Let us go to College
College is supposed to be the best years of an individual’s life, where he or she embarks on new experiences, such as attending football games, moving away from home, and meeting new friends. But, is it all worth it in the end? In the report “Should Everyone Go to College?” Stephanie Owen and Isabel Sawhill discuss enormous variations in the rate of return on education depending on factors such as institution attended and choice of major. A rhetorical analysis of the Owen and Sawhill report reveals varying amounts of success with which they both utilize pathos, ethos, and logos. While both authors were strong in their use of ethos due to their ability to make the reader feel that they were experts in their arguments and …show more content…
The attitude in which they wrote was very academic and free of emotion. Owen and Sawhill presented fact after fact evoking very little sentiment. Their findings were nonetheless factual and straightforward. The tone of the authors’ reports was straight to the point and stale. Moreover, the lack of emotion with which they wrote became almost mundane. Owen and Sawhill’s ethos is dependent upon their elite positions that they held at the time the report was published. Owen’s knowledge stemmed from her background as a senior research assistant at the Brookings’ Center on Children and Families, while Sawhill’s expertise was attributed to her position as the co-director of the Center on Children and Families, as well as senior researcher at Brookings’ in economic studies. “For example, Vassar College is one of the most expensive schools on the 2012 list and has a relatively low annual ROI of 6%. But when you factor in its generous aid packages (nearly 60% of students receive aid, and the average amount is over $30,000) Vassar’s annual ROI increases 50% to a return of 9%.” (2nd paragraph, page 213) The authors give a detailed statistic on the Return of Investment, helping to establish their authority and knowledge. Furthermore, the authors’ use of logos was very evident in their report. With every point they made, they also included hard data and studies to reinforce
College is supposed to be the best years of an individual’s life, where he or she embarks on new experiences, such as attending football games, moving away from home, and meeting new friends. But, is it all worth it in the end? In the report “Should Everyone Go to College?” Stephanie Owen and Isabel Sawhill discuss enormous variations in the rate of return on education depending on factors such as institution attended and choice of major. A rhetorical analysis of the Owen and Sawhill report reveals varying amounts of success with which they both utilize pathos, ethos, and logos. While both authors were strong in their use of ethos due to their ability to make the reader feel that they were experts in their arguments and …show more content…
The attitude in which they wrote was very academic and free of emotion. Owen and Sawhill presented fact after fact evoking very little sentiment. Their findings were nonetheless factual and straightforward. The tone of the authors’ reports was straight to the point and stale. Moreover, the lack of emotion with which they wrote became almost mundane. Owen and Sawhill’s ethos is dependent upon their elite positions that they held at the time the report was published. Owen’s knowledge stemmed from her background as a senior research assistant at the Brookings’ Center on Children and Families, while Sawhill’s expertise was attributed to her position as the co-director of the Center on Children and Families, as well as senior researcher at Brookings’ in economic studies. “For example, Vassar College is one of the most expensive schools on the 2012 list and has a relatively low annual ROI of 6%. But when you factor in its generous aid packages (nearly 60% of students receive aid, and the average amount is over $30,000) Vassar’s annual ROI increases 50% to a return of 9%.” (2nd paragraph, page 213) The authors give a detailed statistic on the Return of Investment, helping to establish their authority and knowledge. Furthermore, the authors’ use of logos was very evident in their report. With every point they made, they also included hard data and studies to reinforce