Pathos And Logos

Words: 506
Pages: 3

In their article, “Should Everyone go to college?” Stephanie Owen and Isabel Sawhill contest the popular notion that college is universally advantageous. The article focuses on the range of economic outcomes of college and concludes with rational solutions to break the “all positive” stereotype. Although I personally agree with the authors, I believe the lack of pathos and ethos in combination with an abundance of logos yields a cold, impersonal tone which ultimately undermines their overall claim.
The authors easily establish a detailed and compelling argument using logos appeals. The majority of Owen and Sawhill’s article is statistical data and lengthy analytical evidence including complex economic terms such as : return on investment, oppurtunity cost, and lifetime earnings premium(216). This abundance of data appeals to the reader’s logic and presents an analytical tone which can be seen throughout the whole article. In addition, numerous visual aids assist the reader in
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For instance, after stating the variation in return of investment is an infinite amount, the writers acknowledge that everyone “would like to be able to look into a crystal ball and know which individual school will give the highest net benefit”(212), which validates the reader’s predicament. Similarly, an attempt to relate to the readers (ethos) is made towards the end of the article stating that, “the information needed to make a wise decision, however, can be difficult to find and hard to interpret”(220). Likewise, an emotional appeal is clear in the conclusion of the article that calls for colleges to “do more to ensure that their students graduate, particularly the lower-income students who struggle most with persistence and completion”(221). Certainly, these examples show Owen and Sawhill know how to properly implement ethos and pathos appeals but did not properly use them to balance out the abundance of