Several times throughout the article, Murray uses emotionally-charged words and phrases that create a sympathetic image; he notes that “We will lure large numbers of people...to try to achieve the goal and then fail. We will then stigmatize everyone who fails” (253). The image he evokes of the challenges and loss of self-confidence of not being able to succeed in college effectively establishes his argument that college is not for everyone. His goal is to make the reader feel sympathy for students who lack the skill to succeed and consider the possibility that perhaps too many people are going to college. Adding to this idea are words and phrases such as, “less fun” (239), “dispassionately” (240), “masochism” (240), “brutal” (245), “unlikely to have a job” (249), and “fail to achieve” (253). All of these words evoke negative emotions about more students going to college. They are an appeal to pathos, or the reader’s feelings of fear and
Several times throughout the article, Murray uses emotionally-charged words and phrases that create a sympathetic image; he notes that “We will lure large numbers of people...to try to achieve the goal and then fail. We will then stigmatize everyone who fails” (253). The image he evokes of the challenges and loss of self-confidence of not being able to succeed in college effectively establishes his argument that college is not for everyone. His goal is to make the reader feel sympathy for students who lack the skill to succeed and consider the possibility that perhaps too many people are going to college. Adding to this idea are words and phrases such as, “less fun” (239), “dispassionately” (240), “masochism” (240), “brutal” (245), “unlikely to have a job” (249), and “fail to achieve” (253). All of these words evoke negative emotions about more students going to college. They are an appeal to pathos, or the reader’s feelings of fear and