Ashley Regaspi

9/17/15
Part 1: They Say, I Say
The general argument made by Ghosh in the article Can Young Americans Compete In The
Global Economy? Well, Like, You Know, Whatever is that even though many students
graduate from college, they are still not well educated. First he states that scores arent good.
In addition. Ghosh claims that the United States isnt doing too good when nationally ranked. To
support this idea, he specifically writes, In mathematics, 29 nations and other jurisdictions
outperformed the United States by a statistically significant margin, up from 23 three years ago.
In science, 22 education systems scored above the U.S. average, up from 18 in 2009.
Although Ghosh does not say so directly, he apparently assumes that the U.S isnt well
educated. Basically, the essence of author Xs argument is that the lack of education that
people have after graduating college is going to hurt us in the future.
In my view, Ghoshs argument is valid because I agree because I have witnessed people
graduate college just to graduate not really learning anything. Based on my own experience
with, I can accept Ghoshs claim that When I compare our high schools with what I see when
Im traveling abroad, I am terrified for our workforce of tomorrow, although I question whether
nationalities play a role in educational performances. For instance, asians perform well
academically ahead of all other ethnic groups in the world. It is also important to acknowledge
other perspectives on the topic such as if educational performances should be taken so
seriously. While Ghoshs argument has some merit, it would be stronger if he considered that
students may just be bad test takers, but theyre overall an intelligent individual who is capable
of doing work. Although this topic might seem relevant only to a select group of individuals, it
should in fact matter to anyone concerned about the issue of the future generation not being
well educated about whats going on, not just academically, but politically, and economically.
Part 2: Dialectical Journal
The authors intended meaning of a key term that is used over course of the text is
academic. The author really wanted to emphasize the use of the word academic because this
article is based on the scores of how well students perform academically and what rank were in
in comparison to other nations. This article also talks about how Ghosh doesnt think that all
students who graduate from college are going to be academically intelligent. Too many U.S.

youths, even those who have graduated from college, are simply not well educated.
By obsolete, I dont just mean that they are broken, flawed or underfunded,
though a case could be made for every one of those points. By obsolete, I mean our high
schools -- even when theyre working as designed -- cannot teach all our students what
they need to know today. the connotative language is that hes defining the word
obsolete. Connotative is to find the literal meaning of something and the literal
meaning for obsolete is to be broken, flawed, or underfunded.
The statement makes the text more powerful because the article emphasizes that
Ghosh is really concerned on students being well educated because they are the future
and he want the future to be in good hands. Ghosh mentions that people who have
better education are more successful in life and they get farther than those who are less

educated. He also thinks that technology has distracted people from being well
educated.
The organizations of the statement in the text makes it convincing because he
mentions how people were very smart back then when people didnt have technology
they were typically smarter. Its convincing because he organizes the article to where he
talks about his concern with students being less educated, then he talks about how
technology has held people back.
Part 3: Vocabulary
1. Quagmire: Noun - a soft boggy area of land that gives way underfoot. / An
awkward, complex, or hazardous situation.
Perhaps the answer to this educational quagmire would be a happy medium approach
one that is founded upon the rigorous discipline of the east and the embrace of
individuality and creativity of the west.
That was such a quagmire event with my friends that I had drama with.
2. Squelch: Verb - Make a soft sucking sound such as that made by walking heavily
through mud.
Noun - A soft sucking sound made when pressure is applied to liquid or mud.
This system produces students who perform spectacularly well on tests, but squelches
individuality, creativity and innovation.
As the rain heavily pours you hear all the shoes squelch through the grass.