Tala Miller

1/30/15
MWA-English 120
The Internet Vs. College
For this assignment, I am writing on about an advertisement from Colorado University who
is addressed to first year seniors who are looking for a college to complete their master degree for
teaching, as well as teachers who would like to further their education. I will be writing on how the
rhetorical appeals that are used in the ad, contribute to how successful the university is in getting
students to complete a degree there. I believe that Colorado University uses ethos, logos and pathos in
their commercial in order to convince students that going online is the better route to go with.
The main goal of an advertisement, is for a company to try to sell a product, and in my
advertisement it is easy to spot out what they are trying to persuade you to do. The ad first starts out as
a teacher and a student going over what seems to be a math lesson. An announcer's voice comes on, and
through the whole commercial, is conveying the message that you can go to school online, and explains
the type of things that you could learn while earning your degree. Through the ad, there are various
shots of students and the teacher going over a lesson. There is also moments of students who are taking
the class, and who are talking to their advisors. Near the end of the commercial the announcer explains
that it is simple to get a degree online, and have it be comfortable to fit your schedule. The
advertisement concludes with their logos rhetorical appeal and says: "Colorado University when your
success is our cause."
In every advertising, companies always use their knowledge of rhetorical appeals to hook, line,
and sink you into whatever they want you to buy, such as this one, and most of the time it works
because of these appeals. My advertisement described to you, clearly shows rhetorical appeal as well,
and by using all three (ethos, pathos, and logos), the ad will convince you that it is the right choice as
an alternative to a college, and upon further examination of the ad, this is what I found.

The first appeal that you will see that is used in this advertisement is ethos. The ethos of an
advertisement, is the credibility behind it. What I mean by this is, people would trust a toothpaste ad
that had a doctor saying that he recommends this brand, rather than people just giving their personal
opinion on why they think it is really good. Someone like a doctor, has a lot of education and
experience in their field of training , and therefore his judgement is more professional than people who
dont have any knowledge of the subject. I believe that in my advertisement, the ethos was Colorado
State University. Colorado State University is more than likely a good school to go to, and it has a lot
of students that go there every year, which make it credible. Also, Colorado state University is a
university which makes it better to go to than just a regular community college.
The logos of an advertisement is the reason and facts behind the product. For example, the
logos of a doctor recommending a brand of toothpaste commercial is that it is a quality brand that has
been tested and is proven to prevent cavities, gingivitis, etc. Also, that the doctor might add that he
recommends it to all of his patients because of it proven to help all of those things, plus whiten his
patients teeth . Showing statistics and using data to prove your point also makes an advertisement much
more believable, and an ad without any logic is probably not that good to use. My advertisement has
the logo appeal in it as well. The reason that they are trying to get you to go to this school is because it
is set to your schedule and will get you done by the time others in your class would get their degrees
and graduate, if not sooner. Also, in the ad it says that the course will teach you "curriculum
development, teaching models, and training in diversity", which will help you become an excellent
teacher.
The last of the three appeals in an advertisement is the pathos. The pathos is the heart tugging
part of any advertisement, and it makes you sympathetic. Pathos touches on the emotions of the target
audience, which is why some ads make you cry. It is probably the most common of the three appeals.
An example would be, if the doctor in the toothpaste commercial was endorsing a toothpaste had kids,
and said that he never lets them go to bed without brushing their teeth, and he recommends it for them,

so they dont get any cavities. In my ad there are many different forms of pathos that can be detected.
The first one would be the children in the class, and listening to the teacher talking. As well a the
instructor who is trying to teach this girl the lesson for the day, and who thanks him at the end of the
class. The second one would be the students who are getting lesson from their mentors, and the girl in
the black cap and gown who is ready to graduate with her friends. Something that I would also count
for the pathos appeal is how the music is upbeat, so it makes you feel upbeat, and more into the ad that
is being shown.
Everyone is bombarded with advertisements on a daily basis, whether it is an ad for old
spice or an ad for burger king or in this case, and ad for a teaching degree online.. The ads are designed
to make you buy the product, or connect with the company, and with the advertisement from Colorado
State University, it is trying to get you to go to their school. Through the use of the three types of
rhetorical appeals, the Colorado University is able to attract more students, which makes them have a
successful ad, and pulling in more students to their online program.
Cover Letter (10)

Strong
10
9

Good

Needs Work
5 4
3

Introduction (10)

10
9

Explanation of concepts (5)

8
7
6
8
7
6
4

Summary of text (5)

3 2

20 19 18
20 19 18
20 19 18
10
9

17 16 15 14
17 16 15 14
17 16 15 14
8
7
6

13 12 11 10 9 8
13 12 11 10 9 8
13 12 11 10 9 8
5 4
3

Ethos (20)
Pathos (20)
Logos (20)
Conclusion (10)

Bonus awesome point (+1)

Total: 97/100

5 4
3
3 2

Weak/NA
2
1
0
2 1
0
1
0
1
0
7-0
7-0
7-0
2
1
0

Tala,
Your rhetorical analysis is a big improvement in terms of flow and organization from your draft.
Excellent job! What is left that I saw what the same thing on a smaller scale, so instead of whole
sentences or paragraphs, it was just some word choices. I notice you sometimes repeat yourself within
the same sentence or write something that is understood. In your document, I struck out like this items
that you dont really needits either understood or you already said it.
I would advise you to check out a site called The Oatmeals Guide to Semicolons which covers
commas, semicolons, colons and periods. Its really handy and I refer to it all the time.
Im encouraging students to use this MWA for their traditional revision, and while I think its a strong
improvement from your earlier, I think you could revise it further and make it a very strong addition to
your portfolio.
-SD