Rhetorical Analysis Of Summer Vacation

There are few traditions as weaved into the fabric of American youth as much as summer vacation. The origin of the 3-month leave of school goes back to the 1800s. Originally, it was based on the Agrarian calendar when children were needed as farm hands during harvest seasons. It is obvious that we live in a different era than the 1800s, most people see summer as a time to unravel from the school year and enjoy a little bit of leisure, but today this idea is fading. This generation is unique to those before it, because of the forces of globalization and technology academic competition is increasing at rates never before seen. American children today are not only competing with each other, but with kids around the world. The sad news is that the average American student is losing. America is ranked 14th in reading, 17th in science, and 25th in math out of 27 industrial countries (Sheppard). In order to compete states have jammed more curriculums into the allotted 180 days of schools, which has been successful at increasing burnout and stress. Because of this constant competition, the summers are no longer lazy; they are full of camps and activities to keep students from …show more content…
People prefer to stick to the status quo. McKenna’s article aims to bring about change to the status quo by revealing the problem with the outdated system of summer vacation. She does this by incorporating the three rhetorical appeals harmoniously. She includes ethos to establish that she is an authority on the topic. She uses logos to display the issues with summer break in a digestible form for the reader. She applies pathos by using emotions to make the reconsider their positions and seek change to the current 3-month leave deal. The rhetorical appeals combined forms an article that is successful at pointing out the fatal flaws with summer break and make the reader consider "Why Summer Should be