Rhetorical Analysis

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Rhetorical Analysis: Integration of Arts in Public Schools

Do you remember the last time you listened to music? Or the last time you took a
picture? Most peoples response would be no, because the arts have become naturally entwined
in our daily life. However, public schools have been boxed out of the all-encompassing arts.
Recently, the arts programs in schools have been swept under a rug due to budget cuts. Art
programs are the first to go because their initial appearance is one of fun, games and little mental
challenge. Very few see the fruitful benefits of increased student engagement and motivation,
leading to improved test results. Very few see that arts integration engage students in 21st
century skills including creativity, innovation, and imagination. Art classes, singing groups, and
drama classes, all are on the chopping board of The No Child Left Behind Act. The No Child
Left Behind Act was enacted by the Bush administration as a way to hold schools accountable
for student progress. This act took the approach of a focus on STEM courses and standardized
testing. Arts courses do not fit into this realm and pose an extra financial burden, resulting in
majority of them being cut out of the public school systems. Young minds, with interest in the
arts, must conform and is forced to settle for a STEM education. We, as a nation, are losing all of
our untapped talented singers, dancers, and actors to the No Child Left Behind Act. In his
prepared remarks on the Report, "Arts Education in Public Elementary and Secondary Schools:
2009-10", the United States Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, highlights the importance of
integration of the arts back into schools. Arne Duncan uses emotional appeals, logical appeals,
kairos, and establishes his credibility in order to effectively convince readers that arts education
is essential to providing students with well-rounded, and equal education opportunities and that
the time for action is now.

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Arne Duncan utilizes the kairos of the release of a major report on the state of arts and the
platform he has at Miner Elementary school (an arts school) to reach his audience of teachers and
parents. Duncan discuss the need for a well-rounded and equal opportunity education through
arts. While the speaker writes for a large audience, as the issue affects the entire public school
system, he aims his argument at parents and teachers, those of voting age to inflict change. This
audience has the power to act against those in power cutting arts, they have the power to inflict
change in school curriculum. Duncan uses various appeals in order to gain the trust of readers
and persuade them into taking action.
Arne Duncan, as a parent of two, exerts ethos on the desire of every parent to have
successful children. Arne Duncan begins his speech with the presumption that all parents and
teachers think students should have access to arts instruction, which forces the audience to
become engaged because the statement is aimed specifically at them. Parents send their children
to school with the hope and desire that they learn to their hearts content. Parents and teachers
want to make sure that students are able to become educated on anything that interests them in
order for them to grow into a well-rounded and driven individual. Arne Duncan knows this to be
true, as he is a parent himself, and uses the appeal of pathos in order to strike the emotion in
parents and teachers and persuade them. Arne Duncan progresses forward in his speech moving
into the reasons as to why arts should be put back into schools by explaining that arts can
significantly boost student achievement and reduce discipline problems. Duncan not only
utilizes the appeal of logos by giving facts about student achievement but also uses pathos by
targeting the parents and teachers that have children with discipline issues. There are a lot of
parents that have a hard time disciplining their children and because of the lack of arts, those
same children are misbehaving in class. Arts classes keeps these students engaged and serves as a

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pathway for them to excel in their core courses. The statement given by Duncan places the
realization in the minds of these parents and teachers that arts instruction is a part of the solution
to keeping children in line at home and in the classroom. He then presents facts such as the
integration of arts having the ability to increase the odds that students will go on to graduate
college as a way to open the audiences eyes and realize the opportunities the arts present. The
desire for parents to have successful children is a feeling that Duncan knows to be true in the
minds of parents and teachers and he uses this to his advantage.
Arne Duncan, as the Secretary of Education, exerts ethos in conjunction with logos as his
position makes him knowledgeable on the statistics that show the benefit of the arts being in
schools. He implements the technique of appealing to logos, incorporating logic and facts, in
order to persuade readers through the use of reasoning. He explains that more than 1.3 million
students in elementary school fail today to get any music instruction. Disregarding the positive
impact that music can have on the mind, it should be noted that the large number that Duncan
gave presents a great impact on the audience and works very well in his favor. Even if the
audience member were not to understand how music benefits the students, giving such a large
statistics makes the audience understand the gravity and the exigency of the issue at stake.
Additionally, such a large number used in combination with the word fail automatically would
spark the attention of audience members because although even 1 student failing is unacceptable,
1.3 million students failing is a crisis. Using statistics on the entire country, instead of perhaps
the statistics of just the district Miner Elementary school is in, allows Duncan to state larger
numbers, which adds the fear of widespread failure resulting in exigency. Arne Duncans use of
logos gives the audience a deeper understanding as to why the arts are necessary mainly by
comparing statistics from the past to those of the present giving rise to a sense of fear and

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urgency in the hearts of the audience. He explains that the arts have been around in schools for
years and that today more than 40 percent do not have arts. Duncan presents a fact for the
audience, simultaneously the fact throws an invisible responsibility that makes the audience feel
bad, appealing to their emotions. The fact given has the potential to invoke action stasis by
making any audience want to know how arts can be reinstated in schools and return to the 100
percent integration of arts. Duncans use of more than one appeal at a time is very effective in
persuading the audience.
Arne Duncan reaches the audience further by carefully crafting his speech in a way that
makes the audience feel important and included. He uses the word our in his speech in places
such as when he explains that not being able to attend dance classes is a huge loss for our
students. By using the word our the audience sees that Duncan cares about the children
enough to make them his responsibility as well as theirs. The word choice gives the audience an
inclusive feeling and lets them know that the children should come first. He wants the audience
know there is something that they can do in order to help the children get the exposure to arts
that they need. He wants the audience to know they too can take action as he did when he wrote
a letter that clarified that states and local school districts do have the flexibility to use Title I
funds for arts education to improve achievement among disadvantaged students. Duncan
presses deeper into the subject by noting that a well-rounded education is simply too vital.
Duncan understands the mind of a parent and knows the importance of an education for their
children. His use of the word vital and placing it on the well-rounded education makes the
audience understand that there is no other way to achieve such an education if students are being
denied access to the arts. Duncan's careful word choice effectively presses the concern of not
having arts onto the audience forcing them to want to make a change.

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A call to action has always been an effective way to rise a sense of power and control in
the hearts of an audience. In this persuasive speech that is exactly what Duncan effectively did.
Duncan explains to the audience that actions to integrate the arts back into schools are already
underway. He states that the city of Boston has created partnerships to work toward the goal of
providing high-quality arts education for all students. Providing the audience with this
information ensures them that there are things that can be done to reinstate arts back into schools.
After giving the audience information about the developing programs in schools, Duncan calls
the audience to action by saying, So, working collectively, lets follow their example. This
suggestion coming from such a powerful figure in the community gives the reader a feeling of
empowerment and makes them want to start to take action to integrate arts back into schools.
Inflicting stasis theory, Duncan ends his speech with a strong suggestion for the audience to take
action. He places the responsibility inclusively on himself and on the audience requesting to
lets make sure that in statehouses, in district headquarters, in Washington DC, and in non-profit
and corporate boardrooms that we continue to elevate, enrich, and expand arts education in our
nation's schools.
Overall, Arne Duncan use strong rhetorical strategies in order to convince the audience to
take action on the issue of arts education. Appeals to pathos help readers establish an emotional
connection to the problem and become more invested in the issue. Additionally, his use of ethos
and logos establish him as a credible source to be pointing out the problems in an education
without arts. Duncans kairos is used to establish exigence and persuade readers that action needs
to be taken on the issue immediately. These strategies are effective in convincing readers that
action needs to be taken against the cutting of arts funding and students will achieve a wellrounded and fulfilling education.

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Works Cited

Duncan, Arne. "Prepared Remarks of U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan on the Report,
"Arts Education in Public Elementary and Secondary Schools: 2009-10"" U.S.
Department of Education. US Department of Education, 2 Apr. 2012. Web. 10 Nov. 2015.