In Defense of Liberty and Education for All - 1626 Words

In Defense of Liberty and Education for All How does a society become socially free and have equal opportunity for all its citizens? According to the conventional democratic American belief, all people should be granted the same educational opportunities so that everyone has the fair chance to succeed in society. However, in William A. Henrys essay, In Defense of Elitism, he argues for the archaic belief that society should limit higher educational opportunities because most people do not have the capability to compete in college. Henry wants to scale back the number of college students in America to an accomplished few. As such, Henry contends that the educational standards†¦show more content†¦He proposes that the standards of education have dropped with the rise of college students over the years. Henry illustrates his point by maintaining that there is a sheer decline in the amount of work expected in class#8230;. [because the] influx of mediocrities relentlessly lowers the general standards at colleges to the lev els the weak ones can meet(125). Henry bases his claim on the fact that in the 1940s, at the all girls Catholic Trinity College in Washington, A course in Shakespeare meant reading the plays, all 37 of them(125). He uses that information and compares it to the fact that at a particular fancy college, a professor recently told him that in his Shakespeare class students only read four plays and anything more than one a week... is considered too heavy of a load(125). Henrys claim is extremely unconvincing because his method of unfairly comparing and contrasting the evidence only explains the general standards at two different schools at different time periods (125). It could be true to a certain extent that standards have decreased with larger class sizes, but Henry does not support his claim correctly because of several fatal reasons. Henry describes the standards at Trinity College in the 1940s but does not compare it to the standards at Trinity College in the present day. This concl udes nothing because comparing two different schools, that canShow MoreRelatedEssay about Articles of Confederation816 Words   |  4 Pagescommon defense, promote[s] the general welfare, and secure[s] the blessings of liberty. Based on these standards, the Articles of Confederation were effective to a certain degree at the time, but in the end, were too liberal to be effective. Because its main purpose was to ensure the blessings of liberty, the Articles of Confederation had to sacrifice stability and security, which ultimately led to its downfall. The Articles of Confederation promoted the spirit and beliefs of liberty and equalityRead MoreA Lesson Before Dying, by Ernest J. 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