Rhetorical situation

Sender

The sender of the essay “I Am Not Proof of the American Dream” is Tara Westover, an American writer and historian known for her best-selling memoir Educated, which details her upbringing in a strict and abusive household in rural Idaho and her journey towards earning a PhD from Cambridge University. The video you are asked to watch also provides some background information about Westover’s life.

Westover was raised in a devout Mormon family. Her parents did not believe in formal education, and as a result, Westover and her siblings were home-schooled and did not attend school until their teenage years. Despite these challenges, Westover was determined to pursue an education, and with the help of a brother, she was able to pass the ACT exam and gain admission to university: 

[…] born in the mountains of Idaho to Mormon parents who kept me out of school...