Reading and Responses

Pursuing an Educated Mind.

3. The author uses many kinds of evidence in this essay. He uses observation, personal interviews, and many scholarly books and articles to provide him with evidence. I personally think that his observations and personal interviews are more persuasive then the books and articles. I think when you see the information first hand it is easier to write about. So it is easier to get your point across when you make it personal.

4. The section headings are very purposeful. First they show what he is going to focus on, which that means it is important. And second, he starts of broad and then narrows it down. He starts with the history, to types of programs, to a specific area, effectiveness, and suggestions to increase the effectiveness. This also helps him get his point across.

Who Deserves a Head Start?

1. Comparing this essay with “Pursuing an Educated Mind,” I thought both essays were very persuasive and used multiple resources that provided awesome evidence. But I thought this essay was more effective in telling what needs to be done, “Pursuing an Educated Mind” just said that something needs to be done. I thought that “Pursuing an Educated Mind” did a more effective job at making it personal by using a personal observation. “Who Deserves a Head Start,” used mostly statistics, no really personal examples besides the one in the beginning. “Pursuing an educated mind kept coming back to the personal story through out the essay.