TOW #4: "The Key to Smarter Kids: Talk to Them" by Annie Murphy Paul

     Annie Murphy Paul, a journalist, author, and speaker, wrote the editorial "The Key to Smarter Kids" in order to inform her audience about something she is an expert on: how we best learn things, and how we can get others to best learn things. Published in Time Magazine, this article touches on the subject of young kids and how their parents influence not only their social behaviors, but also their mental abilities. Paul's writing seems to target parents of young children because throughout the article, she frequently restates her argument that parent involvement is crucial in a child's educational life.
     When less-affluent parents have children, they tend to focus their conversations with their kids less on schoolwork. Paul supports this fact with information given to her by many psychologists and researchers on the topic. In addition to ethos and logos, Paul also appeals to pathos by writing about kids, since the educational values of children is a concern that many parents have. In addition, she states that parents do not need to buy expensive instructional tools for their children to succeed. In fact, all they need is communication. This opens doors to an even wider audience; it shows that parents who are not willing to spend a lot of money can help their children thrive, too. Paul does achieve her purpose of arguing that parent involvement is crucial in a child's educational life because she supports her argument with lots of information based off of her research. In addition, she is clearly skilled in that area of research because she has written many books on the topic of education in youths, so her writing immediately pulls in her audience.

Communication is a Virtue

(Picture source/article: http://ideas.time.com/2013/10/01/the-key-to-smarter-kids-talk-to-them/)