GA11:Â One Paragraph Blog Post Comparing and Contrasting Your Three Sources
The purpose of this blog post is two-fold: First, you will introduce your sources to your audience (article title, author, publication title ). Second, you will compare and contrast the purpose and argument of each source in the context of your draft research question.
Here is a sample post written by Nicole Waite, who was student enrolled in another section of my college writing course:
MY SOURCES:
(1) Denhart, Chris. “How the $1.2 Trillion College Debt is Crippling Students, Parents and the Economy.” Forbes 7 Aug. 2013. Forbes, Inc. Web.http://www.forbes/sites/specialfeatures/2013/08/07/how-the-college-debt-is-crippling-students-parents-and-the-economy
(2) Hiltonsmith, Robert, and Tamara Draut. “The Great Cost Shift Continues: State Higher Education Funding After the Recession.” Demos 6 March 2014.
http://www.demos.org//publication/great-cost-shift-continues-state-higher-education-funding-after-recession
(3) Bidwell, Allie. “The Rise in Tuition is Slowing, But College Still Costs More.” U.S. World & News Report 24 October 2013.http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2013/10/24/the- rise-in-tuition-is-slowing-but-college-still-costs-more
Each of my sources addresses the rising cost of tuition and fees that have occurred on a national level, as the result of budgetary cuts to education. Each also speaks to the fact that students are graduating with enormous debt because of loans that they take in order to pay for school. The tone of each of the pieces seems to be educational in that they are informing the reader about the crisis and why it exists. I feel that the audience for each of the articles are students/parents and anyone that is affected by the economy; the latter because student debt has a direct effect on financial matters such as state budgeting, national interest rates, and tax burdens on the community.
The article written by Hiltonsmith and Draut entitled “The Great Cost Shift Continues: State Higher Education Funding After the Recession” (DEMOS2014) is longer and more formal than the other two pieces; it includes both statistics and charts. Bidwell’s article, “The Rise in Tuition is Slowing, But College Still Costs More.” (U.S. World & News Report 2013) explains how and why the tuition rate has been increasing even though tuition rates have slackened, while Denhart’s article “How the $1.2 Trillion College Debt is Crippling Students, Parents and the Economy” (FORBES 2013) focuses more on paying for college and the consequences of taking out loans. But each of the writings have similar summations – the rising cost of attending a public college, or private institution for that matter, has become so unaffordable that students are amassing huge [loan] debt in order to pay for their higher education.
