The value of higher education, in today's society, is almost exclusively judged by the prospect of attaining a job upon graduation. This evaluation, however, is not unbiased, as it does not account for skills, connections, and other benefits that are obtained through higher education. Exemplifying that a college experience is not purely vocational training and cannot be quantified solely on such a restricting basis. "My View: Should Everyone Go to College?" by Mike Rose–a professor at UCLA–focuses on this notion with a focus on his personal college experience (CNN 2012). He draws the audience in with the idea that anyone should have the opportunity, and can benefit from the experience, of a higher education. On the other hand, “What Value
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Lawrence’s article suffers from a lack of a personal anecdote or ethos building background. Resulting in a weak credibility that is detrimental to her rhetorical aims and purposes. In contrary, Rose’s piece is built upon the strength of his personal narrative and use of ethos. For example, he was not a straight A student. Nor was he a member of the math team, honors society, or chess club. Instead, he was a drifter, an “average student” of no particular skill or worthy of notable mention and lacking an overall direction in life (Rose). Although, that all transformed when he met an English teacher that forever changed Rose by the simple act of reading Rose’s writings. Through this seemingly nominal practice, the teacher did something that nothing and no one had been able to do: scholastically inspire him. Rose went on to be accepted to a university on academic probation, via the assistance of his exceptional, senior year, English teacher. Although, life as a university student was not always tranquil, he gained newfangled “mentors and eventually found [his] way” amidst the downward valleys and upward hills of attaining a college degree (Rose). His experiences shaped who he was and laid the groundwork for this article. Mike Rose wrote about the topic of going to college in a very relaxed and laidback manner. He bridged the issue with his personal experiences, which provided an adequate outlet from which to speak from and helped to establish his ethos formally. Furthermore, this sense of ethos carried immense weight in this informative piece of literature as he used it as a springboard to reach his main idea. He, then, proceeded to use this newly bought credibility from his readers to urge them to rethink the concept of college, even if they had already dismissed it as an impractical
Lawrence’s article suffers from a lack of a personal anecdote or ethos building background. Resulting in a weak credibility that is detrimental to her rhetorical aims and purposes. In contrary, Rose’s piece is built upon the strength of his personal narrative and use of ethos. For example, he was not a straight A student. Nor was he a member of the math team, honors society, or chess club. Instead, he was a drifter, an “average student” of no particular skill or worthy of notable mention and lacking an overall direction in life (Rose). Although, that all transformed when he met an English teacher that forever changed Rose by the simple act of reading Rose’s writings. Through this seemingly nominal practice, the teacher did something that nothing and no one had been able to do: scholastically inspire him. Rose went on to be accepted to a university on academic probation, via the assistance of his exceptional, senior year, English teacher. Although, life as a university student was not always tranquil, he gained newfangled “mentors and eventually found [his] way” amidst the downward valleys and upward hills of attaining a college degree (Rose). His experiences shaped who he was and laid the groundwork for this article. Mike Rose wrote about the topic of going to college in a very relaxed and laidback manner. He bridged the issue with his personal experiences, which provided an adequate outlet from which to speak from and helped to establish his ethos formally. Furthermore, this sense of ethos carried immense weight in this informative piece of literature as he used it as a springboard to reach his main idea. He, then, proceeded to use this newly bought credibility from his readers to urge them to rethink the concept of college, even if they had already dismissed it as an impractical