Melgoza Rodriguez 1

Manuel Melgoza Rodriguez

Connie Douglas

UWRT 1104-032

7 February 2017

Rhetorical Analysis Paper

Latinxs are one of the fastest growing ethnicities in the United States and are the largest

minority group. Despite their large numbers, many Latino students do not pursue a higher

education due to barriers that other students of a different demographic might not face. Latino

students also have to go through obstacles that first generation students have to go through; such

as, affordability, family and work obligations, and lack of information about financial aid and

college life. In the articles, Trends in Latino College Access and Success by Michelle

Camacho Liu and Latinos and College Access: Trends and Future Directions by Maria Estela

Zarate and Rebeca Burciaga, talk about the enrollment and success gap of Latinxs compared to

other ethnicities and barriers that cause the gap to widen. While both articles shared similar

rhetoric, Burciaga and Zarate made a better argument through their use of logos through a wide

array of statistical evidence and they have more experience than Liu thus making them a more

credible source.

In Zarate and Burciagas article, they begin by explaining the demographics of Latinx

college access and success and how it has changed over the years. For example, she wrote that

the college enrollment for young Latinx students rose from sixteen percent to twenty-two percent

while their white counterparts rose from twenty-seven percent to thirty-nine percent. Despite that

growth for Latinx college enrollment, the numbers are largely due to the increase in enrollment

for a community college since Latinos are more likely to attend community college (42 percent)
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compared to whites (24 percent). (Zarate, 25) They then go on to elaborate on trends in states,

two-year and four-year institutions and undocumented students. They cover a lot of points

regarding college access using logical thinking and statistics. Zarate and Burciaga are both

professors who have years of experience with research along the lines of challenging

educational practices, Latin students educational trajectory and Latino college success.

Liu did a good job covering all the facts like Burciaga and Zarate did, but Zarate and

Burciaga use logos better since they covered a larger array of points than Lui. Liu used plenty of

visual aids to help convey the percent population of Latino growth, of the total state population

and k-12 and postsecondary education. She also utilized a bar graph showing a comparison

between completion of a two-year institution and a combination of a two and four-year

institution. Liu obviously conveyed her message using a lot of logos through her visual aids and

statistics. Even though Zarates article was published in Fall of 2010, Lius article was published

in July of 2011 making Lius more relevant.

Thus, while both articles did a good job covering their topic with logos, Zarate and

Burciagas article was more efficient and diverse in its data, the data is more recent, and they are

more credible due to their experience. A diverse and higher quality content allows the writer to

accurately express the information they want to convey. There are far more numbers in Lius

article but there was more content of equal or higher quality in Zarates article. Zarate and

Burciaga covered several more kinds of key points on the barriers for Latinos that they must

overcome.
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Work Cited:

Burciaga, Rebeca. Burciaga, Rebeca. Burciaga, Rebeca, San Jose State University, 27 Sept.

2016, www.sjsu.edu/people/rebeca.burciaga/.
Liu, Michelle C. Michelle Camacho Liu. Www.linkedin.com, www.linkedin.com/in/michelle-

camacho-liu-05719061.
Liu, Michelle M. Trends in Latino College Access and Success. Www.ncsl.org, National

Conference of State Legislatures., July 2011,

www.ncsl.org/documents/educ/trendsinlatinosuccess.pdf.
Zarate, Maria E. Zarate, Estela. Educational Leadership, California State University,

ed.fullerton.edu/edleadership/faculty/zarate-estela/.
Zarate, Maria E, and Rebeca Burciaga. Latinos and College Access: Trends and Future

Directions. Files.eric.ed.gov, 2010, http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ906627.pdf.