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Kayla Drew
Mr. Salow
English 11
9 January 2017
Big Outline
Thesis: Both sides of the free education debate tend to have logical arguments given upon the premises
they take, but the pro side uses ethos and pathos to round out their arguments where logos fails, and the
con side uses ethos and pathos as an extra blow to the oppositions argument.
The debate of free education has logos on both sides, using logic to the best of their premises
abilities, but they use the additional persuasion differently. The pro side argues as if they are presenting a
grand solution to save mankind that often has many shaky premises. The con side argues in the manner of
a response, focusing on shooting down the points the pro side brings forward without contributing ideas
of their own. The argument ends up going nowhere because the two sides are focused on destroying each
other and gaining followers rather than fixing a problem.

Primarily logos with shaky premises is good for persuasion but not a sound argument.
Logos is used excessively as it gives data and statistics, but the logos is
used in a strange manner upon a premise is rather unsupported for being the cornerstone
of the argument. The data given to the reader is data supporting their conclusion, but it
does not explain how it came to the idea that spans the introduction.
The economics and demographics of the State have
changed so much, however, that the Master Plan is no longer tenable (Keith 3)
This argument in the article does has
statistics and good logic, but the author relies on this statement to be
valid to support the rest of their argument. The rest of the article gives no
evidence as to how it has changed but rather the reader must simply trust
the author.

The wealthiest citizens sent their children largely to the

University of California system; the poorest attended a community college where

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most neither transferred to a four-year institution nor even graduated from the
two-year institution (Tierney 3)

Their premise is fairly rested upon this,

but they support no evidence for, acting as if it is common knowledge,

and also, they rest on the idea that this is a bad thing. This does not
address drive. With a strong drive, even the poorest of students can
attend a quality college, and without drive at all, the wealthiest citizen is

not going to get very far.

Using ethos to verify an argument with no explanation of the premises makes for a smart

but not necessarily stable argument.

This comes in terms of using someones prestige or authority to argue a
point without explaining the beginning ideas of the point. They do not explain, rather
state an opinion as if it is fact with nothing to back up the said opinion. People will then
listen to the writer and give them more credibility because someone with great prestige
says it must be so.

a $1,000 increase in the maximum Pell Grant award to

help working and middle class families (House 1)

This is one of the long list of President
Obamas accomplishments to establish his ethos, downplaying the topic
in favor of the Presidents accomplishments. It does not help much with
the articles main point.
federal funding will cover three-quarters of the average
cost of community college (House 2) AND states that choose to participate will
be expected to contribute the remaining funds (House 2)
These two quotes are part of the articles
main idea on free education and where the money comes from. Instead of
having an extended and detailed explanation of the topic, it is replaced
by the long list of accomplishments to push for an appeal to ethos.
No-charge higher education was guaranteed by the
USSR Constitution (Bain 1)

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The use of history is a type of ethos

since the interpretation of the history she used is appealing to her

credibility as knowing and understanding Russian history, especially to

the readers who have minimal knowledge of Russian history.

Negative ethos has its own positive effect on people.
Some ethos is not used to shed a positive light on the article but rather
take responsibility for the flaws that might occur within the articles. This is a rather good
persuasion tactic because it, while tearing down some credibility, actually builds up
respect for the writer at hand and makes the reader more open to accepting what they
have to say. It shows them not to be allegedly ignorant to the flaws in their argument and
supports them in a way because they are addressed already. However, this also gives the
reader a clear path to tearing down their argument since the mistakes are clearly pointed
out.

[he] only know California from visits, regional

conferences, and [his] studies here at USC (Keith 3)

The author acknowledges in this all
errors he might commit due to his lack of time he has spent in California,
which adds to his credibility and appearance of humility.
Perhaps the most significant limitation of this study is
the potential for sampling bias inherent in opt-in surveys (Dillahunt 15)
The author here acknowledges all the
limitations of their research and the most significant one that could
severely cripple their data. In this, they expose themselves to serious
criticism, but they also develop a trust between the author and the reader

that the author is not going to lie to them.

Using pathos to transition from logic with shaky premises makes for a weak argument.
This is when the writer uses emotions to convince the reader of taking a
leap of faith between islands of logic. The two strands of logos might have nothing
similar, but the writer uses the emotions of the reader to sway them to dismiss the lack of
a logical pathway between two arguments coming to an odd conclusion.

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only [the 100 9th graders] are not mythical. They are

our sons and daughters and neighbors (Tierney 16)

The author uses this statement to
transition from the idea of the underprepared students to why they
believe free tuition is the solution to this problem. They add no facts or
even a clear connection as to how free tuition would help with this or
how this could solve their problem of underprepared students not making

it through college.
Using pathos as an attention grabber is an effective tactic, even if it makes the argument a

little shaky.

Pathos can be used to spark emotions in the reader. These emotions then

can be used to maintain the readers attention and lean them in or against the article.
key findings (Eden 2)
This is the title of a list on the article. It
is compiled evidence deemed to be surprising to the reader, to spark their
attention either through interest or indignation.
international comparisons render as dubious the
assumption that free tuition in the U.S. would lead to higher numbers of college
graduates (Eden 2)

This is one of the statements in the prior

quote, the supposed key finding. It completely contrasts to the main

idea of the oppositions argument and is further explained in the text. The
emotions that could be sparked from this statement could propel a reader
to continue in the article.
this moral principle has religious and philosophical
roots, and is found throughout American culture (Keith 3)
In this quote, the moral principle the
article speaks of is the idea of helping those who have less than you.
Morals are a useful tool to bring up, especially with pathos appeals,
because if you disagree with their point, you are deemed a bad person.

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through careful planning, however, discriminatory

practices can be eliminated (Tierney 16)

The word discriminatory is in
reference to the statement they have about how some groups of students
are often found in low-paying jobs due to their lack of academic
opportunities. This word is often used to fire people up because it is so

controversial.
Using pathos to cause questioning upon the oppositions ethos is an effective tactic.
Small strikes at a pathos appeal can be used effectively against an
opponent. Since humans are creatures of great emotion, it is useful to use this element in
manipulation. This is when the author will use words to bring up great emotions from the
reader, and through those words, they will cast a doubtful light on the opposition, putting
the ethos of the other side into question.
In Reality (Cooper 1)
In the article, this is written in large font
at the beginning of the first page. It puts forth the idea onto the
opposition that they are delusional and questions their credibility through
the use of in reality as the antonym is a fantasy.
the narrative (Eden 1) and reality (Eden 1)
Both these quotes are stuck together in
the article, in large font, meant to attract the attention of the reader. It
refers the narrative as the opposition and reality to their argument.
Narrative puts forth the meaning of it being a story, and that the author is
pulling away the blinds from the eyes of the reader.