Task 2:

Original: The University of New England’s Core Handbook is a guide to what the curriculum entails and how that applies to students and their development in education. In the handbook under the core themes, many key aspects are mentioned. One of the aspects, critical thinking, as the handbook states, “builds upon and develops the knowledge and skills students have mastered in their first two years while it teaches students to deal with complex problems and issues they confront in their upper-level major courses.”(para. 9)  Critical thinking is an essential skill to have in order to have the ability to optimize the amount of knowledge that can be gained with each new experience. This closely links to Sanford J. Ungars’ argument of a misconception that people have. Within this misconception, Ungar highlights the worries and misconceptions of others, which state that students are finding it harder to find a job with a liberal arts major. A question that is frequently asked, “Who wants to hire somebody with an irrelevant major like philosophy or French?”(para. 7) Ungar counters this by talking about a survey that was done roughly 10 years ago, in 2009. The purpose of the survey was to highlight the fact that, “89 percent of our nation’s employers recommend that college-bound students pursue a liberal education.” (para. 7) Those surveyed also said that they were looking for an overall ‘better’ employee that demonstrates the characteristics within liberal arts. To be specific, employers are looking for people who have the ability to obtain knowledge through thinking critically, creatively, and analytically. 

Revised: The University of New England’s Core Handbook is a guide to what the curriculum entails and how that applies to students and their development in education. In the handbook under the core themes, many key aspects are mentioned. One of the aspects, critical thinking, as the handbook states, “builds upon and develops the knowledge and skills students have mastered in their first two years while it teaches students to deal with complex problems and issues they confront in their upper-level major courses.”(para. 9)  Critical thinking is an essential skill to have in order to have the ability to optimize the amount of knowledge that can be gained with each new experience. However, people feel as if critical thinking is irrelevant if you are going to be a mechanic or engineer. This closely links to Sanford J. Ungars’ argument of a misconception that people have. Within this misconception, Ungar highlights the worries and misconceptions of others, which state that students are finding it harder to find a job with a liberal arts major. A question that is frequently asked, “Who wants to hire somebody with an irrelevant major like philosophy or French?”(para. 7) Ungar counters this by talking about a survey that was done roughly 10 years ago, in 2009. The purpose of the survey was to highlight the fact that, “89 percent of our nation’s employers recommend that college-bound students pursue a liberal education.” (para. 7) Those surveyed also said that they were looking for an overall ‘better’ employee that demonstrates the characteristics within liberal arts. To be specific, employers are looking for people who have the ability to obtain knowledge through thinking critically, creatively, and analytically. Although I agree, I also disagree with the fact that employers are looking for strictly liberal arts majors. Many businesses’ are looking for exactly the opposite.

The revisions I made from the original to the updated paragraph. I added a sentence on something I disagree with. I also added more supporting information to backup previous claims.