The Op-Ed that will be analyzed is titled “The Early Bird Gets the Bad Grade” by Nancy Kalish that was submitted to The New York Times on January 14, 2008. The Op-Ed discusses the negative effects in starting school prior to 8 a.m. and the advantages in starting school later. Proven through research, Kalish directs attention to the positive effects of increased scores in specific counties over the past couple decades. Kalish, while supporting the later start times for schools, also proposes new ideas of longer school days to benefit mainly elementary students. She concludes by suggesting that in order to obtain said changes, parents and others in the community need to be involved in their local government and education policies.
Kalish’s tone throughout the article is informative while attempting to persuade and convince the reader that her ideas are correct by providing adequate evidence and research. She seems strongly opinionated and knowledgeable about the topic and is realistic about the accessibility of changing schedules and start times. For example, Kalish states “...improving teenagers’ performance takes a back seat...” and lists reasons as to why the later start is not happening easily.…show more content… For example, she starts the article with a few sentences that put you in the perspective of a parent with teens. This connects to her audience by relating to the parents and putting those who are not parents in the shoes of one. Another example is she directly talks to her audience and used a less formal word choice and tone. A few examples of this are: “So why hasn’t every school board moved back that first bell?”, “You’d think this would spur...” and “...why not make sure there’s built-in time for doing homework?” Kalish used questions to directly speak to her audience and flow through her points of discussion. She also used contractions to show informality in her tone and word