preview

Synthesis Essay: Should College Education Be Free?

Decent Essays

The use of language is a crucial role in debates. If used correctly, language can effectively boost an author’s argument and swoon the audience into joining their side. This debate on whether college education should be free or not perfectly shows this.
When Sarah first argues that college education should be free, she appeals to the general audience. She uses words such as ‘Americans’, ‘parents’, ‘children’, and ‘students’ because everyone who is reading the debate is at least in one of those categories. Readers will feel that free education is for them.
Sarah also uses the “card-stacking technique” shown in Source 1. When Sarah informs the reader that “Millions of Americans, from the poorest all the way to the upper middle class, struggle to pay for college. Parents go into debt, their children go into debt, everyone works harder and longer. And yet a growing number don’t make it.” This is an example of the “card-stacking technique” where “He omits facts. He offers false testimony.” She doesn’t provide any evidence or sources to back up these claims. The reader just has to accept these claims as truth. “glittering generalities” talked about in Source 1 are also used. Sarah inputs the “virtue words” like …show more content…

She argues “Some are experiencing hunger, even homelessness, and many are giving up on their ambitions and career plans…” The words ‘hunger’ and ‘homelessness’ invoke a pitiful response to the audience. Readers would feel the emotional need to help these people. Sarah continues and uses the phrase “It’s time for a new approach” when referring to this big change in offering free colleges. This phrase is an alternative to the violent phrase “let’s make some huge changes”, relating to the ones used in Source 3. By not using the violent phrase and using “It’s time for a new approach”, readers won’t feel that big changes will occur if college education is free. There is much less emotional

Get Access