Rhetorical Analysis Of Who Are You Do Here Edmundson

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Who Are You and What Are You Doing Here? Is an academic style magazine article by Mark Edmundson published in Oxford America. In this piece Edmundson uses ethos, logos, and pathos to convince parents to encourage their students to follow their dreams, as well as to convince students to discover themselves during their college career. He effectively achieves his purpose through his use of credible sources (ethos), appeals to morals and values (logos), and personal experiences (pathos). Edmundson’s first approach towards achieving his purpose is the use of many credible sources. This is important because by addressing other credible sources to parents and students, it shows them that he is credible. He starts by discussing Sigmund Freud saying …show more content…

This is effective because when it comes to their kids, parents get emotional. Whether that is positive or negative usually stems from their beliefs, but by showing parents that what he believes can build off what they believe, he will be able to convince them that he is trustworthy. The parents and students will be able to trust what he says and know that it will benefit them, along with following their moral code. This also does a good job of emphasizing the negatives that can occur if they do not follow his advice. He begins his article with congratulatory speech because he knows that parents view graduating as extremely important. He says, “You’re to be commended, and not just you but the parents, grandparents…” (18) By doing so he puts them on a pedestal and shows that he values the same achievement, along with how success comes with penalties. Edmundson warns, “If you do not undertake it [The journey of finding yourself at college], you risk leading a life of desperation.” (24). He enhances this idea by saying that if you do not listen to him, you should “get a TV for every room, buy yourself a lifetime supply of your favorite quaff, [and] crank up the porn channel…” (30), He does this to effectively scare students and parents into thinking that even if you get a good job if it is not something you will enjoy that you will be

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