Article Title: "The 'Ugly' Reality of Child Marriage in the U.S."
URL: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/child-marriage-in-the-u-s-surprisingly-widespread/ Date Posted: May 5, 2017 CBS News Category: World, US Speaker: Shanika Gunaratha, like most other CBS news reporters, presents an image of formality and excellent education. She actively searches out the lesser known issues, defending the underdog in society. Also, she seems to be well informed about national and state laws, shown through the multiple statistics she provides on the topic. Occasion: This past Sunday, CBS released a new documentary titled "Nepal - Lost Girls." The documentary discusses in-depth the issues of child marriage in Nepal. It is likely that this documentary sparked the initial thought in Gunaratna's mind to delve into child marriage research. As she lives in the United States of America, she was probably curious about child marriage prevalence here. Citing a Human Rights report, the Pew Research Center, and activist Fraidy Reiss, she provides gut-wrenching evidence on this issue in America. These statistics were what directly prompted her to write an article on this topic. Audience: Countless Americans are fully unaware of child marriage issues within their own borders, as Gunaratna likely was before writing this impactful article. Noticing this, Gunaratna aims her argument at these uneducated citizens, hoping that they are kind-hearted and have a drive to help. In addition to this, later on in her article she identifies the cause of the problem as the poorly developed child marriage laws in each state. At this point in her article, her audience shifts from the uninformed American to the legislators that have enough political power to make a change. Purpose: Gunaratna had multiple goals when writing this article. The primary goal was to educate American citizens on these issues, stating "many Americans remain unaware of the problem in their own backyards." She shares on the non-profit organization Fraidy Reiss started in an effort to garner support for this cause and bring in more donations for young children suffering from this fairly widespread issue. Also, she hopes to urge legislators to change marriage laws and set better restrictions, as well as urging citizens to lobby for these basic human rights. Subject: The focus of this article was on child marriage in America. Gunaratna relates it to other countries often, likening the United States to Middle Eastern countries such as Yemen and Saudi Arabia. These marriage laws match those of less developed countries, which is considerably poor considering other developed nations have moved past this issue. They offer little escape to children who are taken advantage of, some being stuck in this unwanted situation for years. In addition to politics, she focuses on describing Reiss' non-profit organization. This helps show how the problem is being remedied and how the audience can take part in the solution as well. Tone: Gunaratna's tone is highly didatic and critical. She does well to explain her argument to her audience, especially as it is a lesser known factor in American culture. With this, she also points out the United State's governmental flaws. She analyzes the weaknesses and assesses their impact in society, describing how this is the root cause of the injustices small children now face.
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Article Title: "America's Millennials: Well Educated but Unskilled"
URL: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/americas-millennials-well-educated-but-unskilled/ Date Posted: March 13, 2015 CBS News Category: Moneywatch Speaker: Aimee Picchi is a formal, well educated professional. She clearly describes the faults in American education in a way that every audience member is able to comprehend, while incorporating intelligent terms and words to signify her own experience and knowledge. It is apparent that she values education and appreciates the American reputation, as she becomes quite heated about our lagging behind other countries. Occasion: On a large-scale perspective, there are multiple factors that likely probed her interest in education. Perhaps she has kids of her own, and as a parent she became curious about the quality of education they were receiving. She could have noticed Millennial's growing dependence on technology and wondered how that impacted their success in the workforce, or she may have even experienced poorer work from Millennials. What likely caused her to write this specific article, however, was the study she cited numerous times throughout the piece. This report, from the Educational Testing Service (ETS), described how American school systems are falling drastically behind other countries. I would suspect that these statistics shocked and angered her, and she felt the urge to inform her audience about it. Audience: There are two specific groups that she intentionally wrote this article for. For one, education workers (such as teachers, principals, etc.) and parents of students would find interest in this, as the quality of education pertains to their immediate lives. The advanced level of content is for adults, and the adults that it directly impacts have value in reading her article. However, perhaps the most important audience Picchi writes for is government policy makers and education reformers. She urges for a change in America's education system, even including a quote from the report that stated "policy makers and other stakeholders will need to... [acknowledge] the growing importance of skills and [examine] these more critically." These are the citizens with the most influence on educational change, and this is why she formats her argument to them. Purpose: Picchi's goal was to inform her audience about education problems in America and insist on a change in the structure of school systems. She formally presents her research clearly, and she explains how our students are not as skilled in math, literacy, or problem-solving as most other countries. This poses as a significant issue when students start hunting for jobs, and she believes that an improvement to education would improve the livelihood of future generations. This cannot be accomplished by one person, however, so she advocates for governmental change. Subject: Picchi focused on the education system in America and how it compared to other nations. Using statistics from the ETS, she presents the weakness the United States has that other countries have pushed far beyond. Even though the Millennials are the highest achieving American generation yet, with more students than ever graduating from college, other countries have quickened their improvements and grown past what American students are currently capable of. Tone: Picchi's tone was overall strongly critical. In her discussion of American school systems, it was clear she harbored fear for how far behind schools were in comparison to other countries. In one sentence, she even describes American student tests scores as "sobering, with dire implications for America." Her tone remains overtly critical throughout the article, and even ends on a somber note: "We thought Millennials would do better... [but] their scores were abysmal." This sends a shiver down the spines of the audience, and emphasizes her claims on education weaknesses. |