Petula Dvorak's "Don't Take Our Kids' Cookies and Cupcakes: Bake sales have value"
Analysis of Purpose: Petula Dvorak is a strong writer who often begins her articles by directly stating her purpose. In this case, Dvorak immediately tells the audience her opinion of the debate over bake sales:"That insight seems to be missing from the ridiculous debate raging in Virginia and across the country over whether public school kids should be able to keep peddling goopy cupcakes and lumpy cookies to raise money." By stating her opinion, the audience can also determine that Dvorak's goal is to persuade her readers into believing that bake sales do more good than harm and are not related to childhood obesity. She directly states this in her article: "Yeah, kids are getting chunkier. But bake sales aren't the problem. The real culprits include shorter recess, gallons of sugary drinks, insane fast-food consumption, video games, electronic gadget addiction, the fear of letting kids play outside on their own, the meddling of adults who turn children’s sports into elite competition instead of recreation, and a huge, cultural shift that has parents chauffeuring kids around like pashas instead of letting them walk or bike everywhere." Bake sales are an important fundraising opportunity for many schools and allowing kids to take part in them can only be beneficial. However, the government seems to believe that chemically laden low-fat Doritos are healthier than a homemade dessert. Petula Dvorak hopes to educate people about the ridiculousness of banning bake sales. After all, even the legislators who spent hours on the bake sale bill "took a break from the debate for a catered lunch that included...key lime pie and cookies."