Blog 1

In this particular essay, ethos play a vital role in the argument that Christina Hoff Sommers, the author, is
trying to make. Ethos can be defined as representing credibility of an ethical appeal. Throughout the course of the
text, ethos were used to convey to the audience that the information presented by Sommers was reliable and truthful.
One section that particularly stuck out to me was on the bottom of page 304, and the quote read "Grades determine
entry into advanced classes, enrichment programs and honor societies. They open - or close - doors to higher
education" What Sommers is arguing is that it is necessary to start catering to boy's needs early on, to further ensure
their preparedness for programs such as these. In other words, if we work with the boy's at a younger age,
their knowledge and classroom skills will further allow them to pursue these programs, and even a college education
as well. Sommers then quotes Christopher M. Cornwell, an economist at the University of Georgia, a highly
respected university. The quote states that "if grade disparities emerge this early on, it's not surprising that by the
time these children are ready to go to college, girls will be better positioned". The quote backs up Sommers claim,
but in reality, the statement itself is somewhat irrelevant. Obviously, any author will choose quotes that adequately
strengthen their thesis statement, but it is the fact that Sommers uses a statement from a professor at a respected
university, and not just another person far less credible than Cornwell.
The central claim that Sommers employs is that even though males have comparable testing scores to that
of their female counterparts, they are less likely to get the same grades in the classroom as females.
Sommers provides adequate reasoning for this, stating that males tend to have worse behavioral habits than females,
and since behavior is factored into the grade, males tend to do worse. One abundantly clear assumption that
Sommers uses is that males are worse behaved than females. While I can point to plenty of instances where this is
true (I was one of the misbehaved students in Elementary School and I witnessed some even worse that me), she is
generalizing males in this regard. I am not one to brag about myself, but even not being the best behaved student,
my grades were always at the top of my class, or very close. I also knew plenty of females that were much better
behaved that I, but still had worse grades in the class. Overall, this article is based on generalities, but the data is
convincing and ultimately, I confess that what Sommers is saying is not far from the truth.

I thought this article was extremely different from society and the norms that we are facing today. History shows the
pattern of oppression that has haunted the United States, stemming from the colonies, then towards African-
Americans and women. In this article, however, the author is stating how boys are being left behind in the schooling
system, and we should help them. Some of the behavioral aspects of this article were dead on, for I can relate to a
lot of them. I was always the loud, obnoxious kid in my classes, but I grew out of it. Sadly, some boys do not, and
they really struggle in school and in their social lives.