Andrea Strand
Brother Brugger
ENG 450
26 June 2013
“The Case against Summer Vacation”
The world is full of different opinions. The people whom these opinions belong to, have
only one goal in mind and that is to find and recruit those who share similar views. It’s no longer
a simple choice between the color green and blue – now it’s a right or wrong choice, even though
neither option is wrong. Likewise when it comes to education, the audience is either for
education and everything it offers or completely against it – there is no in between.
Introduction
In TIME magazine’s article “The Case against Summer Vacation,” David Von Drehle
makes a good case of why the school year should be extended into summer – it’ll improve
grades, help children to progress, and increase a deeper appreciation for education and all that it
offers. Upon analyzing this article, there are a number of components that need to be closely
examined. Audience identification, argument structure, values & assumptions, appeals, logical
fallacies, and statistical misuse are elements which make up this article, and are all involved in
the persuasion of its audience.
Audience Identification
This article is aimed toward several groups of people. The first is to the parents of
children between kindergarten and 8th grade, especially to those bringing in a low-income. While
Drehle raises a good case for extending school into summer vacation, he throws in indiscreet
suggestions that parents will end up with dumb children because of their low-income, unable to
provide a more stimulating environment. This is in contrast to a hidden assumption that children
with wealthier parents will receive higher education, though both sets of children attend the same
school. Though this is an important issue, the article almost has the audience asking, “How do
we know that children of wealthier families aren’t spending their summer vacation in front of a
TV versus children who don’t have a TV?” Children could have nothing to do, but the difference
is that for the middle and upper classes, it’s by choice.
A second group is the school districts across the US. Since they are in charge of a number
of schools assigned to a certain district, they would have more authority than the parents to put
this plan into action. They have both the power to enforce a longer school year or ignore it, and
by Drehle’s article, there are many like him pushing for an extended period of education – the
way to achieve this is by appealing to higher authority. It’s up to the school district whether they
will take action or let the issue stand. The last group is the people of the United States. It used to
be that the US was the number one country in the world, however, now there is competition and
America has fallen behind. How can we claim to be one of the world’s super powers if our
education levels aren’t equal if not higher than those of Japan? In his article, Drehle is giving a
battle cry of sorts to the American people, asking them to take action and to clean up their acts.
Structure Identification
An argument structure which the article roughly follows is Rogerian. In the beginning,
Drehle describes the public’s mindset in regards to summer vacation, showing that it wasn’t
necessarily a bad thing. He is able to show that understands and was a part of this mindset; he
understands the line between fun and work. However, he quickly states the damaging toll that a
few months of inactivity can do to a child’s mind. Instead of progressing, the child could be set
back a grade. To support his reasoning, Drehle lists data as a result of research performed by
experts in education, such as university professors.
Instead of outright rejecting any opposing views, Drehle relates with the opposition and
then gradually introduces his opinion on the matter. He provides claims to his argument and
appeals to his audience. He also relates the past to the present, and since society is constantly
changing, Drehle brings up that school systems need to change too in order to better provide for
children.
Values & Assumptions
In the article, there are a list of values in which the writer has an appreciation for;
education, progression, and image. The article is all about the importance of education and how
the educational system itself needs to be changed in order for children to fully benefit.
Progression is another value in which the author expounds on. He brings up a valid argument in
that children lose what they’ve learned during summer vacation by not getting involved in
various learning activities. Drehle brings up that not only do children suffer from the loss of their
education, but it also affects America as a whole. Image is the final value which Drehle has a
belief in. With lack of education affecting children across the country, it deeply affects the
country itself. America used to be one of the top countries in the world in just about everything –
now, however, though we are still on of the super powers of the world, that status is dropping
because of the lowered level in education. Drehle stresses the importance of not allowing this to
happen, because what is taught to its people is reflected by the country. If educational standards
are decreasing, what impression do other countries receive?
In Drehle’s article, he also appeals to his audience by making assumptions of what his
audience values. These values are education, children’s welfare, and progression. As previously
stated above, the article is all about the importance of education and how the educational system
itself needs to be changed in order for children to fully benefit. This strikes up a personal
importance to parents, who only want the best for their children and wish for their succession in
life. Education should be geared toward children, helping them on the path to success. Children’s
welfare is the second value. Drehle remarks that children from low-income families suffer the
most when it comes to education – since there is little money, parents are unable to provide
stimulating activities in which a child can benefit from. This is why pushing to extend the school
year is so important: students would have the opportunity to participate in several fun activities,
but still learn new things. These programs are already paid for or require a small fee. The last
value is progression. As stated earlier, receiving the best that is offered is what every parent
wants for their child. Children cannot progress unless something is changed or altered to fit their
needs. Otherwise, the educational program itself becomes a roadblock instead of an opportunity.
Appeals
The two appeals that Drehle uses are pathos and logos. Through emotion and targeting
the feelings of concerned parents, Drehle successfully uses pathos as a tool to receive support.
No parent wants to hold back their children, and by explaining all of the benefits from longer
school years, it’s almost implied that if parents are not in agreement, then they must not care
about their children or their progression. Drehle also describes situations involving children from
low-income families – sitting at home and staring at a wall, because their parents can’t afford to
give them what they desperately need; an education. The audience can’t read this article and
come out not feeling something akin to sympathy.
Logos is another appeal that Drehle uses. He includes studies done by universities,
who’ve kept track of the progression of children throughout different grade levels and leaders in
nonprofit organizations and religious groups, who’ve been involved with education. Drehle also
describes areas of the country where these extended educational programs have already
improved children’s education significantly. On top of all this, Drehle lists a number of highranking individuals who support the idea of a longer school year. These include state senators
and top private donors.
Logical Fallacies
Despite the importance of the article, there a couple of logical fallacies which are present.
One is hasty generalization or stereotyping. In the article, Drehle assumes that children from
low-income families don’t have anything to do, and ultimately stare at a wall as soon as summer
vacation hits. What about children from families with higher income? Are they actually enrolled
in educational programs, the “goody-goodies” of society? Or are they doing nothing but
watching TV or playing video games. It’s not necessarily doing nothing, but in today’s society,
constantly in front of a screen qualifies as “nothing” since no educational value can be gleaned
from it. Drehle also makes the assumption that low-income families can’t afford to provide
stimulating activities for their children, however they can shell out $125 for an educational
program during the summer. That’s assuming that these low-income families have $125 to spare.
Another logical fallacy which is present is false cause. Drehle is assuming that if an
extended school year is adopted by the nation, then grades will go up. He is assuming that the
effects of summer vacation are the only cause education loss. There are other factors that should
be examined as well. The teaching programs themselves – are they effective? The teachers – are
they good-quality and show a parent’s concern for a child’s progression? The students – will the
students actually do the work? And do some students suffer from learning disabilities? These
factors and questions should also be taken into consideration.
Statistical Misuse
Though Drehle provides convincing testimonials and supposed research with academic
results, some of his sources seem a little sketchy. For instance, Harris Cooper, a summer-learning
expert who is now at Duke University, as collected a century’s worth of data and come to the
conclusion that children lose about a month of progress. When looking at this at first, we can
understand the credibility of Cooper. However, on closer inspection, there are a few faults. What
is a summer-learning expert? Has Cooper been alive for a century? Is he a student, a professor,
or an administrator at Duke University? All of these questions come into play, and suddenly this
source isn’t as credible as first believed. Also, despite all of this research and collected data,
there is none present in the article. There are plenty of testimonials and listed names of highranking officials, but there is a lack of bar graphs and pie charts, or even a list of test grades
recorded at the end of each year.
Conclusion
In this article, the different elements were examined and analyzed. In audience
identification, Drehle appeals to parents, especially those receiving low-income, school districts,
and the people of America. The argument structure of the article was roughly based off of the
Rogerian form of argument. The values that Drehle holds dear are education, progression, and
image, while he assumes the audience values education, children’s welfare, and progression.
Drehle appeals to his audience through pathos, bringing up feelings of sympathy for children,
especially those from poor families, and logos by giving findings from universities, approval
from high-ranking officials, and results of tested educational programs in parts of the country.
Two logical fallacies which were present were hasty generalization and false cause. Then finally,
evidence of statistical misuse was present in the article, casting doubt into the credibility of
Drehle’s sources.
In Drehle’s article, many different components were brought together in order to
convince the audience that it is essential that education be extended into summer. By doing this,
students will be able to retain information learned during the school year, as well as gaining new
knowledge and better insights. Though there are some elements of the article which could be
called into question, such as the lack of statistical information, the presence of logical fallacies,
and only looking at one cause instead of everything that can affect a child’s education, Drehle
makes a valid argument. He is successful in appealing to audiences by bringing out emotions,
pity for less-fortunate children, and confidence in taking action.