Francisco Viramontes

November 19, 2014

Mrs. Potter
English 110.052
If you ever need to be inspired you know you can always browse and watch a TED talk.
These talks always have great a way of conveying messages through passionate people and
through multiple mediums. These talks also cover subjects that are very important but are never
talked about. In her talk A call to reinvent liberal arts education, Liz Coleman uses all three
methods of persuasion: logos, ethos, and pathos to drive the point home that liberal arts
education needs to undergo some drastic changes. Her ethos appears through quoting a few
people, such as her students and Thomas Jefferson. Her pathos reaches out to groups of people
who either adore liberal arts with an astounding passion, or the politically active who care about
the future of how our government is going to be run. Her logos surfaces through logical and
coherent thinking; her clear and distinct tone gets her message across without any turbulence.
Although she speaks her mind about the absurdness and the great importance in reforming liberal
arts education, her lack of passion in her tone has a chance to make the listener lose interest in
what she is saying.
Liz Coleman uses her ethos, or her reputation, authority or experience, to show that she
knows what she is talking about and to have credibility. It appears consistently throughout her
entire presentation. As president of Bennington College, she emanates an extraordinary aura of
authority when it comes to discussing liberal arts. Her diction appeals to scholars and experts as
well, showing that she is important and should be taken seriously. Liz Colemans usage of
Thomas Jeffersons quote If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it

expects what never was and never will be, it establishes a solid foundation for ethos as well.
She also uses that quote to state that we cannot be ignorant and free; we must choose one or the
other, which sparks some thinking. She also quotes here students in what they think of this
situation, also boosting her ethos. At the same time Liz Colemans words can be too shunning,
creating distrust among its intended audience, making them feel alienated. Pushing her
audiences limits by using enigmatic words begins to hurt and weaken her ethos.
Liz Coleman begins to use pathos or arguing through provoking emotions or feelings,
when she discusses how the life was sucked out of liberal arts and how the civic engagement was
also taken in that process, giving a stygian atmosphere around the future of liberal Arts. As she
continues, her discussion about the damage that is being done to our democracy with narrowminded education also evokes emotion to those who care about the future of the United States.
Her tone was not one of anger, but of being concerned and aware of what is happening with the
American education system. She discusses how in schools, civic participation has become extracurricular, rather than mandatory.
Her pathos reaches its peak when she discusses some of our countries qualities, which get
mocked by the rest of the world. How the United States had a public education system that was a
role model to the world, now which is recognized as a grand failure. The United States had
students that have mastered many basic skills but now lack cultural literacy and cultural
integrity. The audience might feel more sadness when Coleman says that we cannot even see
what we are doing to our democracy. She talks about how the United States has some of the most
amazing resources to use, but the majority of the public neglects to use them or does not even
consider them into their thoughts. When she says that the only way to solve the problem with
liberal arts today requires absolute recreation, it created this atmosphere of despair and failure,

which we as a nation, have failed to preserve the integrity of liberal arts. Her pathos sweeps
through and is able to reach multiple audiences, which is quite impressive.
Liz Colemans use of logos is profound by using the simple cause and effect technique to
illustrate that the price for being an expert in liberal arts comes with increased technically and
more specific career paths, which appeals to any persons logic, or common sense. When she
says students are learning more and more about less and less it makes you think logically that
our education system is in bad shape. When it comes to liberal arts, people should be learning
more about more and more. She then shows a picture about the 20 different subfields of
anthropology, which makes you think that it is a bit excessive to have 20 different subfields for a
specific field of study. Coleman also argues the fact that fragmentation of knowledge hurts and
cripples academic integrity. When she proposes her solution to the reconstruction of liberal arts,
she makes it sounds clear and distinct; making it easier to understand what she says and what she
wants. Liz Coleman also show that she is not the only one who thinks that liberal arts education
needs change when she uses her students words "deep thought matters when thinking about
things that matter," which logically make sense. She makes it easier to put two and two together
when she says that critical thinking will result in more of the public developing a sense of civic
virtue that will help save our democracy. She then uses more logical persuasion in the sense that
if a new resource that can preserve the integrity of liberal arts education can be developed; it
relies on the audience to use it as a resource. Her last logical tactic puts out that if we do one
thing it will result in another. For example, she says that if we participate in the new reformed
liberal arts in Bennington College, we will develop the critical thinking needed to saving our
dying Democracy.

In conclusion, Liz Coleman demonstrates how the American liberal arts education system
is failing how it requires radical changes. She then uses ethos, pathos, and logos to show if we
repeal this system civic participation would increase, and in effect would save the American
democracy. Her methods, details, and words convinced me without unreasonable doubt that the
honor of liberal arts is in danger, and that even though we are growing as a technologically
advanced nation, we should not just focus on technology, but also on humanities. Although she
uses a grand amount of esoteric words that had me going back and forth about being engulfed
and alienated, in the end Liz Coleman effectively persuades her intended audience that liberal
arts needs to change and that Bennington College is helping making that change.

Citations: Coleman, Liz. "A Call to Reinvent Liberal Arts Education." Liz Coleman: A Call to
Reinvent Liberal Arts Education. TED, 1 June 2009. Web. 24 Nov. 2014.
<http://www.ted.com/talks/liz_coleman_s_call_to_reinvent_liberal_arts_education?language=en>.