This is a shortened version of an article from Harper’s Magazine (the August 1967 issue), a magazine that appeals primarily to the educated reader and that devotes as much space to the discussion of contemporary American life as it does to fiction.
By 1967, American youth had already been disillusioned with what they called “the adult world” and rebelled against it in various ways. Against this background, the author wrote this article to suggest the only workable way for young Americans to deal with their problems.
    The way the author does this is a good example of persuasion. In keeping with the seriousness of his purpose, he begins the article with an immediate statement of the problem to be discussed, and enlarges the statement in the second paragraph. All this is done by means of direct quotation, which conveys a sense of immediacy, of closeness and of contact. His open agreement to the imperfection of American society is important; otherwise, there would be no common ground for further discussion. The progress of the argument is made clear to the reader by means of subheadings. The author sees four possible alternatives for dealing with the imperfect society. He rules out the first three by pointing out they are either “parasitic”,or“impractical”,or fruitless,and then concentrates on the fourth one. By citing his own experience as a young man and “historical evidence”, he concludes that the fourth is the only workable one. His is the opinion of many American liberals, who believe in the reform approach without changing the social system.