" On the Outside Looking In"

After reading Brent Staples's essay, " Why Colleges Shower Their Students With "A" I was astonished with the way he felt about colleges. I didn't agree with what he was saying through most of his essay. His topic was too broad and left alot of room for argument. Everything that he was saying didn't apply to all colleges, and there are students out there who work hard for their grades. Staples went on to say, " Addicted to counterfeit excellence, colleges, parents and students are unlikely to give it up. As a consequence, diplomas will become weaker and more ornamental as the years go by."(par.11) He is basically calling my High School diploma that I have recieved fake, and making it appear that I have worked for nothing. All students are not getting free grades, and Brent Staples is saying this happens all over the world.

The parents are giving alot of money, and that has led them to believe that their money can replace bad grades. Staples went on to say, " The evidence suggests that students and parents are demanding--and getting--what they think of as their money's worth."(par.8) This goes on all over, and this is a statement that I agree with. Their are many students who don't put in as much work as others. If you are not in class everyday, why should you recieve an "A" average? If you want to get your money's worth you have to be in class to get your work.

Students are different, and Staples put all of them into one category. Staples said, " Twenty years ago students grumbled, then lived with the grades tehy were given."(par.7) Many students choose to complain, but this statement isn't extinct. Students in colleges and high schools live by this, and work hard for what they want. Staples lead me to believe that he feels that students today are spoiled, and don't work hard for what they want.

Overall, Staples's essay was too broad and he definitely needs to narrow it down. There was room left for argument, and he never specified his intended audience.

"Following The Crowd"

In George Orwell's essay "Shooting an Elephant" he was basically following the crowd, and not thinking on his own. The elephant didn't deserve to be shot and killed, but this was his opportunity to be accepted by this culture. Personally Orwell didn't want to kill the elephant, but the pressure of fitting in, and saving himself the embarrasment made him go through with it.

Orwell was thinking on his own because he stated, "As soon as I saw the elephant I knew with perfect certainty that I ought not to shoot him." This sentence is proof that he had no intentions on killing the elephant until he was actually pressured by the crowd. Orwell didn't even have success with his first shot at taking the elephant down. When Orwell got to the elephant he wasn't harming anyone, and wasn't doing any damage. The people in the village insisted that the elephant be killed and Orwell followed the crowd, only to earn some points from them.

In the end result Orwell wasn't satisfied because he didn't really feel as if he needed to kill him. Orwell said, "It seemed dreadful to see the great beast lying there, powerless to move and yet powerless to die, and not even to be able to finish him. This sentence goes to show that Orwell isn't a murderer. Orwell was just an ordinary person that wanted to get along with everyone, but had to murder just fit in with everybody else.