1) The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People:

​Covey, Stephen R. ​The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People : Powerful Lessons in Personal
Change ​. 25th anniversary edition. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2013. Print.
- This text is required for the engineering program/intro to engineering for UNCC. The
book is meant to give students or anyone habits that would greatly improve their
lives, be it family, work or education. Stephen R. Covey is an american educator, has
studied at the University of Utah, Harvard, and Brigham Young University. Has
published 3 books
- The main purpose of this piece is to present 7 habits, there main aspects and
how to implement them, to the reader in hopes of improving their lives in a very
beneficial way. The evidence is usually thought out logic/psychology for any topic he
gives and it he develops his ideas through the act of not leaving any meat on the
bone in a sense. Stephen R. Covey uses quotes to help explain or expand on an
idea he wants to present but most of the time he uses examples, usually from his
own life to show how an idea or habit is good and helpful. All his conclusions are
reasonable he put clear time and effort into what he believes to be good ideas.
He accomplishes almost all his ideas through the use of logos, all his ideas
are based upon what is the most logical. He uses pathos more as a means to get the
audience to identify with him, bringing up examples from his own life to get a sense
of sympathy or other emotions. He also uses pathos as a tool, when he presents a
situation to the audience he expects you to react a given way and he gives the logos
around that pathos, example being he gives a situation like your boss asks you to
work overtime but you already made plans with your spouse and friends what do you
do. Stephen Covey believes in certain ideas to follow in order for you to become a
successful individual and these ideas and hypotheticals, whether he intended them
to or not, can also apply to thinking about a college major.
- He agrees with others in the idea of thinking things through, and taking the time for
making a decision
- “ ‘Assume you only have this one semester to live,’ I tell my students, ‘and that
during this semester you are to stay in school as a good student.” (page 139, bottom
paragraph)
- “The leader is the one who climbs the tallest tree, surveys the entire situation, and
yells, ‘Wrong jungle!’ But how do the busy, efficient producers and managers often
respond? ‘Shut up! We’re making progress.”
- I’d most likely use this source to give the reader something to contemplate on when
it comes to deciding a major. Specifically I’d ask them to think about the first one and
how I originally reacted to it.
2) Decision Time:
Straumsheim, Carl. “Study Finds Students Benefit from Waiting to Declare a Major.” ​Study
Finds Students Benefit from Waiting to Declare a Major​, 24 Aug. 2016,
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2016/08/24/study-finds-students-benefit-waiting-declare-m
ajor​.
- Carl Straumsheim is a writer/journalist for the website inside higher education, this article
was used for the university writing program. The rhetorical situation of the article is the
question “would changing a major cause problems for me graduating” and the audience
is students who
- The main idea of this piece is that switching your major in college could actually
be a good thing. He uses reports, studies, and charts as evidence for this general idea.
The conclusion made from these reports are all reasonable due to them being proven
trends/events in these situations.
Straumsheim uses logos through showing evidence of how switching majors can
actually be beneficial, proving his main points. He uses pathos through the general
emotions that arise when concerning if switching majors, specifically that of fear and
doubt. These emotions which anyone can feel helps the audience make a connection to
the author and the text so they start seeing this viewpoint. Carl Straumsheim questions
the idea that you can’t switch out of a major because that will throw you completely off
course in college.
- He would agree with the ideas of trying to think through the decision/decisions in
general.
- “ ​Most students -- as many as 80 percent in some surveys -- will switch majors at one
point during their time in college.”
- “​For example, students who never switched majors had a slightly lower graduation rate
than did students who made a switch. While graduation rates hovered around 83 percent
for students who finalized their major during their second semester or later, students who
declared a major during their first semester in college and stuck with it were four
percentage points less likely to graduate.”

- I’d use this source to try and give a sense of peace/calm the reader and not fear the idea
of switching majors, that it isn’t the worst option,
3) Lyle’s Laws:
Feisel, Lyle D. ​Lyle’s Laws : Reflections on Ethics, Engineering, and Everything Else .​ New
York: Brooklyn River Press, 2013. Print.
- Lyle D. Feisel is an engineer, professor, and University dean whos book Lyle’s Laws is
used in the engineering program. This book is meant for students or generally anyone
starting out and it’s idea is to present some life principles to follow for success.
- The purpose of this piece is to present a series of principles to help you in life,
academia, work, etc. He uses experiences or situations to explain the logic behind ideas
he has chosen. He doesn’t use statistics for the most part, instead using stories from his
life or general situations to help get his ideas across. The conclusions he makes are all
reasonable given the evidence around them.
Feisel uses pathos in a way to give a sense of comfort, all the stories he gives
show light hearted, familiar emotions to them which helps get the audience to
 understand these views. Feisel uses logos in the basic reasoning behind each “Law” to
get the audience to understand the general ideas of each. Lyle Feisel argues that there
are several basic principles or “Laws” that can help people in their lives.
- Feisel agrees with the shared idea of deciding your course and thinking through the
major questions in life.
- “In the end, however, you are the one responsible for the direction and distance
traveled.”(Feisel 82)
- “Are you willing to put your back into it?”(Feisel 81)
- I would use these quotes as things my audience should think over/contemplate in order
to make a final decision. They are simple ideas but are very important to really think
about and if you take the time they may help you find an answer you were looking for.

4) Major Decisions:
By CECILIA CAPUZZI SIMON. "Major Decisions". ​The New York Times, ​November 4, 2012
Sunday.
https://advance-lexis-com.librarylink.uncc.edu/api/document?collection=news&id=urn:contentIte
m:56YW-G7P1-JBG3-61V8-00000-00&context=1516831​. Accessed October 1, 2019.
- Cecilia Capuzzi Simon is a journalist who has written for the New York Times, the
Washington post, and many others. She specializes in education, health, and
psychology. The rhetoric situation of her article is why is there so much confusion
regarding to deciding a major and what should you do about it. The audience for this
piece is most likely early to pre college students having concerns about what to major in.
- The general idea of this piece is the concern about picking a major for college.
The evidence for this are the basic points that cause confusion, like the number of
majors in a school. She uses examples of schools, their major range or programs, and
quotes from experts in this field. What she draws from these sources is well within
reason these are all natural reactions/ideas to come from these viewpoints.
The text mainly sticks to logos, since this is regarding the situation of deciding on
a major, clarity and logic are best in trying to solve this problem. The logos is more basic,
A -> B style, were one idea or piece of evidence helps an idea. Pathos is just used for
the starting or guiding emotion, since when your dealing with picking a major doubt
would be a strong emotion for that situation. Cecilia Capuzzi Simon observes that there
are key ideas that can affect the decision of a college major.
- This source agrees with the general idea of taking a look at yourself and who you are,
and you must take the time when making the decisions of life.
- “​At the University of Michigan and Arizona State University, students choose from a
dizzying 251 and 250 majors, respectively.” (Simon)
- “ ​Still, it’s difficult to predict the employment market, says Michele Campagna, the
executive director of the Center for Advising and Student Transitions at Montclair State.
Many students choose majors they think will lead to jobs, but ‘four years from now,’ she
says, ‘freshmen will be applying for jobs that don’t even exist today.” (Simon)
 - “It makes no sen​se, she says, to “suffer through a major” because you think it will lead to
employment. “We tell students, ‘Find a major that makes you intellectually engaged, that
expands your brain and deepens your understanding of the world.’ ”(Simon)
- ‘“Exploratory’ is the new undeclared. Colleges have moved away from the
negative-sounding ‘undecided’ label to encourage students to experiment with unfamiliar
disciplines and, perhaps, discover a passion and career path.” (Simon)
- Id use these quotes to help explain some of the psychology behind how people may
decide majors and some good ideas that can help guide people into making decisions.
5) Considerations for Selecting a College Major:
(May 29, 2014 Thursday). Considerations for Selecting a College Major. ​US Official News.
Retrieved from
https://advance-lexis-com.proxy4.athensams.net/api/document?collection=news&id=urn:content
Item:5C9X-1SJ1-J9XT-P2BN-00000-00&context=1516831​.
- This article is from Us Official News by Florida National university, is available through
Nexis Uni, from the UNCC library site. The situation of this piece of text is a series of
suggestions to think of when deciding your major. The text is meant for prior college
students.
- The main goal of the text is a series of ideas to look into when trying to decide
your major. The piece develops this through simple ideas to think about and through
basic logic. The piece uses mostly quotes in reference to the central idea. All
conclusions made by these quotes are in reason and give a clear sense of logic for what
they say.
The article mainly uses logos by giving clear ideas and questions that will help
clear confusion on the hectic idea of picking your college/career path. The use of pathos
is more just meant for the reader themselves, however they react will in turn give them
information/answers they needed. Florida National University acknowledges that in order
to decide on what major you want you must first think about several key aspects to help
you determine your major.
- This one agrees with the idea that there are important factors to consider when picking
majors, and to not feel you are entirely bound to one choice but there are consequences
to every action.
- “Undecided students should begin with taking classes in subjects that they are already
excited about. However, they should also be open to exploring new passions through
attending classes that they never imagined taking! You might not know about your love
for analyzing the way the human brain works if you have never studied it before.”
- “If something is easy for you, it probably means that it comes naturally. Being talented in
a particular subject does not necessarily mean that you want to spend the rest of your
life engulfed in it. While talent can play a part in your interests and projected career path,
it should never solely determine a major or career choice.”
- “When you are declaring a major, you need to consider the long-term implications of this
choice. Rather than immediately declaring a major in that subject that comes easy, try
something that you are passionate about, instead!”
 - “If a student is torn between studying criminal justice and nursing, they should
meet with advisors from each department and go over the expectations and
requirements for that degree, along with the career paths and job outlook for
these options.”
- “his article goes on to reveal, “Blindly pursuing a degree solely for financial reasons can
backfire if a student washes out because of lack of ability or switches majors, or schools,
because of a lack of interest” (Weston).”
- Id use these quotes as important ideas to think over when it comes to deciding
majors/contemplating if the major you picked was a good one

6) Rich Kids Study English:

Pinsker, Joe. “Rich Kids Major in English.” ​The Atlantic​, Atlantic Media Company, 6 July
2015,
https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/07/college-major-rich-families-liberal-arts/39
7439/​.
- Joe Pinsker is a staff writer for The Atlantic who covers family and education. This
article asks if the economic statues of your family affect your decision in major. The
audience for this is a combination of college students and parents of students.
- The central idea presented by Joe Pinsker is could the economic status of your
family in anyway affect your choice in college majors and how it affects you later on. He
develops this idea through trends and charts. The author uses quotes, charts, and data to
help develop the overall idea of the text. All conclusions drawn are within reason due to
them all being from trends or of sound mental reasoning.
The article uses logos through its use of quotes and charts, showing the patterns
and to convince the audience there is some reasoning behind the choice in major. The
article uses pathos only in that the general topic invokes emotions of confusion,
uncertainties and the feeling of wanting to provide in relation to college major and job
choice. Pinsker questions if the economic background of the student has any affect on
their decision of what to major in and how will that affect them later on.
- This source agrees with the others in that outside factors can affect your decisions and
the document also shares the idea that basing decisions around those ideas might not be
the best and rather you should focus on you.
- “​Kids from lower-income families tend toward “useful” majors, such as computer
science, math, and physics. Those whose parents make more money flock to history,
English, and performing arts.”(Pinsker)
- “​His plan was that in turn, those practical subjects would give his children’s children
room “to study painting, poetry, music, architecture, statuary, tapestry, and
porcelaine.’”(Pinsker)
 - I would use this to address some thought patterns people have when making this
decision and take other quotes from different texts to explore this thought process more.
7) Self-Determined Motivation to Choose Coll​ege Majors, Its Antecedents, and
Outcomes: A Cross-Cultural Investigation:
Yu, Shi et al. “Self-Determined Motivation to Choose College Majors, Its Antecedents, and
Outcomes: A Cross-Cultural Investigation.” ​Journal of Vocational Behavior​ 108 (2018):
132–150. Web.
- Shi Yu is a writer with several books located in atkins, all of which have been peer
reviewed. The general rhetorical situation of this document is how the psychological
aspect of a person can greatly affect a person in there college major. The audience
is obviously students entering/in college.
- Shi Yu’s general idea is that the emotional and mental state of a person can
extremely affect the person’s academic life and college major. This is developed
through basic logic, psychology and research. Shi Yu uses data, quotes, resources
and research to support the logic. All conclusions are based off simple but
reasonable logic so their conclusions are of sound mind.
The text mainly focuses on using logos, using logic through sources and
research to help describe the ideas and principles. Pathos is not used directly, but
it’s present in that the emotions/feelings of the person is a key component to the
central idea, it being that state of mind can affect the outcome of college majors. Shi
Yu argues that the state of mind and feelings of a person can affect their college
major greatly.
- This author agrees with the others that a person’s viewpoint can affect things and
that really thinking about it and the later parts is something you should do.
- “​By contrast, when people do things because they feel​ ​guilt​, ​shame, or internal pressure
(introjected extrinsic motivation); because of external coercion (external extrinsic
motivation); or for no particular reason (amotivation), their behavior is not well-integrated
into the human organism and alienated from their self, that is, non-self-determined.” (Yu)
- “Specifically, when students choose their major for self-determined reasons, the major is
more in line with their organismic self; students will be able to function better in their
major because of the sense of personal interest and volition they experience from
engaging in this major.” (Yu)
- Id use these quotes to describe how important the view on a major can be important, if
you like something then it can do greatly and vice-versa, to give the reader insight on
what they should focus on being important for college majors.

8) Deciding on a College Major: Commitment Trajectories, Career Exploration,

and Academic Well-Being:
Dietrich, Julia, Lichtwarck-Aschoff, Anna, and Kracke, Bärbel. “Deciding on a College Major:
Commitment Trajectories, Career Exploration, and Academic Well-Being.” ​Diskurs
Kindheits- und Jugendforschung​ 8.3 (2013): 305–318. Print.
 - Julia Dietrich, Ann Lichtwarck-Aschoff, and Barbel Kracke are several authors who
are all peer reviewed. They are all professors at different universities, some of which
have PhD’s. The audience for this work is a mix of students going into/in college and
parents of those students. The general idea is the thought process and decisions of
students when it comes to college majors.
- The three author’s main idea for the passage is how the thought process of
youths entering college impact the decision of majors. This is developed through
examples and test data to show how this is developed. The text uses a mix of
sources, quotes, studies, and test data. The conclusions drawn from these
references are in reason since they are based around test and examples to show an
idea is present.
The document first uses logos through past events and situations that are
minds will obviously draw a clear connection from, and uses sources to help prove
the overall points. The document uses pathos in general emotions, touches upon the
feelings students might have and what emotions might arise out of a certain
situation. Dietrich, Lichtwarck-Aschoff, and Kracke believe that the decisions of
college majors is impacted upon by the mental state of the youth picking it.
- These authors agree with the idea that the feelings of the students can impact the
decision making process of majors in a series of ways.
- “The issue of making occupational commitments hence becomes an urgent matter
right before going through the transition from high-school to college (cf.
Dietrich/Parker/Salmela-Aro 2012).” (Dietrich, Lichtwarck-Aschoff, Kracke, 306)
- “ They propose that the choice process occurs in a series of six phases: (1)
becoming concerned about career choice, (2) generating possible alternatives, (3)
reducing the alternatives, (4) deciding among few options, (5) establishing a
commitment to the chosen option, and (6) being decided and firmly committed to
one's choice.” (Dietrich, Lichtwarck-Aschoff, Kracke, 306)
- I’d use these quotes as both a way deciding a major is affected and as a method to
use when deciding a major.

9) Choose Wisely: A Study of College Major Choice and Major Switching:

Wright, Cameron, and Goldman, Charles A. “Choose Wisely: A Study of College Major
Choice and Major Switching.” ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 2018. Web.
- Cameron Wright is a writer with a master’s in writing and public relations from
westminster with several books under his belt. The idea behind this document is to
explore the college major decision process. The main audience is a mix of students,
parents of students and college faculty.
- The main theme of this work is to go in depth on the decision making process when
it’s in regard to college majors and the effects of it. This theme is developed through
using examples of test studies and logical reasoning. The author references test
 studies from books and documents. The conclusions are in reason because they are
in correlation to a study or something along the lines.
The article uses logos in the sources they described and explaining them,
showing the logic around a claim. The article uses pathos in just the general
emotions surrounding this issue, being confusion, doubt and uncertainty. Cameron
Wright, the author, argues there is a certain way of thinking that is involved in
deciding majors for your college life.
- Wright agrees with the general idea that there are factors that affect how students
choose majors and it is important to take the time to look at yourself to find the best
answer.
- “The financial burden of tuition has long been a significant challenge, but these
challenges have grown in recent times. Inflation-adjusted in-state tuition costs at
four-year public institutions have grown 185% nationally between 2001 and 2016, and
are projected to continue to rise over the coming years (Ma et al., 2016).”
- “Students make college major decisions with imperfect information and this can cause
inefficiency in course taking and degree completion stemming from mismatches between
student and major.”
- These quotes will be used to present the reader with a conflict that affects the decisions
of picking a major and deciding to change a major.

10) Six Myths About Choosing Your College Major:

By JEFFREY J. SELINGO. "Six Myths About Choosing Your College Major". ​The New York
Times, N​ ovember 5, 2017 Sunday.
https://advance-lexis-com.librarylink.uncc.edu/api/document?collection=news&id=urn:contentIte
m:5PWG-6PS1-JBG3-635X-00000-00&context=1516831​. Accessed October 11, 2019.
- Jeffrey J. Selingo is a bestselling author and award-winning columnist, he is a professor
at Arizona state, worked at the New York Times, has a bachelor’s in journalism from
Ithaca College, and a master’s in government from Johns Hopkins University. The
rhetorical situation is to address the assumptions/false ideas people have about college
majors. The intended audience are the people involved in influencing the choice a
student has in majors, and primarily students.
- Selingo’s main purpose in the article is to correct the myths many people have
about picking a major. He does this by addressing the myths & the assumptions related
to them and then citing evidence or logic to disprove them. Jeffrey mainly uses quotes
from individuals and data to help his general idea. The sources are in reason, with some
used as examples of misconceptions or were made by professionals.
The articles use of logos is through a combination of basic logic and connections,
from A leads to B in a sense, and through the use of professionals to help give the
general idea reason to it. The article uses pathos less so, using the emotions of doubts
and concerns as the basis to construct his arguments. Some people believe there are
certain rules in picking a major while Jeffrey J. Selingo argues some of these are actually
false in regards to picking majors.
- Selingo agrees with the others in that there are certain misconceptions causing
problems for student’s college lives in regards to majors, and there are some things the
students need to take into consideration when deciding a major.
- ​“Students get plenty of advice about picking a major. It turns out, though, that most of it
is from family and friends, according to a September Gallup survey. Only 11 percent had
sought guidance from a high school counselor, and 28 percent from a college adviser.”
- “ Myth 1: For the big money, STEM always delivers.

It's true that computer science and engineering top all the pay rankings, but salaries

within specific majors vary greatly.”

- “Interpretive dance may not be in demand, but the competencies that liberal arts majors

emphasize -- writing, synthesis, problem solving -- are sought after by employers.”

- These quotes will be used to help clear confusion and to give new perspective on what

to be focusing on.