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A critique of “I Don’t Want To Go Back” Article

This critical analysis will be on the article, “‘I Don’t Want to Go Back’:  Many Teachers Are Fearful and Angry over Pressure to Return” Dana Goldstein and Eliza Shapiro, which reports on the fear and dilemma that teachers are facing when preparing to reopen schools in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. There are many ways the writers use to convey this message, such as the choice of the title that summarizes the message of the entire article. The main argument of the article is that teachers are fearful and angry at the same time because they are underpaid and often at a high risk of contracting the coronavirus disease. The writers report that most teachers feel they are not well compensated and thus are not prepared to risk their lives by reopening schools that can turn out to be infection-risk zones. The writers also try to explain some of the rules that will be maintained to prevent infections. The article reveals that adults are more likely to spread the disease than children; therefore, teachers remain skeptical. The article concludes that although many plans to reopen schools are underway, teachers remain in a dilemma as to whether or not to go back to school.

The article successfully conveys the message of the entire body by selecting a title that concisely conveys the message that teachers are skeptical about reopening schools. The part of the title that portrays this meaning is “I Don’t Want to Go Back…” (Goldstein and Shapiro). This phrase suggests that to the reader that teachers are reluctant to reopen schools because of a significant underlying problem, the COVID 19 virus. The second part of the title, “Many Teachers Are Fearful and Angry over Pressure to Return,” confirms the position of teachers about school reopening (Goldstein and Shapiro). This second part of the title helps the writers to give the central theme of the article by revealing that teachers are reluctant and unhappy about schools reopening because of the pandemic disease. To illustrate that the title summarizes information the writers include in the body of the article, the authors use arguments, such as “there is a wave of teachers’ leave requests, early retirements, or resignations due to the fear of the disease both in physical and online classes (Goldstein and Shapiro). This assertion helps confirm the article’s position that teachers will likely refuse to resume teaching soon.

Another style employed by the authors is the use of pathos. Pathos is a communication technique that helps to elicit feelings to the audiences or readers. There are statements in the article that make the reader sympathize with teachers by imposing the feeling that teachers are very vulnerable to the disease infection. Such a statement includes: “He survived stage-four cancer several years ago and said he does not feel comfortable going back to his classroom” (Goldstein and Shapiro). When reading this statement, it brings out the distress that teachers have experienced during their teaching experience. It almost brings the impression no teacher should be forced to teach when he or she is sick. So, it would be wrong to tell teachers to reopen schools since they are perceived as the most vulnerable population to the disease. The statement invokes readers to feel that teachers should remain at home until the pandemic disease is fully contained.

Another style the writers used to convey their central theme is using sources from other authors or organizations to support their claim. Evidence helps to show that even other authors have researched the issue and arrived at the same conclusion. For example, union teachers in the article are cited, supporting that “schools in areas with most COVID-19 cases should not be forced to reopen schools” (Goldstein and Shapiro). This statement parallels the meaning conveyed in the title that teachers do not want to go back to school. Another cited reference is the testimony of Matthew Landau, a high-school teacher that has survived four-year cancer. The teacher is referenced as supporting the skepticism of the collective group of teachers when he reveals that “teachers are skeptical if immunocompromised teachers will be safe from the disease” (Goldstein and Shapiro). This statement helps to confirm the skepticism of teachers about returning to the school environment.

In conclusion, the authors of the article used a title with a direct message about the issue discussed in the entire text. Also, the authors used pathos to engage the reader emotionally and invite them to support teachers in their stand against school reopening. Other techniques include using other authors’ research to back up the claims made in the text. Overall, the authors have successfully employed the communication techniques to show that teachers are reluctant to attend the school environments until the disease is fully contained.

Note to the Instructor and students.

When I was writing the paper, I realized that I could not stop worrying about whether there may be other significant communication techniques in the article that I missed to address. My second worry was in inserting in-text citation in MLA for a source that lacks page numbers. I am not sure whether I cited well, and I would like your advice on this issue. Lastly, I noted that some of the sentences I wrote were long; I wonder whether this might affect the relevance of the points explained in those sentences. Thank you.

Works Cited

Goldstein, Dana, and Eliza Shapiro. “‘I Don’t Want to Go Back’: Many Teachers Are Fearful

and Angry Over Pressure to Return.” The New York Times, 11 July 2020, www.nytimes.com/2020/07/11/us/virus-teachers-classrooms.html?action=click&module=RelatedLinks&pgtype=Article. Accessed 11 July 2020.