Running head: RHETORICAL ANALYSIS 1

Rhetorical Analysis:

Resident Hall Assistants in College

By M. Lee Upcraft

Marcus Khaw

The University of Texas El Paso

RWS 1301

Dr. Vierra

March 1st, 2019

RHETORICAL ANALYSIS 2

Abstract

This paper has no abstract.

RHETORICAL ANALYSIS 3

Resident Hall Assistants in College

Arguably the most important thing in one’s life that can never be taken back is time.

Students need to value their time, as they have many other responsibilities. It is necessary to find

a high-quality academic genre because it compresses knowledge. Finding a quality source that

compresses knowledge ultimately saves students valued time. This book is an effective source

for research because it uses the rhetorical appeals strongly.

Discussion

A genre is any composition that can be categorized into a similar style or subject.

According to Chandler and Munday (2016), in literary, film and aesthetic theory, a type of text

recognized by particular conventions of form for both pieces of content (p. 25). This

demonstrates that genres can be classified as any type of text comprised of many other texts with

the same style or form. There can be many different types of composition, literary and film being

two different categories which can both be grouped together if they share similar content.

Finding quality genres can be very helpful in research. To examine the quality of genre the

rhetoric appeals must be examined. Rhetoric appeals are tactics that are used to persuade others.

According to Wardle and Downs (2014), There are kinds of appeals that explain what to say to

get what you want and persuade the other person (Pg. 469). In this article Wardle and Downs

express some of the rhetoric appeals that can be used to persuade someone such as logic,

emotion and credibility. In fact, these three sources have a direct correlation between Aristotle’s

theory on persuasion using ethos logos and pathos. Effectively using rhetorical appeals is

required when attempting to persuade the audience of the writer’s thoughts or beliefs.
RHETORICAL ANALYSIS 4

Ethos

The book Residence Hall Assistants in College is a credible source. According to

Delworth(1982), Upcraft has worked with many paraprofessionals’ programs on the topic of

education, including academic advising and residence hall work (p. ix). In addition, according to

Savrock(2009), Upcraft was nominated the Contribution to Knowledge award in 2008 after 130

publications in the area of student affairs and higher education. The award recognizes a member

of the profession for outstanding contributions to the body of knowledge in the field of college

student and affairs (p. 1). This makes Residence Hall Assistants in College credible because the

Upcraft is highly qualified and has greatly impacted the educational field through his writing

contributions. Furthermore, Upcraft shows goodwill through his educational writings. According

to Downs (2017), Ethos is the rhetoric appeal that is necessary to build trust and

credibility. Credibility can be gauged by examining the rhetors expertise, morality and goodwill

through the audience’s own values(pg.475). Clearly, Upcraft has had many years of educational

experience and created many informative pieces of writing. Upcraft expresses goodwill by

sharing his expertise with the world for others to gain knowledge and benefit from. Therefore,

Upcraft is a dependable source in the field of education.

Pathos

The Upcraft is using a clinical approach in this monograph. There are no pictures or color

in the entire book because this book is very educational. Pictures and colors would evoke

emotion in the reader. According to Downs (2017), To move people to action people cannot

always be convinced they need to feel the problem through their emotions. Persuasion goes

beyond convincing by actually moving people to action through feelings (p. 472). Since this

monograph does not try to prove or persuade the reader it does not need high degree of pathos.
RHETORICAL ANALYSIS 5

The Resident Hall Assistants in College simply provides information on training residence hall

assistants based on experience. Another example would be the step by step models of exactly

what action or ideas Upcraft is trying to provide to the user (p. 21). The training modules are

purely educational and do not need to spark emotion. Upcraft intentionally avoids the use of

pathos because the book is purely educational, and an emotional response would draw from the

purpose of the manual.

Logos

The Resident Hall Assistants in College is a highly effective program. According to

Upcraft, residence assistants were struggling to be effective in their duties because they were not

trained properly. Upcraft suggests that the people in charge of training the residence hall

assistants were the key element in a successful program to make the residence hall assistants

effective (p. xi). Upcraft worked to create an effective program to solve this issue. For example,

Upcraft claims that the program created is not one that might work but instead a program that

was tested, revised and fine-tuned based on several years of experience (1982, pg.xii). Evidently,

Upcraft has created a high degree of knowledge and understanding about training residence

assistants through testing and revising the program. Using deductive reasoning if the program

was successful in years of testing then it must be a functional method of selecting, training and

supervising resident hall assistants.

Audience

This book was written to help educate those who are in charge of teaching resident hall

assistants. According to Upcraft (1982) the book was written to share the ten year experience that

Lee Upcraft gained from selecting, training and supervising resident hall assistants (p. xi)

Clearly, if the author wants to share knowledge about selecting, training and supervising resident
RHETORICAL ANALYSIS 6

hall assistants then he is targeting this information for those who are responsible for selecting,

training and supervising resident hall assistants. The target audience is likely someone who

works in the residence section of the university because this information would be very useful

for them.

Conclusion

This book used the rhetorical appeals very well which makes this book a great source to

base research on. It is important to know this because academic genres save time. Students do

not have unlimited time, so students use monographs which have a wealth of knowledge to learn

from. Students have many responsibilities, wasting time is not something that helps students

therefore using quality sources to save time is necessary.

RHETORICAL ANALYSIS 7

References

Chandler, D., & Munday, R. (2011). (Ed.), A Dictionary of Media and Communication. :

Oxford University Press,. Retrieved 24 Feb. 2019, from

http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780199568758.001.0001/acref-

9780199568758.

Downs, D. (2017). Rhetoric. In E. Wardle, & D. Downs (Eds.), Writing about writing: A college

reader (pp. 457-81). Boston: Bedford/St. Martins

Savrock, J. (2014, August 22). Lee Upcraft and Susan Rankin Win ACPA Awards. Retrieved

from https://ed.psu.edu/news/news-items-folder/upcraft-rankin

TED-Ed. (2016, September 20). Retrieved February 09, 2019, from

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3klMM9BkW5o

Upcraft, M. L., & Pilato, G. T. (1982). Residence hall assistants in college. San Francisco :

Jossey-Bass, 1982. Retrieved from http://0-

search.ebscohost.com.lib.utep.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=cat04704a&AN=nug.b102

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