Rate My Essay - 3

[Ruchil]

"In a recent citywide poll, fifteen percent more residents said that they watch television programs about the visual arts than was the case in a poll conducted five years ago. During these past five years, the number of people visiting our city's art museums has increased by a similar percentage. Since the corporate funding that supports public television, where most of the visual arts programs appear, is now being threatened with severe cuts, we can expect that attendance at our city's art museums will also start to decrease. Thus some of the city's funds for supporting the arts should be reallocated to public television."

In this argument, the author concludes that city's funds for supporting the arts should be reallocated to public television in order to maintain the number of people visiting the museum. To support this conclusion, the author merely references a survey which showed an increase in the number of people visiting the museum in a span of five years. While the argument has some merit, it contains several questionable assumptions that need to be addressed.
Most conspicuously, the author assumes that the people who watch visual arts on television are the ones who have contributed to the increase in the number of people visiting the museum. However, the author fails to consider factors other than television programs for such an increase. For instance, if the museum has imported art items that are more visually appealing and better understood by the people of the city, the number of people visiting the museum will increase. To strengthen his argument, the author should mention the impact of other factors other than television programs to justify the increase in the number of people visiting the museum.
Additionally, the author assumes that the increase in the population of the city has not been significant. For instance, if may transpire that the city's population has increased ten-fold while the number of people visiting the museum with respect to city's total population remains the same. In this case, the author's argument is flawed. Without considering the change in the population of the city over five years, the argument cannot be properly assessed.
Finally, the argument assumes that several cuts in the television programs pertaining to visual arts due to lack of funding will bring down the strength of people visiting the museum. However, the author fails to consider the motivation behind people's visits to museum. For instance, if the people visiting the museum are genuinely interested in visual arts and watch television programs related to visual arts just out of curiosity, the strength of people visiting the museum will not come down. This population will visit the museum, irrespective of the fact whether it is able to watch television programs pertaining to visual arts or not.
In conclusion, the argument is poorly supported and is unconvincing. To strengthen his argument, the author will have to show that the increase in the number of people visiting the museums over five years is because of increased viewership of visual arts channels. Additionally, the author will also have to show that the population of the city has not changed significantly and that severe cuts in the television programs pertaining to visual arts will decrease the footfall in city's museums. Without this information, the argument cannot be properly evaluated and is thus unconvincing.