of training the teachers receive and how the curriculum is insufficiently challenging. The article addresses the roots of the quality of education within its teachers in that they are incapable of teaching due to the lack of training they receive. This article can show how the quality of American education needs to be reformed in order for students to prosper in their lives. My last media source is “5 Ways Policy Makers Can Improve the Quality of Education” by the school of education presents 5 potential ways in improving the quality of education. It mentions how the United States is ranked 35th in terms of education in the world which shows that it is ranked as one of the lowest in terms of education as it is behind other countries. Students in America are behind students in other countries because our teaching methods are not up to date with other countries. This article can help me with my essay because it addresses good solutions to my question. 

My first scholarly source was The Problem With American Education.” by Marvin C. Zastrow. This article shows that motivation plays a major role in the quality of education. This article mentions other issues such as the grading system, the pressure on students, and methods of learning. This article can help me with my essay because it also mentions possible solutions such as potential solutions to the quality of American education such as giving weekly period length tests, grading all tests except finals as pass or fail, and requiring students that fail weekly tests to attend review sessions until they pass the test. Another solution it addresses would be to implement a flexible schedule within the curriculum so it makes it easier for students to learn. My second scholarly article is “Review of Improving Quality in American Higher Education: Learning Outcomes and Assessments for the 21st Century, by Jillian Kinzie which focuses on the improvement of the quality of education of the United States within the 21st century. It addresses that college is not worth the price and that students are not prepared to enter the work field because of the lack of skills education teaches. My third scholarly article is “A System in Crisis – It is unrealistic to expect a system constructed in nineteenth-century America to provide what a twenty-first-century America needs.” by Eugene W. Hickok which addresses that the performance of American schools has declined over time. Its main focus stems from teachers getting money and benefits and not trying to improve classroom instruction and equipment. Teachers have the responsibility of guiding and ensuring the students prosper and succeed. However, not all teachers are competent in their field which is another issue within the quality of American education. My last scholarly source is “Improving Education.” from the American Association for the Advancement of Science which talks about various ways to improve the education system. For example, it talks about students learning concepts rather than memorizing them, the curriculum students are going through, and the quality of teachers in how they are handling the classroom and their methods. Overall, I feel like all I need to do is to organize all of my information from the sources I’ve gathered.

Works cited

Strauss, Valerie. “Perspective | How Are America’s Public Schools Really Doing?” The Washington Post, WP Company, 15 Oct. 2018, www.washingtonpost.com/education/2018/10/15/how-are-americas-public-schools-really-doing/. 

 Zastrow, Marvin C. “The Problem With American Education.” Shibboleth    Authentication Request, 1987, web-b-ebscohost-com.ccny-proxy1.libr.ccny.cuny.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=1. 

Schneider, Jack. “Is America’s School System Truly Broken?” The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 22 June 2016, www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2016/06/everything-in-american-education-is-broken/488189/. 

Kinzie, Jillian. Review of Improving Quality in American Higher Education: Learning Outcomes and Assessments for the 21st Century, by Jillian Kinzie. Journal of College Student Development, vol. 58 no. 8, 2017, p. 1281-1283. Project MUSE, doi:10.1353/csd.2017.0101.

HICKOK, EUGENE W. “A System in Crisis – It is unrealistic to expect a system constructed in nineteenth-century America to provice what a twenty-first-century America needs.” World and I, vol. 15, no. 9, Sept. 2000, p. 22. Gale Academic OneFile, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A64270474/AONE?u=cuny_ccny&sid=AONE&xid=e7e27291. Accessed 26 Oct. 2020.

American Asociation for the Advancement of Science. “Improving Education.” Science and children 36.2 (1998): 8–. Print.

School of Education. (2019). 5 Ways Policy Makers Can Improve the Quality of Education. Retrieved October 26, 2020, from https://soeonline.american.edu/blog/5-ways-policy-makers-can-improve-the-quality-of-education

Question: How can we improve the quality of the education system?

Publication name: Inside Higher Ed

Model essay: Bok, Derek. “Inside Higher Ed.” How to Improve the Quality of Higher Education (Essay), 2017, www.insidehighered.com/views/2017/09/21/how-improve-quality-higher-education-essay. 

This is my research topic because this question initially interested me since this was a similar topic for my last essay and I wanted to research more about it. This is an important social issue because I feel like there are a lot of things wrong with the quality of the education system. I want to understand ways to improve this system so that students can have a successful future and learn effectively. I can relate to this social issue because I’ve also experienced some of the flaws of the system such as having teachers that aren’t professional or aren’t dedicated to teaching students. There are other major issues such as defining grades to be the most important thing in life. I feel like students need to have a balance between their studies and what they do in their free time. This creates some sort of pressure for students to succeed and have high expectations for them. Furthermore, I believe that the method the system implements isn’t ideal since it mostly deals with memorization of a subject rather than a hands-on approach which I feel like should be how the system teaches. I feel that people need to be conscious of this situation especially parents because it is the foundation of nurturing young children into becoming successful in the future. For the growth and development of the students, a flawed system would not be desirable because it would negatively impact them in the future. Students often tend not to study properly in the classroom and doing a lot of homework can have a negative effect on them as it can put pressure on them. This kind of expectation can potentially result in depression and hopelessness. I believe it needs to be more lenient on the students and implement better teaching methods. The education system needs its attention on its students rather than trying to teach every student the same method because every student learns and adapts to material differently. I conclude that students need to be more lenient and adopt improved methods of teaching. Instead of attempting to teach each student the same methodology, the education system needs its emphasis on its students because each student learns and adapts differently to content.

The model essay I chose was  “How to Improve the Quality of Higher Education” published by Inside Higher Ed. This relates to my research because it addresses the issues within the quality education system and potential solutions on how to fix the quality of it. The model essay uses studies to observe how students are performing at a higher education.  Furthermore, the essay conducts its own research on how to improve the quality of education and increase the number of students who completed their education. This essay would help me craft some ideas revolving around my question. My audience would be mainly educators since they are mainly in charge of ensuring the education of students. They need to understand possible solutions in improving the quality of American education so the students can be nurtured well and not fall victim of the flaws of the system such as being pressured to perform well due to the certain expectations it has. I plan to complete my research for my secondary sources by the end of the week.

Works cited

Strauss, Valerie. “Perspective | How Are America’s Public Schools Really Doing?” The Washington Post, WP Company, 15 Oct. 2018, www.washingtonpost.com/education/2018/10/15/how-are-americas-public-schools-really-doing/. 

 Zastrow, Marvin C. “The Problem With American Education.” Shibboleth    Authentication Request, 1987, web-b-ebscohost-com.ccny-proxy1.libr.ccny.cuny.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=1. 

Schneider, Jack. “Is America’s School System Truly Broken?” The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 22 June 2016, www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2016/06/everything-in-american-education-is-broken/488189/. 

Kinzie, Jillian. Review of Improving Quality in American Higher Education: Learning Outcomes and Assessments for the 21st Century, by Jillian Kinzie. Journal of College Student Development, vol. 58 no. 8, 2017, p. 1281-1283. Project MUSE, doi:10.1353/csd.2017.0101.

My research question is how can we improve the American education system? I came up with this question because this was a similar topic for my last essay and I wanted to research more about it. This is important because there are many flaws within the American education system and I want to understand ways in how to improve this system. There are many issues such as teaching students that grades are the most important thing in life which creates pressure within students to perform within certain expectations. Furthermore, I feel that the system relies more on the memorization aspect of the subjects rather than teaching students how to understand it. Are politicians aware of how bad our education system is? I feel like people need to be aware of this situation since it is the cornerstone of nurturing children and for them to become successful. A broken system would not be ideal for the growth and development of our youth because it would greatly affect them in the future. Students tend to not learn properly in the classroom as well and having a lot of homework can affect them negatively since it can create stress on them. This can potentially result in depression and hopelessness because of how flawed our education system is. I believe it needs to be more lenient on the students and implement better teaching methods. The education system needs its attention on its students rather than trying to teach every student the same method because every student learns and adapts to material differently. I want to know about more solutions on how to improve the current American education system. I plan to explore this question in my research by looking at various articles that address this issue and highlighting key ideas that resonate in how to improve the American education system.

I believe writing is a form in which individuals can freely express themselves in any way they desire. Writing allows people to fully utilize their creativity to the full extent. We can learn the perspectives of people through their writing. What I learned when writing this essay is that rhetorical analysis is a great tool in writing because it allows individuals to influence their audience using a specific style of writing. It helps readers understand how certain authors write their text and the methods they employ throughout their writing. The strategies I used to approach this assignment is to find credible sources for my topic and find good evidence. This process did work for me as I managed to find trustworthy articles that managed to have good evidence. Also, in my essay, my approach was to write a good rhetorical analysis of the article. Initially, the process didn’t work because my analysis was lacking and I failed to tackle some of the rhetorical components such as audience and genre. However, after the review, I got from my peers and my professor I started to fix my errors. I had a better understanding of what genre really is as well as the various types of genres. I also had a better understanding of the certain types of audiences my article was written for as I failed to go in detail in my first draft. I felt that I had improved my rhetorical analysis of the article as well as having better elaboration and selection of my quotes. I learned a lot while writing this essay mainly by having a thorough analysis of the information of my articles and tackling the major components of the rhetorical analysis.

Magazine article- https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/19/learning/what-students-are-saying-about-how-to-improve-american-education.html

The article “What Students Are Saying About How to Improve American Education” by The Learning Network discusses the flaws in the American Education system. The article goes over the main points and provides real-life anecdotes of people experiencing those flaws. For example, one of the main points being addressed is the amount of pressure put on students. The article then provides a short anecdote of someone experiencing that as it states, “The expectations that I wish that my teachers and school have of me is that I am only human and that I make mistakes.” Other main flaws being addressed in the article include the usage of less technology, preparing students for real life, elimination of standardized tests, giving teachers money and support, making lessons engaging, better learning environments, supporting students’ families, and de-emphasizing grades

Open Web Source- https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2016/06/everything-in-american-education-is-broken/488189/

The article “America’s Not-So-Broken Education System” by Jack Schneider talks about how flawed the American education system is and how it needs to be reformed. This article goes through various issues like the lack of training the teachers receive and how the curriculum is insufficiently challenging. For example, Schneider states, “or most of American history, teachers received no training at all, and hiring was a chaotic process in which the only constant was patronage.” Schneieer believes that the evolution of the American education system is slow and it has a lot of room for improvement. He states in order to create a better system this requires a lot of swift justice and steady effort.

Newspaper article- https://www.usnews.com/news/the-report/articles/2018-07-27/americas-schools-arent-working-for-americas-kids

The article “Rethinking Education In America” by  Gabrielle Levy is about an interview with Arne Duncan who has spent most of his life in and around education. Levy interviews Duncan about the contemporary issues surrounding American Education. For example, Levy asks Duncan about what’s holding the nation back in which Duncan responds, “There’s a small number of political leaders that are willing to challenge the status quo and challenge the base, but that’s few and far between.” Levy then goes on to ask Duncan about deeper issues of American education and potential solutions on how we can fix this system. Duncan believes that we don’t value teaching enough in that we don’t train teachers as professionals as well as the responsibility lies within us voters in not actively participating in this issue.

Scholarly article- https://web-b-ebscohost-com.ccny-proxy1.libr.ccny.cuny.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=1&sid=b70185a8-a4e8-48a3-9728-efb6794defcd%40pdc-v-sessmgr01

The article “The problem with American education” by Marvin C. Zastrow presents the issues surrounding American education. For example, Zastrow states, “The majority of today’s students need a stronger motivation.” Zastrow believes that a lack of motivation within the students is a crucial issue within the American education system. Other issues that Zastrow presents include issues with the grading system, the pressure on students, and methods of learning. Zastrow also addresses potential solutions to the American education system which includes giving weekly period length tests, grading all tests except finals which is a pass or fail, and students that fail weekly tests must attend review sessions until they have passed the test. Another solution he addresses would be to implement a flexible schedule within the curriculum so it makes it easier for students to learn.

The contemporary education system is a social issue that interests me. The reason why this interests me is that there are a lot of things wrong with the current education system and I want to understand ways in how to improve this system so that it allows students to be more flexible and not be left behind. The issues surrounding the education system is that It does not allow specific students to live up to their full potential. Another prominent issue with the system is that it teaches kids that grades are the most important thing and not the learning process behind it. Furthermore, it focuses more on the memorization aspect of learning rather than teaching students how to understand and apply themselves. Also, the system believes the grades of a student determines their intelligence and creativity which is false. Another problem with the system is that some students do not learn properly in a classroom as well as having a lot of homework which creates stress for the students. I believe the solution to improving the education system is to focus more on how the students learn rather than trying to teach every student the same method because every student learns and adapts to material differently. Another improvement would be to focus less on grades and more on the learning process of trying to get students to understand concepts and applying themselves. Furthermore, parental involvement can be another factor in a child’s education since a parent not caring about their child’s education can affect their child negatively. I want to know about more solutions on how to improve the current education system.