21. College Textbooks Are Too Expensive

http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/01/why-are-college-textbooks-so-absurdly-expensive/266801/

              Jordan Weissmann, the author of the article "Why Are College Textbooks So Absurdly Expensive?," starts out his writing with a funny comparison. College tuition is not the only thing which is increasing. College textbooks prices are equally getting pricier and pricier. The American Enterprise Institution has shown that the cost of course materials has increased incredibly; the cost of calculus books, for example, have shot up higher than basic health care, home prices, and inflation. The author also tries to explain why the cost of educational books has grown so much. Some experts claim that the procedure to produce a single college textbook requires a lot of time, effort, and of course money. However, the author explains that college professors many times take little into consideration the actual content of the textbook and take student requirements for granted. Big publishers have started suing small publisher companies and they have also started to include software downloads which require for more enrollment and more money to be paid all in order to increase profits.
           The author uses several rhetorical devices in order to achieve his purpose. The author starts out his article with a rhetorical question; he tries to lead the reader into thinking that college tuitions aren't the only things which have become even pricier. Every year, college textbooks are becoming more expensive. The author includes a chart showing the increase in prices for educational books compared to other financial expenses. The author also includes some statistical facts (students waste about 600 to 700 dollars in college textbooks). Weissmann proposes the idea that although American publishers may state that making a textbook requires a lot of money, the truth is that these huge publishing companies have tried their best to increase their profits; big publishers have started to sue small companies for small copyright issues and others have included softwares that require extra payment. In other words, the reason textbooks are so expensive is because publishers are greedy and want more profits.