˜How I Bluffed My Way through College by Kate Harding

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Rhetorical analysis of ‘How I Bluffed My Way through College’ by Kate Harding
This is a literary piece that evaluates the rhetorical analysis of one of the articles by Kate Harding, titled ‘How I Bluffed My Way through College’. This article was featured in the online magazine called the Salon Magazine and had been lifted from her blog. The main aspect behind writing an analysis of the article is to bring across the theme and meaning that, Harding was trying to let her audience in on, when the article was first published online in the year 2011 (Harding). This piece is targeted at my instructor in the course and my colleges in the class. This is a piece that is quite crucial relative to the fact that we are in college and the viewpoints expressed in the article by Harding have a direct impact in our studies and behavior as students.
In the article, Harding brings out the various struggles that she had while taking her degree in campus. Much of it relates to the fact that she struggled to maintain the respect and adoration of her elders, relative to her reading patterns and earning abilities and more so her focus. She has also had other blog posts from her blog published on the Salon Magazine; however of interest in this piece is the one she wrote about her learning experiences while taking her degree education (Harding). She takes the readers through her experiences with an attitude that borders sarcasm and self-pity. This leaves the readers in position where they have to decide on their own, whether, what the writer went through in her learning experience was largely her fault or that of her environment at school and at home.
Reading through the article, there is one very crucial aspect that I can pick out, in relations to her behavior and her abilities at learning. According to the English teacher, Mr. White, she would not become a cheerleader but she had the genuine will and ability to learn. He also points out that she always had a book, though it was rarely the assigned texts. This shows that, Harding was not in any way challenged by the education system in a manner that would indicate that she had difficulties understanding the text material. Instead, she found most of the assigned text boring and sort to refrain from reading material that would not inspire the will to read (Harding). She actually clarifies that, she also understood the importance of such books and the knowledge they offered, but she preferred more interesting material such as the one Tom Robins, which offered twisted humor. She comes off as quite intelligent given the fact that she would study just the right amount of material to get by the exams. While this speaks volumes of her abilities and shows confidence in herself, it also has an antagonizing element of laziness passed across to the audience. She could have done better in class, if she had put in a lot more efforts and this forms the basis of her self loath. Instead she chooses to bluff her way through her education and just get by the main exams...