In this paper the writer examine how effective Job Corps is by looking at statistics and experiments done by Job Corps itself. The paper explains that Job Corps has a lot of promise stating “program participation increases educational attainment, reduces criminal activity, and increases earnings for several post program years”. The main problem however is through tax data it can be seen that earnings were not being sustained except by the older participants. The studies that the paper uses have been ongoing for a period of four years, and include 15,400 treatments and controls. The reason why the paper is interested to know the effectiveness of Job Corps is that other similar programs have been found not to be.
The paper starts off by giving the main objective and then moving onto some background on Job Corps. It explains that Job Corps aims to help struggling youth become more employable, responsible, and productive citizens. The program serves around 60,000 new participants a year with a cost of 1.5 Billion dollars. It’s from this tremendous cost that it’s important to analyze the effectiveness of Job Corps, and to make sure the money is being used properly.
By describing Job Corps in the opening of the paper is establishes a sense of ethos with the program. Since the reader has more knowledge about what Job Corps does, they then have a stronger connection to its character. The rest of the paper has a strong emphasis on logos by using statistics to back up points. Since it has been seen in the past that these types of programs fail the authors go out to explain what sets Job Corps apart from those other programs.
The writer says there are three main ways that Job Corps beats out the competition. The first is that most programs don’t have as much variety as Job Corps. In Job Corps students can learn a wide range of trades such as wielding, cooking, facility management, and many other trade positions. There are also counseling and the opportunity to receive your GED. The other thing that sets Job Corps apart is it’s much more intensive than any other program and it’s very uniform across the nation.
The essay also goes into detail about how carefully the sampling was chosen to ensure the reader that the statistics are authentic At first, the sampling was just going to include anyone who applied at Job Corps but that was thrown out because that would include those who were not eligible for the program. The assigning for the sample students was actually done by Mathematica policy research to ensure it was a trustworthy sample. Also the sample consisted of large amounts of students ranging in the numbers of 81,000 applicants. The reason the studies were so large was due to the fact that the program was under constant scrutiny from Congress and the senior Job Corps staff knew that credible findings were really important for the program’s continuation.
The paper covers three areas of interest for Job Corps which include education and training, employment and earning, and crime. The studies covered that income for the participants was only negative during the first two years out of Job Corps but became positive in year three. The results showed that students who went through Job Corps made more money than those who just dropped out, and are less likely to be arrested. However the studies also indicated that Job Corps needs to make differences for ages groups within its program and in student program readiness. The writer does a nice job of bringing together graphs and statistics to show that Job Corps is indeed effective and the government should continue to use it as a resource to help disadvantage youth.
Cited source
Schochet, Peter, John Burghardt, and Sheena McConnell. "Does Job Corps Work? Impact Findings from the National Job Corps Study." Thesis. Http://www.claremontmckenna.edu. Web.
Who Deserves a Head Start Analysis
In the paper “Who deserves a Head Start” the support is being made to help found and continue the Head Start program. The writer starts off by using a success story of a boy who probably would of fell on hard times if it were not for the Head Start program. In this story the writer gains credibility by using the accounts of an employee of the program who witnessed this action first hand. Ultimately what this introduction appeals to is both ethos from interviewing an employee and pathos, where if it were not for the help of Head Start the boy would have been expelled from school. The writer then moves on to cover the problem at hand which is where the main purpose of the paper is introduced, the Head Start program is under founded. The writer then does a very good job of filling in the gaps for the reader by providing the background history of the Head Start program. If change is to be made then the reader needs to be fully aware of the situation. The writer also does a very good job of representing logos as well by listing a fact chart of poverty guidelines. There are also reason to back way critics think the program doesn’t work by showcasing similar programs and a biased comparison. There are also studies cited that show long early childhood programs do produce long term improvements. All the evidence is displayed and organized very nicely and the conclusion gives a good what if scenario of what would happen if the program were to be shut down by the government. The connections that are the most meaningful are the ones that rely on facts such as in the conclusion where it gives all the percentages. This makes the idea of keeping the Head Start program a main concern for the government the most important idea. The overall paper has a very strong organization of using ethos and pathos to open it up and then using logos to leave a lasting oppression.
Bitzer's Rhetorical Situation Analysis
In Bitzer’s paper he analyzes the components that make up a good rhetoric. More specifically he points to the rhetorical situation which he addresses is rarely focused on in depth. Bitzers writes “None, to my knowledge, has asked the nature of rhetorical situation”, and so Bitzer then attempts to grapple at what makes up a rhetorical situation throughout the rest of his paper. He brings forth examples in History to illustrate what affects a rhetorical situation can have. The specific examples from the text are the Declaration of Independence, Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, Churchill’s address on Dunkirk, and John F. Kennedy’s Inaugural Address, which Bitzer emphasizes all rely heavily on rhetorical situation. So if all of these fundamental events rely so much on rhetorical situation then its Bitzers argument that rhetorical situation should be investigated further. The problem that most analyzers have with rhetorical situation is they treat it too generally, as if it’s not worth going into detail, but Bitzer challenges this by dividing the rhetorical situation into several distinct elements. Before Bitzer breaks down rhetorical situation he starts by looking at discourse. Bitzer writes “rhetorical discourse comes into existence from the response to a situation, in the same sense that an answer comes into existence from the response to question”. He then used the same analysis to look at rhetorical situation saying that rhetorical situation must exist as a necessary condition for rhetorical discourse. By displaying the relationship links of the terminology rhetorical situation’s purpose becomes clearer. Furthermore situation must invite change to be made to the present reality, but it’s possible for a situation to mature and decay without so ever happening. Exigence is a strong quality that makes up the rhetorical situation because it displays urgency which fits well with persuasion and change. “In any rhetorical situation there will be at least one controlling exigence which functions as the organizing principle” It is from this that the audience is to be addressed and the change to be affected Bitzer states. Along with exigence the other constituents of a rhetorical situation are audience. Without such audience the rhetoric is pointless because then no change can be made. It’s also important what kind of audience you have, for example they can’t simply just be hearing or reading to be considered an audience, they must adhere to the influence of the discourse. The last constituent of the rhetorical situation is constraints which come from background information such as people and objects. The two main types of constraints though are the artistic proof, which are crafted by the rhetorician and the inartistic which are conceived by the interpreter from context. These three constituents make up the definition of rhetorical situation. Bitzer finishes his paper off by illustrating examples of when situation can go wrong. In these examples he expresses writing eulogies for imaginary people and how this rhetoric would fail because it lacks exigence. No one would be moved by an event which does not even exist. Bitzer’s main goal in his paper was to explain and show purpose for the rhetorical situation. He does this by breaking it down into three parts, exigence, audience, and constraints. He then shows examples of when situation is done well and when it is not. He hopes by the end of the paper the reader will have a deeper understanding and appreciation for the rhetorical situation.
