This article addresses Obama’s latest move to grant free tuition for those attending community college. He wants the United States to have the most college graduates compared to other countries. The author of this article contradicts the belief that a college degree is a necessity. He establishes ethos by quoting a Penn State University professor, Edwin Herr. He states, “There are a lot of people destined for unhappiness if we simply say that everybody ought to go to college. I don’t think society in general requires everybody to go to college” (Billitteri). In some cases, people just need to have the fundamental skills for a certain job, not a college education. This author uses many different statistics and graphs to persuade his audience. He believes that college is not for every one and some students are not ready for college-level academics when they come out of high school. The author further goes on to explain that those who do end up going to college are not guaranteed to be successful. I believe that it all depends on the amount of effort you put into it and how much you care. Those who wish to be successful have to be willing to sacrifice their time and put a lot of hard work into it. At the same time I believe that school cannot teach you every thing you need to know in order to be successful. The best way to learn is through experience.
Are Efforts to Breed Endangered Animals Paying Off? By David Masci
The author of this article mentions the many different opinions that people have on zoos. He explains how some people think that zoos are good because they help bring back endangered species and help preserve wildlife. Other people do not agree with the idea of zoos because they keep animals in small vicinities in order to entertain their guests. The author quotes Tom Regan, a North Carolina philosophy professor and animal rights activist, “Animals have rights, including a right to freedom and you can’t justify those rights, even if you’re trying to help the species.” He incorporates quotes from credible sources in order to gain his credibility to the audience. I am not sure where I stand on this topic. I think zoos are great entertainment, especially for young children. At the same time, I find that a polar bear should not be living where the weather can get hot, such as the Philadelphia zoo. Animals should also be able to roam around, but some zoos do not allow for that. This topic is very controversial because both sides of the argument have contradicting evidence. The author does not take a side but I think that he is more biased towards zoos being an okay thing. He gives more evidence about why zoos are good. The author also addresses that in recent years zoos have been better regulated and the living situations for the animals have improved. He mentions that most animals are very happy in captivity because they do not have to compete for food or worry about being killed.
Death Penalty by Robert Kiener
This article addresses the debate about the death penalty and its usefulness. The author uses rhetorical devices to help clarify the main message of the article. The first appeal that stood out to me was ethos. Robert Kiener established his credibility to his readers by including quotes from reknown politicians, such as Democratic Governor Maggie Hassan and Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley. Using the thoughts of prominent figures helps the author to gain trust from his readers. People are more likely to put the time in to read an article that has information backed up by multiple intelligent sources. The author also uses logos to present his claim about the death penalty. He includes multiple types of statistics. A statistic that stood out to me was: 4.1% of the people on death row were falsely accused. This means that they were innocent but charged as guilty. The main argument is that the death penalty is slowly fading away. People sit on death-row for many years because of appeals. This ends up being very expensive. Another thing that is wrong with the death penalty is that there is no turning back after killing a criminal. They could find that this person is guilty after it is too late; that to me is a huge problem. Pathos is also brought up when the author mentions that recently, some criminals have been found to have mental problems. This makes the audience feel bad for those that are put on death row for doing something that their mind could not even comprehend they were doing.
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