In both of these statements the audience sees Bloom s extreme lack of credibility. Due to Bloom s pessimistic attitude throughout his essay, he completely destroys his credibility and fails to capture his audience. In the very beginning of his essay, his negative attitude is apparent as he describes the time before college as, an intellectual wasteland. Bloom sets a negative tone with this bold statement that carries throughout the entire essay. Further into the essay he goes on to prove his pessimism by stating that it is better to give up on liberal education and get on with a specialty in which there is at least a prescribed curriculum and a prospective career.
Bloom gives no hope for students who plan to go to college in order to gain valuable experiences.
He later argues that it is better for a student to have a career choice when entering the university because students who are only out to seek adventure, are at danger. I think Bloom s overall attitude throughout his essay gives his audience little hope for change. After innumerable attacks on his audience, stated claims that contain no hard facts, and his overall pessimistic attitude, Bloom proposes his idea of how to reach the unified goal of creating a moral consciousness in students. His proposed idea is the Great Books. He believes that these books will establish a love for study itself in the students.