In College at Risk, Andrew Delbanco claims that today's perspective on American Education is geared toward training brains for functional tasks. He claims that liberal teaching systems allow for students to attain well rounded educations for themselves rather than gaining an education with the purpose of fitting in the economy. The purpose of liberal education is to guide students in their journeys to finding what they are passionate about. Del Blanco applies rhetorical mechanisms to strengthen his points . To appeal to his audience-- which are college students, He concentrates on using credible sources and exemplary rationalities to effectively create plausible arguments.
He structures his writing in timeline matter by introducing relative subtopics from history. Comparisons are made between the purpose of education throughout periods of times in American history. To support this Delbanco states that in colonial times liberal education was formed to provide opportunities for Americans to pursue happiness. This is related to medieval Roman education where happiness, or in other …show more content…
“We imagine it as a verdant world where the harshest sound are the reciprocal thuds of tennis balls or the clatter of cleats as young bodies trot up and down the field steps. Perhaps our brains edit out the failures and disappointments” In this excerpt Delbanco creates a sympathetic appeal for the reader knowing that everyone has had failures and disappointments in their college experiences. He then states that college experiences are different for everyone and gives an example to support his claim. The Dean of Yale Law School had a class that took place in his professor's home by a fireplace, while for more students college is a nerve wrecking road to obtain skills in underresourced institutions. Once again, Delbanco adds the list of credible sources that he uses to reason with his