Alan McLawhorn

Aaron Kashtan

UWRT 1102

7 May 2017

Major Assignment #4 Reflection

For my major assignment #4, I wrote about public versus private education in schools in

America. I concluded that neither had a clear advantage. Education in America directly applies

to identity, because students growing up in America will create, or help form, the next American

identities. The new generation will show the way for America, whether good, bad, or somewhere

in-between, which directly influences American identity.

While writing, I chose to use logos, or logic to present my information. I chose logos

because I presented accurate information and used logic to appeal to the readers. I also used

ethos, when I was talking about my experiences at my high school. Before writing this

assignment, my opinion, as mentioned before, was that the definition of an American was

someone that lived in America and could speak English. While writing this assignment, I

realized, like in the other major assignments, that the school system has influenced American

identity greatly. Public education in America is paid for by taxpayers, so it is free for any child

who needs to attend. Most people choose to go to public schools, because private schools are too

expensive for most families. With this fact, we know that public school students are more

abundant, which explains why many Americans are average or normal, as private schools

typically offer better education choices. Education is part of any countrys identity, but it is

directly related to ours. Reflecting on this abstract, it seems like it is related to abstract #5,
which is about the lack of child labor laws during the industrial revolution. At that time,

attendance was not mandatory, unlike now.

While doing major assignment #4, I further strengthened my skill of research, to the point

where I quoted parts of the sources I found. To be honest, I have not always been the best at

research, but I have made some progress over the course of this semester. After completing the

assignment, I realized what big of an impact schools had and still have on Americans, and I

showed that through research and my own experiences at my high school.