Covert 1

CourtneyCovert
WRTC103
SheilaFielding
21February2016
TheBallandChainofStudentsFutures:CollegeTuitionDebt
Inoursociety,educationisthekeytothefuture,aslifeincludingjobs,politics,etc.
requireanindividualtohavesomekindofeducationinordertobesuccessfulandwisein
makingdecisions.InanarticlebyJonWienertitledAimingHigher:MakeCollegeTuition
FreepublishedinTheNation,Wienerarguesthathightuitionisarootcauseformanyproblems
includingdebtandgettingbetterjobs.ThecompanionPSAcreatedbyCourtneyCovertcouldbe
publishedinastudentrunnewspaperforauniversityorwebsitelikeBuzzfeedthatisaimed
towardsyoungergenerationaudiencesandindividualsinvolvedorimpactedbythehigher
educationsystem;furthermore,itwouldhelptosupporttheargumentmadeinJonWieners
article.TherhetoricofJonWienersargumentandCourtneyCovertscompanionPSArelieson
ethos,pathos,andlogostoemphasizetheneedforfreecollegetuitionforstudentsinorderto
solvetheproblemscausedbyhightuitionrates.
InthearticlebyJonWiener,Wienermakestheargumentthatfreecollegetuitionfor
studentsisanecessitytosolvemanyproblemsoursocietyisfacing,andhearguesthatitisa
possibilityfortheUnitedStates.Hisfirstargumentisthepurposeandneedforeducationashe
statesthateducationservestoenablepeopletoincreasetheirlifetimeincomes,tohelpthem
understandtheworld,andtostimulatetheimaginationandinspirecreativityinallfields
(Wiener224).HebelievesthatfreetuitionisnecessaryandthatAmericashouldpayforitsothat

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ourcitizensarepreparedfortheirfuturesandarenotburdenedbyloadsofdebt.Heusesa
varietyofstatisticstoshowhowexpensivecollegehasbecomeforstudentsinourgeneration
includingloansandgrants.Anothermainpartofhisargumentisthatfreetuitionisactually
possibleinAmericaashetalksaboutothercountriesthathavefreetuition.Additionally,he
givesspecificexamplesofstatesthathavetriedtogivefreetuitionanddifferentproposalsof
payingfortuitionthathavebeenintroducedinCongress.Theseargumentssupporthisrationale
forwhytuitionisbothnecessaryandpossibleinAmerica.JonWienersintendedaudiencefor
thisargumentwouldbeAmericancitizensspecificallyyoungeraudiencessuchascollege
studentsandanyoneimpactedbythehighereducationsystem.Theauthoraimstowardsthis
audiencetoshowthemthenecessityforthischangeandtotakeactiontoactuallymakethis
changehappenintheUnitedStatesespeciallybecausetheseindividualswhoaremostlikelyto
worktowardsthischangeinAmerica.Theoverallstyleofthisargumentisveryscholarlyand
logical,fortheauthorusesavarietyofsources,statistics,andexamplestosupportandgivea
detailexplanationforhisarguments.Hispersonalcredentialsandhisuseofscholarlyoutside
sourcesinhisarticlesupportJonWienersargument.
Theethosappealcanbeseenthroughtheauthorscredentialsashehasexperience
writingaboutavarietyoftopicsincludinghistoryandAmericanissues(JonWiener).Wiener
isanexperiencedjournalist,historian,author,professor,andthecurrenthostandproducerofa
weeklypodcastforTheNation(JonWiener).Healsocitesavarietyofoutsidesourcessuchas
Forbesmagazine,Timemagazine,reportsfromcommitteeswithintheSenate,andtheCollege
Board.Forexample,hecitesaForbesmagazineinhisarticlewhenhestatesstudentdebtwill
provideasolidreturnonyourinvestment(Wiener224).Theauthorspersonalqualifications

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andhisuseofscholarlysourceshelpstocontributetoethosasthecredibilityofthearticlemakes
theargumentandclaimofthearticlemoreconvincingfortheaudience.Inadditiontohisuseof
ethos,JonWieneruseslogostomakehisargumentstrongerandmorepersuasiveforthe
audience.
Anotherstrongappealinthisauthorsargumentishisuseoflogosthroughhisinclusion
ofevidenceandlogicalreasoning.Wienerusesaspecificexampleofauniversitytoshowthe
increaseintuitionovertimebyincludingthecollegetuitionsoftheUniversityofCaliforniafrom
thestartofRonaldReaganscampaignforCAgovernorin1964until2010(Wiener224).More
evidenceoflogoswithinhisargumentistheuseofothercountriesasexamplesofthepossibility
offreetuition.HecomparestheUnitedStatestosimilarcountriessuchasSweden,Denmark,
Finland,andFrancetoshowthatifthesecountriescanofferfreetuition,thenitisalsopossible
fortheUnitedStatestoofferit(Wiener224).Lastly,heusesavarietyofstatisticstoshowthe
largescaleofthisissue.WienerincludestheCollegeBoardsstatisticonfederalspendingon
studentaidwhenhestatesthatthegovernmentspends$47billioningrants,$101billionin
loansand$20billionintaxcredits(Weiner224).Theuseofstatisticsandexampleshelps
supportthenecessityandpossibilityoffreetuitioninAmerica.Tomaketheargumentevenmore
convincing,Wieneralsomakesanemotionalappealthroughhisuseofpathos.
Thelastappealtheauthorusesinhisarticleistheuseofpathos.Heevokesthefeelingof
patriotismfortheUnitedStates,ashewantsindividualstowanttomakeAmericabetterand
solvetheproblemsforthefuture.Hesaysthatofferingfreetuitionprovidesopportunitiesfor
everyone,appealingtothepeoplessenseofcommunityanddesiretohelptoothers(Wiener
224).JonWienercontinuestoappealtothissenseofcommunityandthepeoplesdesireto

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improvethefutureofAmericawhenhesaysfreetuitionsolvestheproblemforthefuture,for
hearguesthatfreetuitionwouldhelpfuturegenerationsgetbetterjobsandwouldallowthemto
bebetterpreparedfortheworldastheywouldhavetheeducationtomakewisechoices(Wiener
224).Wienerusespathostostrengthentheargument,astheaudiencefeelsmoreconnected
emotionallytotheproblemandfeelsthattheissueofcollegetuitionisimportanttothem
personally.ThePSAthatcorrespondstothisarticlealsousesethos,logos,andpathosto
emphasizetheargumentoffreecollegetuitioninAmerica.

APSAcreatedbyCourtneyCovert
arguingforfreecollegetuitionfor
citizensinAmerica.

ThePSAtitledEndtheDebtwascreatedbyCourtneyCovert.Theintendedaudiencefor
thePSAisanyAmericancitizenespeciallythoseinvolvedinthegovernmentor
college/universities.TheauthorofthePSAistryingtoconvincetheaudiencethatdebtisa

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burdenonastudentsfutureandthatcollegetuitionshouldbefreeforstudents.ThePSA
includesanimageofcollegestudentsattheirgraduationceremony.Theimageincludescollege
studentwiththeamountofcollegedebtprintedonhisorhergraduationcap(StudentDebt).The
PSAincludesastatisticfromthearticlebyJonWieneraboutstudentdebtbeinghigherthan
creditcarddebt(Wiener225).ThestatementatthebottomofthePSAgivesademandtostop
lettingstudentdebtburdenandhinderstudentsfuturesbyendingthedebt.ThisPSAcallsthe
audiencetoactionbydemandinganendtocollegetuition.ThePSAalsoincludesthelogofrom
theCampaignforFreeCollegeTuition(CampaignforFreeCollegeTuition).Theauthorofthe
PSAusedethos,pathos,andlogostoemphasizetheneedforfreetuitionforAmericanstudents.
Theauthorusesethostohighlightthereasoningbehindtheneedforfreetuition.ThePSA
includesalogofromthenongovernmentorganizationcalledCampaignforFreeCollegeTuition
(CampaignforFreeTuition).TheauthorofthePSAisalsoacollegestudentwithdebt,soshe
understandsthescaleandseverityoftheissueofhighcollegetuition.However,theauthorisnot
anexpertontheissueofcollegetuitionanddoesnotknowtheallsidesandproblemsrelatingto
collegetuition;furthermore,theauthordoesnothavealltheknowledgeinwhatisnecessaryto
makecollegetuitionfreeinAmerica.Inadditiontoethos,heauthoralsouseslogostopersuade
theaudienceofthenecessityoffreecollegetuition
Theauthorsuseoflogosaddstothelogicalaspectoftheargumentbygivingspecific
detailstosupporttheclaim.TheauthorincludesthestatisticfromJonWienersargumentthat
statesstudentdebtinAmericanowfamouslyexceedscreditcarddebt,totalingmorethan$1
trillion(Wiener225).Thisstatisticaboutstudentdebthelpstoshowhowbigofaproblem
studentdebtreallyisinAmerica.ThePSAalsoincludesthestatementstoplettingdebtgetin

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thewayofourstudentsfutures,whichshowsalogicalreasontoendcollegedebt(Covert).The
useoflogosappealstothelogicalsideoftheaudience,buttheauthoralsousesanemotional
approachthroughtheuseofpathos.
Theauthorsuseofpathosallowstheaudiencesfeelmoreconnectedtotheargument.
Theimageofthestudentsmarkedbystudentdebtallowstheaudiencetoseehowimpactfulthe
debtwillhaveonthesestudentsaftergraduation(StudentDebt).Theredwritingofthetextatthe
bottomandtheuseofwordsstopandendprovokesafeelingofurgencyasitcallstheaudience
toactionandtoendthisproblem(Covert).Also,theuseofactionswordssuchasstopand
endactsasademandtotheaudience,fortheywillfeelthattheproblemshouldbesolvedby
them(Covert).Theemotionalappealaddstothestrongargumentandtotheoveralleffectiveness
ofthePSA.
InboththearticleandthecompanionPSA,theauthorsuseethos,logos,andpathosto
stresstheimportanceoftheissueofcollegetuitionandwhyitshouldbefreeforstudentsin
America.ThePSAhasmoreofanemotionalappealandacalltoactionfortheaudience,soit
addstotheargumentinthearticlebyJonWiener.Itdeepenstheargumentofthearticle,forit
summarizesthemainpointofhisarticle,whichistoenddebtinordertohelpthefuturesofour
citizens.ThePSAhasmoreofanemotionalappealsoithelpstheaudienceconnecttothe
argumentofWienersarticle.DespitethestrongappealofthePSA,thearticlehasamore
convincingargument,foritismoreeffectiveatarguingwhyandhowcollegetuitionshouldbe
ended.ThePSAdoesnothaveaclearansweronhowtoendthedebtandhaslimitedethosand
logostosupporttheargumentcomparedtothearticle.Thearticleismorefactualandgivesmore
ofanexplanationtotheaudienceusingavarietyofsources,evidence,andexamples.Because

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thearticleandPSAonlyexplainonesideoftheargumentforfreecollegetuition,theaudience
musttakethetimetolookatthebigpictureoftheissueandallsidesoftheargument;however,
thearticleandPSAgiveafoundationtotheissueandaconvincingargumenttoendingstudent
collegedebtinAmerica.
WorksCited
CampaignforFreeCollegeTuition.Digitalimage.TuitionRevolution.ClassWish,2015.Web.
21Feb.2016.
Covert,Courtney.EndtheDebt.Digitalimage.N.p.,n.d.Web.
"JonWiener."TheNation.TheNation,02Apr.2010.Web.21Feb.2016.
StudentDebt.Digitalimage.DemocracyNow.DemocracyNow,3July2013.Web.21Feb.
2016.
Wiener,Jon."AimingHigher:MakeCollegeTuitionFree."Nation6Apr.2015:224+.Web.18
Feb.2016.
"JonWiener."TheNation.TheNation,02Apr.2010.Web.21Feb.2016.