Jacob Fields

De Gruy

Eng-1101

12-11-2020

Intelligence in School

The typical child goes to preschool around 4 or 5 years old then progresses through

kindergarten, elementary school, middle school, then on to high school. This is the way of life

for millions of students around the world which is good for some students that flourish in the

education system but not for others that tend to fall short of success in school systems. A Ted

Talk done by Eddy Zhong pieces this topic together perfectly by using pathos, ethos, and logos.

Zhong chose a very good topic to talk about because most people are afraid to admit that the

school system is broken.

Eddy Zhong is a technology entrepreneur who believes that the school systems tend to

take all creativity out of the picture and direct students on a specific path towards success where

not every student is able achieve their goals. He uses ethos, which is also known as credibility,

by leaving a message at the start of the video that says, “Eddy is an aspiring technology

entrepreneur and the founder of Blanc, a smart watch company based in Cambridge,

Massachusetts.” This shows that Eddy Zhong is not just a random person, but instead he is an

owner of a successful business in Massachusetts.

Zhong uses pathos, also referred to as emotions, at the very beginning of his speech. He

starts off by saying, “I want to share with you a big secret today, and it’s not one that a lot of you

are going to want to hear.” Zhong uses this as the introduction of his speech so he can grab
everyone’s attention right off the bat by claiming that he is keeping a secret from them, which

will cause the audience to want to know what that secret is. Zhong does a great job at this

introduction and it really causes the audience to listen to what he has to say. He also brings up

that same secret towards the end of his speech by saying, “Now let’s go back to that secret I was

talking about earlier” Zhong then talks about how school could possibly make children less

intelligent “There is so much more than one type of intelligence.” he goes on to say, “While

school can make you more academically intelligent, it can teach you physics, algebra, calculus, it

is diminishing the children’s creative intelligence.” Another way that Zhong uses pathos is by

referring to children, which causes emotions in parents that want the best for their kids.

Zhong also uses logos to prove to his audience that school is making children less

intelligent. He talks about the presentation he created while in high school that tried to lure their

peers into joining their business team. “Throughout that week we were actually mocked.” Zhong

then took the same presentation to an elementary school where kids were around 5 or 6 years

younger. “These kids were throwing their lunch money at us, asking to buy our prototype.” This

shows that something is going wrong with ambitions or creativity as students progress through

school. “These kids have turned into teenagers that are unwilling to think outside the box.”

Zhong has proven that somewhere in between elementary school and high school something

happens that causes children to lose their creativity.

Eddy Zhong did a great job using logos, pathos, and ethos in his speech. He caused his

audience to feel emotions, use logical thinking, and even his own credibility to persuade the

audience into listening to what he had to say. The people that he has convinced to properly listen

to his speech will hopefully start to reform the school system and help bring back creativity to

the youth.