Mahanian 1

Ariela Mahanian

Professor Jon Beadle

English 115

25 September 2020

Project Space Final Essay

Many people have different opinions on which article in WAVES has the most

effective argument. The three articles being compared here are, “Online Lessons:

Literal and Figurative” by Mercedes Guevara, “Bridge the Gap from High School to

College” by Hailey Jones, and “Safe Space or Wasted Space?” by Ranzen Pangilinan.

These articles all talk about totally different situations and experiences and do not share

any interests with each other. In my personal opinion, the most effective argument is the

one presented in the article “Online Lessons: Literal and Figurative” by Mercedes

Guevara because it uses pathos, ethos and logos the most effectively out of the three

other essays, by stating emotions, logic, and credibility and by making these online

students feel less stressed and more excited about online learning and the advantages

it gives to all. These students include groups of people who are doing online learning

and groups of students who are looking into getting involved with online schooling.

Mercedes Guevara, in the essay, “Online Lessons: Literal and Figurative” uses

all three of the rhetorical strategies the most effectively to make her claim compared

with how “Bridge the Gap from High School to College” and “Safe Space or Wasted

Space?” stated their claims. Guevara explains that online school offers students many

educational ways to improve on themselves because of the advantage of being able to

work at your own pace to complete each of the deadlines for your technology-based
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classes. She supports her explanation by sharing her experiences with online school

and how it challenged and provided her with valuable lessons that are still implemented

in her daily life today. Guevara continues to talk about how it was her own choice to

pursue online learning because it was a more laid back and different experience. She

went into online schooling not expecting the amount of positive life learning experiences

that were gained from this. She’s making a logical argument by explaining how “online

school has taught time management, academic writing, and thorough reading” (Guevara

89). The education learning concepts with online school compared with in-person

school were very much different as well. With in-person class, students have to

complete their class assignments in class, the same time and day, which tends to stress

some students out at times. Compared with online classes, it is asserted with credibility

that "The time I could begin and finish class was up to me. Would I procrastinate and

start school at 10 p.m.? Or would I start at 8 a.m. so that I could have the day off after

noon? The choice was mine” (89). This argues in a credible way how you can make

your own schedule when dealing with online classes. Mercedes also shows how you

are given less exams and quizzes online, compared to when you are physically at

school. Mercedes shares her experience to her readers that one of the main important

factors of what online schools teach people is how to properly use important software’s

that will be used throughout college and students' work lives: “I have learned how to use

Excel, PowerPoint, and Word” (Guevara 90). She’s giving credit to these online

software’s in which everyone should know how to operate for being successful. She

uses her positive advice to convince teenagers and young adults that such an

experience could emotionally make you more comfortable with being in school and to
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show how online is a more convenient, more comfortable work space to learn from. It

can emotionally make an individual feel better because they will be studying and

learning in a more relaxed and comfortable environment by having the advantage to

stay at home in your bedroom.

The essay, “Bridge the Gap from High School to College,” by Hailey Jones is not

as effective as “Online Lessons: Literal and Figurative” by Mercedes Guevara because

it misses a few factors to the argument that would have made it a more effective choice.

It lacks the appealing sensibilities to logical evidence, as well as a lack of credible

evidence and proof to why college is different from college. She does however use

pathos to win her argument over with strong emotions of her past years in high school.

What the author does do is prove her thesis by claiming that the transition process from

high school to college must begin with the assessment of certain information, which

starts off with being “financially, socially, and culturally stable” (Jones 25). She

succeeds in explaining how the two levels of schooling are different but not in depth why

they are. For example, when you’re in high school your complete assignments and tests

to work towards a grade for graduation, but in college you study hard to work towards a

degree for a career that fits you best and which will make you successful in the work

force and in the future of yourself. Jones addresses how you have to be prepared for

the difference in grading from high school versus college. In high school, “you could fail

a test or an assignment and be okay because you have plenty of other assignments to

recover your grade” (Jones 25). College does not give you the advantage of fixing your

low grade as fast as it could be in high school because of the less assignments given

and the higher percentage of test grades that get added to your total score. As you
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could see, Hailey’s essay has proven evidence that attaches to her thesis but her

audience does not get as much motivation as Mercedes Guevara’s article because

Guevara’s thesis statement attracts more young students who are in school rather than

just only rising freshmen in college.

Finally, the last comparison is the article “Safe Space or Wasted Space?” by

Ranzen Pangilinan. The author makes a claim about how the USU Pride Center at

CSUN is an extremely important part of campus because it provides a safe space for

LGBTQ+ students. Pangilinan supports his claim by stating that it’s a place on campus

that provides LGBTQ+ students a place to socialize without judgement. “Safe Space or

wasted space?” is not as effective as my main observation of having “Online Lessons:

Literal and Figurative” being the most effective because it misses points that lead to my

thesis statement. This article only focuses on the emotions of teenagers and groups of

people in the LQBTQ+ community and how having a support system leads to a happier

life of living with being in the community. It does not really state a logical or credibility

argument because the topic really does not have much evidence of having the

credibility or logical reasoning because this is a subject that involves a lot of pathos. It is

proved that the safe space at CSUN is an important environment for LGBTQ+ students

to feel like they have people to talk to about their sexuality and to know others who

share the same sexuality as them. Pathos is used in this because it deals with the

emotions of these students or staff members and it makes them all feel comfortable to

be themselves. This community is here for support and comfort of others: “It helps with

their mental health as well because it is stated that, “many queer college students have

suicidal thoughts or actions as a direct result of the discrimination they face throughout
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college life” (Pangilinan 60). It is proved that the safe space at CSUN is an important

environment for LGBTQ+ students to feel like they have people to talk to about their

sexuality and to know others who share the same sexuality as them. The students'

experience was shown by the statement saying: "No matter who you are, you won’t be

shunned for being yourself” (Pangilinan 60). This pride center is not only on campus for

college students but for staff who need the support as well because there is only

positivity spread at this center of pride. The Pride Center is a non-discrimination safe

space for everyone and anyone. These safe spaces on campus have been proved to

improve the students' academics by improvising better grades because of the support

handed out to everyone who comes. It helps with their mental health as well because

“many queer college students have suicidal thoughts or actions as a direct result of the

discrimination they face throughout college life” (Pangilinan 61). There is no credibility

given in this article that leads to the rhetorical strategy of ethos.

In conclusion, “Online Lessons: Literal and Figurative” by Mercedes Guevara,

makes her audience feel trustworthy and convinces her audience about how life-altering

online learning can be. She explains to her readers on how much of an improvement

she has gained from switching to online school. The author’s purpose was to point out

the advantages and life lessons that online learning provided, so that she can compare

the different experiences and advantages she had with face-to-face public school.

Guevara writes in a joyful tone for students, who ranged from high school through

college students and for those who are interested in online learning. This article used

ethos, pathos, and logos the most effectively, compared to the two other articles

assigned to be analyzed from WAVES.

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Work Cited:

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

Essays edited by Amy Reynolds and Amber Norwood, 2nd edition, Macmillian learning,

2020, pp. 25-27

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

edited by Amy Reynolds and Amber Norwood, 2nd edition, Macmillian learning, 2020,

pp. 60-62

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

Essays by Amy Reynolds and Amber Norwood, 2nd edition, Macmillian learning, 2020, pp.

89-91