Amy Goldwasser Whats The Matter With Kids Today

1186 Words5 Pages
Amy Goldwasser’s, “What’s the Matter with Kids Today?” uses out of context statistics to create a cynical attack on some of the finest educational organizations today. She scoffs at accusations of the Internet, almost ignoring the fact that most teenagers do not use the Internet for academic or intellectual uses. After begging parents not to worry about their kids online (even though worrying is what protects our kids to begin with), she groups Common Core with the other contributors “of what has become a fashionable segment of the population to bash: the American teenager,” when unlike the uninformed, Common Core is fighting for our school systems to improve the educational system for our teenagers (Goldwasser, 236). If one of our most influential associations was not enough, the National Endowment for the Arts is beaten down with more out of context quotes used to side the reader with the Internet and against our helpful companion in the fight for ingenuity and innovative improvement. RWS 200 students will find Goldwasser’s article much less persuasive after understanding how the sources she uses, like Common Core and the NEA, are taken out of context in her whirl-winding assault against educational learning, and supporting the Internet. Many rhetorical strategies are used in Goldwasser’s “What’s the Matter with Kids Today?” to persuade the audience of her credibility. The introduction bombards the reader with statistics of Common Core surveys and other figures to present a sarcastic and mocking account of Goldwasser’s opposition. The teen blogging specialist rebuts that the older generation is afraid (through ignorance) of the power of the Internet. In order to maintain her credibility, the word “we” is used to identify herself as a member of this older group. In this 2008 article published by Salon Magazine, Goldwasser strengthens her audience’s trust
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