DavisS Analytic Essay

7/18/2019 DavisS Analytic Essay

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Running Head: Analysis Essay 1

Sara Davis

Analysis Essay

Baker College




Truancy is not an issue that calls for punishment of parents and students. It is a national

issue of poverty and racism that creates truant students in the United States. In the article entitled

An Interrogation and !esponse to the "redominant #raming of Truancy$% author Adriane

&ayoko "eralta responds to a truancy report 'y United States Secretary of Education Arne

Duncan and California Attorney general &amala (arris. The truancy report 'y Arne and Duncan

claim that parents are to 'lame for e)cessive a'senteeism in the pu'lic school system and

parents% students% and schools should 'e punished. Author Adriane &ayoko "eralta disagrees *ith

the Secretary of Education and the California Attorney +eneral. In her re'uttal article of the

report% the author provides strong e)amples of *hy truancy is an issue% and supports her claims

made using logos and pathos. "eralta asserts that the truancy issue is not ,uite the crisis it is

made out to 'e and that the truancy is actually a symptom% not the core pro'lem. The author

claims that truancy is due to poor economic conditions and racism. "eralta-s article An

Interrogation and !esponse to the predominant #raming of Truancy is partially effective

'ecause of her appeals to logos% pathos% and sound reasoning% 'ut her re'uttal to the original

article lacks ethos% *hich negatively impacts her overall article persuasiveness.

The target audience for Adriane &ayoko "eralta/s argument is aimed specifically at

la*makers in the United States and educational professionals. This is apparent 'ecause her

article is a re'uttal to another article presented 'y the Secretary of Education and the California

Attorney +eneral. "eralta/s arguments are aimed to*ards current legislation that is in need of

change such as% In 0os Angeles% the 0os Angeles 1unicipal Code 201AC3 45.64% also kno*n

as the daytime Curfe* 0a*% allo*s police officers to issue truancy tickets to students for 'eing

outdoors or in pu'lic places during school hours. 7It implies that schools do not re,uire further

effort or spending to improve teacher ,uality or curriculum 'ecause the students are not there to




learn$ 2"eralta% 86943. Author Adriane "eralta *as a special education teacher for the 0os

Angeles Unites School District and +reen Dot "u'lic Schools. The author states that #rom my

si) years of teaching e)perience in South 0os Angeles% every chronically a'sent student has a

story$ 2"eralta% 86943. The author/s personal e)perience *ith truancy com'ined *ith strong

pathos e)amples helps to persuade the reader.

The author supports the claim made 'y Duncan and (arris that truancy is indeed an issue

that needs to 'e addressed. (o*ever% she does not agree that calling it a crisis is the right *ay to

handle the truancy issue. "eralta insists that framing truancy as a crisis has e)acer'ated the

school to prison pipeline. To 'egin *ith% the report e)aggerates the truancy pro'lem in its

definition of a truant student.$ 2"eralta% 86943. "eralta references the report 'y (arris and

Duncan In the Attorney +eneral/s report% she defines a truant student as a student a'sent or

tardy 'y more than 86 minutes *ithout a valid e)cuse on : occasions in a school year.$ The

author is using logos to support her claim of truancy 'eing e)acer'ated; she includes the ,uote

from the report she is arguing as evidence and support. The author 'elieves that defining a

student truant 'ased on these specifications is e)treme. She further supports this argument 'y

including a statement from the 0os Angeles Times Editorial 'oard that states

<fficials estimate that there are close to one million elementary school students in the

state *ho are truant each year% 'ut that makes the pro'lem sound *orse than it is 'ecause

any student *ho gets to campus late three times in an academic year is deemed to 'e

truant. A more meaningful measure of the pro'lem is chronic a'senteeism% these are the

students *ho miss ten=percent or more school days% or at least eighteen days each

academic year. But most schools in the state don/t even track ho* many students are




chronically a'sent. The num'er that (arris used 856%666 elementary students is

e)trapolated from a small e)ample.$ 2"eralta% 86943

Author Adriane &ayoko "eralta continues to support her claims using logos% she asserts that one

of the underlying causes of truancy in the United States is that truant students are often

minorities that come from poor and underprivileged ur'an areas and families. The author

supports this claim using statistical information stating that In the 0os Angeles Unified School

District 20AUSD3% the nation/s second largest school district and California/s largest school

district% >> percent of the students are of color. 0AUSD/s graduation rate is a measly 5? percent%

*hich means that the dropout rate for 0AUSD is 44 percent$ 2"eralta% 86943. "eralta further

supports her argument using logos to her advantage% she ,uotes directly from the original article

she is re'utting that states;

#irst grade students *ith nine or more total a'sences ate t*o times more likely to drop

out of high school than their peers *ho attend school regularly. Each additional school

day missed over 5 e,uals @ decrease in the pro'a'ility of graduating high school for

lo*=income ur'an elementary students. >8 of prisoners in America are high school

dropouts. A ten percent increase in graduation rates *ould reduce murder and assault

rates 'y 86. Increasing graduation rates in California 'y 96 *ould therefore result in

56%666 additional graduates annually; 566 murders prevented each year% and 86%666

aggravated assaults prevented each year.$ 2"eralta% 86943

"eralta argues the use of logos in the original article stating the report makes 'road umps

'et*een truancy% dropouts% incarceration% and violence$ 2"eralta% 86943. The author/s evidence is

used to support her arguments and persuade the reader.




"eralta goes on to further support her claims using pathos and creating a descriptive

environment for the reader to understand the life of a potential truant student. "oor students

often have to rely on pu'lic transportation to get to school% pu'lic transportation% especially in

0os Angeles% can 'e slo* and unpredicta'le. 1oreover% poor families are more likely to greater

family responsi'ilities and *ork demands that make getting to school on time a challenge.

Considering these factors is seems almost reasona'le that all students living in ur'an areas% and

especially poor students% *ill likely 'e late to school at least three times per school year$

2"eralta% 86943. The author continues to use pathos *hen descri'ing a personal recollection of a

student she once had% Esmeralda. "eralta uses imagination and emotions to persuade the reader

stating that

Esmeralda% a 0atina sophomore% *as the 'est soft'all player on the school team I

coached. early every time she came to the plate she hit a triple or dou'le. hile other

parents routinely came to the games% Esmeralda/s parents *ere never there. <ne day she

came to practice *ith a ne* tattoo of a 'oy/s name. I assumed it *as the name of a ne*

'oyfriend% 'ut she informed me that it *as her father/s name. (er father *as serving a

life sentence in the state prison. The follo*ing year% she *as a'sent from school for four

consecutive days. hen she sho*ed up on #riday% I asked her *here she had 'een. She

told me that over the *eekend federal agents 'roke do*n her front door at 466 in the

morning; they searched the entire house and arrested her mother and aunt. She later found

out that her mother *as part of a drug smuggling operation and the police had found large

amounts of drugs and money in the home. After her mother/s arrest% la* enforcement

seiFed their home% and Esmeralda and her older sister% *ho *as only 86 years old% needed

a place to stay. The t*o of them had no money% so they stayed *ith their mother/s friends.




#rom then on% Esmeralda only came to school a'out once a *eek% until she finally

dropped out. Esmeralda *as a very talented student=athlete and any college *ould have

'een lucky to have her% 'ut her family/s circumstances prevented her from ever having a

chance$. 2"eralta% 86943

The author/s appeals to emotions% values% and imagination create a persuasive argument. #rom

this e)cerpt the author emotionally engages you into the life of a teen in ur'an 0os Angeles and

gives a very detailed e)ample of ust of the many circumstances 'ehind the life of a truant

student.

"eralta/s use of logos and pathos is very effective at supporting her arguments and

persuading the reader. (o*ever% her use of ethos is limited and lacks the support needed on her

fundamental ideals. hile the author does have a strong 'ackground in the educational setting%

she uses this credi'ility to negate the article she is re'utting. The author is lacking this credi'ility

support for her o*n arguments *hich effects the overall persuasiveness of the article. The author

also negates all alternative vie*s *ithin the truancy controversy. (er article impressively negates

all possi'le solutions and outcomes to the truancy issue 'ut her o*n% and fails to support her o*n

idea *ith likeminded research.

<verall% "eralta *as persuasive using logos% pathos% and sound reasoning. The

article *as *ell supported *ith evidence and statistical information on truancy and

related issues. The author/s use of pathos *as especially persuasive 'ecause of the

detailed story of Esmeralda. "eralta *as a'le to emotional connect the reader *ith the life

of a truant% and in doing so creating the appeal of sound reasoning. The author

persuasively connects the main idea of truancy and poor economic conditions. The lack




of alternative vie*s negatively impacted the articles overall a'ility to fully persuade the

reader% as *ell as her credi'ility to*ards the intended audience.




!eferences

"eralta% A. 28694% Guly 93. An Interrogation and !esponse to the predominant #raming of

Truancy. !etrieved Gune :% 8695% from httpHH***.uclala*revie*.orgHpdfHdiscourseH?8=

:.pdf

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DavisS Analytic Essay