Esteemed writer, Mark Twain, in his essay Corn Pone Opinions addresses that people often do not make their own conclusions instead they follow the majority. Twain's purpose is to inform his audience that their opinions derive from what the majority of society believes.

Twain uses irony and an allusion as  rhetorical devices to further expand his purpose. In paragraph 11 line 5 "Morals, religions, politics, get their following from surrounding influences and atmospheres, almost entirely; not from study, not from thinking." Twain suggests that people choose important things such as political views based on the society around them. One would expect humans to use their brain for its actual purpose, instead people conform to society and rely on just that verdict. This expands on Twain's purpose that a person's own perception doesn't derive from their own thoughts but from the beliefs of society. In the beginning of the essay Twain uses the allusion of hoop skirts in paragraph 10 " One woman abandons the fashion; her neighbor notices this and follows her lead; this influences the next woman...the skirt has vanished out of the world , no one knows how nor why, nor cares, for that matter." Using a topic that everyone can relate to furthers Twain's purpose. The reference to this trend relates to how people's  opinions on their clothes aren't theirs but are of society. No one relies on their own opinions or questions why. If society agrees to an idea, to an average person it must be right.

Corn Pone Opinions is still relevant to this day. The analysis on human nature is overall accurate. In paragraph 13 line 9 "the one which can't bear to be outside the pale;cant bear to be in disfavor; can't endure the averted face and the cold shoulder; wants to stand well with his friends..." It is common for someone to alter their opinions in order to be accepted by others. Even if it means giving a piece of ourselves away it is okay because now were accepted by society. This applies to people's opinions on politics, religion, fashion and so much more. A common example is a person choosing a political party based on their parents opinions. Most people never choose to educate themselves on other parties. 

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Standardized testing has been an issue in the American education system. Since the No Child Left Behind Act in 2002 which mandated annual testing in all 50 states, the use of standardized tests has escalated. Standardized testing in theory was meant  to have objective results, show an equal measurement on each student, hold teachers accountable on the curriculum set that corresponds with tests, also to give grants and more funding to schools who performed well.

There has been many prolong effects of standardized testing including, racial disparities, exclusion of other subjects, and small improvement in student achievement. Intense pressure causes teachers to feel the need to teach according to the test which results in a lack of critical thinking. Standardized testing usually includes multiple choice, students are now able to guess and multiple choice doesn’t show the students ability to apply knowledge or to synthesize information. Intense test preparation is also at the expense of other classes such as art or gym. If schools do not do well they may receive federal sanctions, such as less federal fundings and grants. This further pressures teachers to do well, so much pressure that may drive them to cheat. In 2011 ,134 Atlanta teachers were exposed for cheating, by erasing wrong answers on the scantrons.  This wasn't the only cheating scandal in America it was found 39 out of 50 states were cheating on state tests. Cheating scandals deprive students of their right to an education, many of these students were only able to read on a 4th grade level meanwhile they were in 9th grade. Racial disparity is also another issue. Inner city schools go through a sad cycle. Most students do not do well there are usually old textbooks, teachers with large class sizes and bad school funding. There is little ability to do better since with the same circumstances schools aren't able to receive more funding. This cycle goes on and usually result in school closures. In Chicago in just one year 54 schools were closed and ninety - eight percent were minorities. The purpose of standardized testing was to further advance our education system with the likes of China, Finland, Canada and more. However, the exact opposite has happened, America slipped from 18th in the world in math in 2000 to 31st place in 2009. This was humiliating and discouraging for a country that had boasted about innovation and technology for centuries.  While America aims to be number one, countries that excel like Canada, Sweden, Finland , France, and Japan either use standardized testing minimally or not at all. These countries also progressed two times faster than America. Rather than America running away from standardized testing we’re embracing it.

To avoid passive voice was a challenge even though most of the events happened in the past. Zinsser says passive voice makes work clunky . Rather than saying students were deprived of an education I wrote cheating scandals deprive students. It logically makes more sense since the same students are still affected.