Should Every American Go to College
Compose a 4-5 page critical response to one or more of the “Should Every American Go to College?” articles we have read and discussed in class. Analyze the conversations going on in these articles (and in the United States, Texas, your home town, your own home) about post-secondary education, from the costs to attend college to the costs of not attending to the discussion of the role vocational programs might play in post-secondary education to … some other conversation you hear/read going on. Then, respond, critically, to that conversation. Take a position, state it in a strong T-A-R thesis statement, and then develop that position with your own experience and observations. Make sure to include quotes and paraphrases from the articles and your response to them. Have a conversation.
Considerations:
• As you re-read the articles, apply the “Questions for Critical Reading” in the box at the top of page 49.
• To which central ideas/claims do you want to respond? Can these form the structure of your essay?
• Identify the central arguments in the articles:
o How well does the author develop it?
o Are you convinced? Why or why not?
• What is your stand? Why? Develop this into a single-sentence thesis.
• Develop your responses to the central arguments into paragraphs:
o Uncover support and points of departure from the articles.