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Rosemary Cruz Actual

Professor Jon Beadle

English 115

15 December 2020

Project Space

In the essays, “Bridge the ​Gap From ​High School to College'' by Haley Jones; “Safe

Space or Wasted Space” by Ranzen Pangilinan; and “Online Lesson: Literal and Figurative” by

Mercedes Guevara we analyze which essay has the most effective argument and made effective

through ethos, pathos, and logos. All these essays talk about different topics from the transition

from high school to college to how technology expands your way of learning. In my opinion the

one with the most effective argument is “Safe Space or Wasted Space” by Ranzen Pangilinan

because it effectively uses the three rhetorical strategies: ethos, logos, and pathos. She effectively

supports her thesis by using data from a medical survey. She shares the importance of having a

safe place to be yourself without criticism from other people that don’t understand what it means

to be part of the LGBTQ+ community ​by using rhetorical strategies effectively ​she​ is able ​to

effectively emphasize with her intended audience about the importance of having a Pride Center.

The first rhetorical strategy used is ethos which is used to show the audience the author's

credibility in the topic they are talking about. In the essay, “Safe Space or Wasted Space” by

Pangilinan, ​she talks about how Pride Center is important because they ​provide the​ LGBTQ+

Community ​with ​a safe space and ​also explains the importance of having a price center at each

academic institution.​ ​In the essay the author Pangilinan says, "The USU Pride Center at CSUN is

an extremely important part of campus because it provides a safe space for LGBT+
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student"(​Pangilinan​ 60). Pangilinan​ effectively uses rhetorical strategies ethos by explaining the

reason and impotence of the pride center for people part of the LGBTQ+ community ​. In the

essay “Bridge Gap from High School to College” by ​Haley ​Jones, ​she ​goes over the importance

of the transition from highschool to college and the challenges students will face through this

important transition.​ ​In the essay the author says, "For those who believe their path to

success is through academics, the tran-sitional process into college is one of the most difficult

and life-altering"(Jones 25). Jones ​used the rhetorical strategy ethos by talking about something

she already has had experience for; she herself has gone through the highschool to college

transition which makes her a reliable source.​ Lastly in the ​third ​Waves essay “Online Lesson:

Literal and Figurative” by Guevara, she talks ​about her personal experience through online

learning and how technology does not dimension but expands our way of learning. Showing

ethos because she herself has seen the benefits of online learning through personal experience.

The author says, “My experience with a technology-based education challenged me to excel

in everything I did”(Guevara 91). Guevara uses ethos to talk about her own personal experience

when it comes to learning online, which was both a good and bad experience for her. She

explains how she procrastinate when it came to doing her work online, but learned a valuable

lesson from her mistakes. She learned to take her work more seriously and not procrastinate

because it will just make things more difficult​ for herself​. Because of the experience she has had

with online schooling experience she became more responsible and it shaped her way of

thinking. Although all three essays use ethos the most effective would be Pangilinan because she

uses ethos to establish her credibility when talking about the importance of the pride center at

CSUN and ​its importance of having one at ​other educational institutions.

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The second​ rhetorical strategy used by these authors is pathos to appeal to the reader's

emotions. ​Pangilinan ​says, " No matter who you are, you won’t be shunned for being

yourself. Here in the Pride Center, you can express yourself more so than at

home."(​Pangilinan ​60). She appeals to the readers and especially ​to ​those part of the LGBTQ+

community ​by telling them that they have a safe place to be themselves other than their homes.

In the essay “Bridge the Cap form High School to College'' by Jones she says, " Several key

factors contribute positively or negatively to this transitional process and set it apart from the

college experience itself"(Jones 25). Jones uses pathos to relate with the reader and how the

transition from high school to college can become difficult if you're not ready for it. Lastly,

Guevara states, “Although having a technology-based education is often questioned by

others, it was a learning experience for me like no other”(Guevara 91). Guevara uses pathos by

evoking emotions on how this experience shaped her into the person she now is and how it

shaped her way of thinking. Although all authors used pathos I believe that Guevara could have

used more to connect more with the audience because it was weak; it only talks​ about the

transition from highschool to college. I think it could have been stronger if it talked about the

transition in general for all people because it's not only hard for highschool students recently out

but people just in general.​ Panagilinan uses pathos effectively connecting with the audience of

the LGBTQ+ community and others by including both points of view but still insisting the need

for a Pride center in each educational institution.

When using logos they are using data or facts to persuade ​the audience with facts that

help further explain the topic and engage the reader further.​ The essay “Safe Space or Wasted

Space”​ by​ ​Pangilinan​, he adds on to​ the importance of the Pride center by citing an outside
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source that says, "More than 40% of les-bian, gay, and bisexual students surveyed had seriously

considered suicide in the previous year, and nearly 30 percent had attempted it” (qtd in

Sadowski). ​The author supports their thesis by providing evidence that supports the program by

using data from the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention which talks about the

percentage of slides within the LGBTQ+ community because of the discrimination they

expeirence thereby using logos. ​Jones uses an outside source Regina Hill and she states that “the

college transi-tion begins with college choice, which can be impacted by factors including

loca-tion, finances, degree programs, environment, and institutional prestige.”(Hill 25). She uses

explains how the transition from highschool to college play into the many transition steps you

have to go through.​Lasly, in the essay “Online Lesson: Literal and Figurative” Guevara uses an

outside source which says, “Technology is a platform in which social media and

networking exists, but this does not lessen the ability of someone to write, rather it increases the

exposure to various styles of writing.” (509). Guevara uses this fact to show the importance of

technology for educational purposes. She supports​ the evidence she provided by writing about

the benefits technology brings to students by helping them work effectively by letting them

control how and when they do the work assigned.​ Out of these three essays ​Pangilinan uses logos

the most effectively by giving data from a credible source and using more than one source. Her

source is credible because it is data from the U.S.​ Center for Disease Control and Prevention

which talked about the alarming rate of suide or thought of suicides coming from people in the

LGBTQ+ community.

All things considered the essay from Waves with the most effective argument​ and use of

all three rhetorical strategies ethos, logos, and pathos ​is “Safe Space or Wasted Space” by
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Ranzen Pangilinan. Although all three essays did use rhetorical strategies they were not used as

effectively as the one by Pangilinan. For example, Guevara uses only one source when using

logos to prove her point that technology improves our education rather than dimension it. In

“Bridge the Gap from High School to College'' Jones does not effectively relate to the audience;

she just explains why the process will be difficult if you are not prepared for the work load or the

transition from high school to college. For these reasons I think that Pangilinan’s essay has the

most effective argument because it uses all the three rhetorical strategies; ethos, logos, and

pathos effectively and gets straight to the point in order to prove her argument effectively to the

reader.
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Cited Work

Mercedes Guevara. “Online Lessons: Literal and Figurative.” WAVES: A Collection of Student

Essays by Amy Reynolds and Amber Norwood, Editors and Corin Marie Alvarado and Joseph

Jaffray, Assistant Editors. 2nd edition, Macmillian learning, 2020, pp. 89-91

Hill, Regenia, et al. “Factors Affecting College Choice and Transfer: A Study of the

Haily Jones. “Bridge the Gap from High School to College.” WAVES: A Collection of Student

Essays by Amy Reynolds and Amber Norwood, Editors and Corin Marie Alvarado and Joseph

Jaffray, Assistant Editors. 2nd edition, Macmillian learning, 2020, pp. 25-27

"Lunsford, Andrea. “Our Semi-Literate Youth? Not So Fast.” The Norton Sampler: Short

Essays for Composition. 9th ed, edited by Thomas Cooley, W.W. Norton & Company, 2018,

508–512"

Ranzen Pangilinan. “Safe Space or wasted space?” WAVES: A Collection of Student Essays by

Amy Reynolds and Amber Norwood, Editors and Corin Marie Alvarado and Joseph Jaffray,

Assistant Editors. 2nd edition, Macmillian learning, 2020, pp. 60-62

Sadowski, Michael. “For LGBT Students, Are ‘Safe Schools’ Enough?” Educa-tion

Week, 20 Feb. 2019,

www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2016/10/12/for-lgbt-students-are-safe-schools-enough.html."