Rhetorical Analysis of Schoolhouse Rock

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0069627/ 

In his article, “Why We Need to Understand Science,” Carl Sagan addresses the issue of America’s lack of knowledge in the field of  science and technology. He argues about how science and technology are in modern times and America’s scientific illiteracy is causing them to fall behind compared to the rest of the world. Many people perceive science as something that can explain things that are currently impossible or have little or no scientific evidence behind them, such as using crystals, astrology, and UFOs. This is because of the way science is taught from a young age.

Sagan recognizes the fact that the natural curiosity and insightful questions that young children possess is slowly stripped away as they mature. They fail to learn the building blocks of science at a young age because of the lack of aid provided to that department, as well as the developed ability to accept information as it is given without questioning “why?”. Science is not taught as something fun and enticing, but rather as part of the core curriculum a child must understand to move on to the next step in education. 

Schoolhouse Rock consists of a series of short videos aimed to teach younger children about certain topics that vary from American history to grammar to science using song. These videos are meant to present children with facts and knowledge in a fun way and a way they will understand and remember. It is meant for children to take something away from the lesson. The characters vary in each video and different songs are used to get the information across.

Schoolhouse Rock effectively gets the information across to its audience. It is a way to provide younger children with a basic background in science and address that science is interesting and fun. By creating videos that make children develop an interest in science, Schoolhouse Rock helps create a further interest in science for future generations because children will remember the lessons they learned through the music that Schoolhouse Rock provides.