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Clarissa M. Lopez

Dr. Loren Higbee

ENGL 1301 114

November 9, 2021

Rhetorical Analysis

In "College Life is Stressful Today," Lala Acharya, Lan Jin & William Collins write an

article on university life and how most college students go through mental health issues. Anxiety,

depression, and stress are all factors that contribute to a college student's life. If someone deals

with depression, they know that it's hard to function and do day-to-day routine most of the time.

Depression among college students can lead to anxiety issues, substance addiction, poor

academic performance, suicide, and reckless behavior. They are at a higher risk of developing

mental disorders later in life.

The research behind depression and anxiety has become more accepting in today's

society, even though it's not very accepting in the Hispanic and Latino cultures to have mental

health issues. The authors of this article have explained and shown data to prove how much these

things happen to most college students. They proceed to say how having depression at a young

age can affect the person later in life. They also include saying how stress affects people's mental

health and what happens to the body with people who have pressure. For example, people who

have stress have been shown to get various amounts of headaches, depression, anxiety, and the

list goes on. The author's main idea in this article is to inform people about college life and what

can happen during their time in college. Suicide ideation is one of the leading causes of

depression. As mentioned in the article, college students start developing depression by having

anxiety, feeling lonely, missing family, and academic stress. One of the ways that the authors
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proved what was stated above is by the data collected, which was by conducting a survey in

which there was a total of 631 undergraduate students.

The authors employed ethos throughout the text to appeal to authority and add reputable

sources to the article, allowing the readers to trust this survey as a reliable study. Acharya, Jin,

and Collins showed ethos in this article by providing the percentages of their results with the

study conducted. As stated in the peer-reviewed article, "40% of college students throughout the

United States reported that they frequently felt stressed and 10% reported suicidal thoughts"

(Acharya, Jin & Collins). By presenting graphs, the author's claims are strengthened by offering

reliable evidence on how that data was obtained and making the reader believe that this is a

trustworthy source.

Another example of ethos being implied in this peer-reviewed article was having the

paper be written in "Journal of American College Health." This inclines the reader to trust the

results that were gathered through the survey. Because credibility is crucial in developing an

argument, even if the writer doesn't have a lot of familiarity with a topic, it's necessary to work

on their credibility by incorporating the credibility of others into your argument. Using reliable

sources in an academic paper is essential since the audience will expect you (the writer) to back

up the statements with solid proof. Using proof that does not derive from a reliable source will

not persuade the reader that the argument is plausible, let alone correct. By employing ethos,

Acharya, Jin & Collins demonstrate their knowledge on the subject and position themselves as

respected authority figures whose audience can rely on for accurate information.

This article also uses pathos to allow readers to relate to the topic and know it's okay to

have mental health issues. This brings peace to the reader, making them feel as if they are not

alone in experiencing depression, anxiety, stress, and so on. Emotions are motivators, so
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adopting pathos will increase the audience's willingness to be persuaded and act on the writer’s

requests. Pathos is more likely to boost the audience's grasp of the writer’s point of view. For

example, after including all the statistics and data, the authors mention, "social interaction in a

new college environment is a common problem in the overall sample, that is associated with

symptoms of depression" (Acharya, Jin & Collins). This could also mean that socializing isn't

easy when someone is new in college and that it's a recurring issue among college students.

The logos aspect of this article is mainly used to persuade the reader that they are

providing credible information because they conducted a study and are issuing all of the data by

using table charts. Logos are essential in the authors writing because it appeals to the intellects of

the readers. It helps the readers feel intelligent. Logos can be described as an attempt by a writer

or speaker to make use of logic or reason the audience. By showing data, the writers give a sense

to the reader of comfort and trustworthiness. As mentioned previously, the authors of the article

conducted the study with a survey. "The participants were recruited through an online research

participation system providing access to students from a wide variety of schools and majors

across campus. Students earned a small amount of extra credit for participation. Additional

students were recruited through e-mail announcements forwarded from the university registrar's

office." (Acharya, Jin & Collins). Like in TAMIU, a lot of the time, students get sent e-mails to

have the chance to participate in ongoing studies at our campus, and sometimes the professors

decide to give extra points. It was effective that this information was included because it

provides the reader or audience the peace of mind that this study was taken seriously and has

accurate numbers.

In conclusion, anxiety, depression, and stress are all factors that contribute to a college

student's life, and the authors showed this as a fact with the data that was provided. They
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provided the survey process and gave us all the statistics on mental health issues that college

students go through. The author's main point in this piece was to educate individuals about

college life and what can happen while they are there. The article states that fear, loneliness,

missing family, and academic stress are all symptoms of depression in college students. The data

was acquired by conducting a survey was one of the ways the authors proved what was stated

above. The writers of this article established the three rhetorical devices: ethos, pathos, and

logos. They deep-rooted trustworthiness/credibility, emotional appeal, and logical appeal.

Reference

Lala Acharya, Lan Jin & William Collins (2018) College life is stressful today – Emerging

stressors and depressive symptoms in college students, Journal of American College Health,

66:7, 655-664, DOI: 10.1080/07448481.2018.1451869