Questions For Close Reading

When I read the third chapter of In Defense of a Liberal Education, I first noticed the passion in Zakaria’s tone.  Next, I noticed the organization and structure of the chapter.  Zakaria states the three main achievements of a liberal education.  In the next few paragraphs, he breaks down each achievement.  He uses heavy detail to show the reader the importance of each skill.  These two noticings complement each other because Zakaria showed his passion through the way he tried to help the reader understand his message.  He used a special style of organization to ensure that the reader was well informed.

Zakaria uses the words “central virtue,” (72) to describe the importance of liberal education teaching a student how to write.  By using these descriptive words, Zakaria is able to help the reader understand that writing is the most valuable skill a student can learn.

When Zakaria talks about the three main achievements of a liberal education, I think of a three layered pyramid.  I imagine learning to think is at the top because it is the most important in the author’s eyes.  Speaking is in the middle and learning is at the bottom.  I find the way that he organized his points extremely interesting.

Near the middle of the chapter, the Zakaria’s tone switches.  He is still passionate, but he goes from expressive to informative.  Zakaria starts to reference modern day experts and moguls to boost his credibility.  He uses the words of Steve Jobs when he writes, “It’s technology married with liberal arts, married with the humanities, that yields us the result that makes our hearts sing” (82).  Steve Jobs is explaining that there needs to be many different types of education.  Zakaria agrees with this point.  By adding the words of Jobs, Zakaria is showing the reader that many people have the same ideas that he has.

Zakaria writes, “The value added is in the brand- how it is imagined, presented, sold, and sustained” (83).  He is trying to tell the reader that an item is only as valuable as the story behind it.  This is a great point.  Something is only sellable if a person talks highly about it or has an interesting meaning behind it.