English 1001-
Rhetorical Analysis Essay:

You Deserved Rejection! Or At Least Your Essay Did…

In the article, “To (All) the Colleges That Rejected Me”, Suzy Lee Weiss addresses a multitude of reasons why she believed herself along with others were not accepted into various colleges. Published on March 29, 2013, it is one of many articles Weiss has contributed to The Wall Street Journal. The Wall Street Journal viewed at wsj.com is a business focused, English language international newspaper based in New York City where her article is placed under the commentary. It is clear from the essay that being rejected from her dream school was her kairos event that prompted and gave her the motivation for this writing that is important to her. Weiss--a senior at Taylor Allderdice High School in Pittsburgh—has written this among many other articles posted in the NY Daily News and others. Presenting her thesis early in her article, Weiss creates a foundation for the six arguments she establishes in defense for her claim that colleges lied to her; however, due to her lack of specific examples, statistics, and false claims, she fails to support her argument sufficiently. In her article, Weiss strengthens her ethos and logos drawing in on her very own feelings and thoughts for the varied audience of wsj.com. With her supporting evidence, she entreats the viewers to realize the devastation caused by Ivy League colleges telling applicants to “Just be yourself”. She goes on to claim this is excellent advice only if that the applicant withholds an extensive list of accomplishments that are used to determine one’s acceptance and if not, there is no need to even bother applying. Although Weiss reinforces her use of logos and ethos through her dedication of upholding the truth about college admissions, her appeals disintegrates throughout starting right after the thesis with the lack of examples. Weiss claims how one needs “nine extracurricular activities, six leadership positions, three varsity sports, killer SAT scores, and two moms” to be accepted in an Ivy League. What she fails to mention is exactly what colleges she was looking to apply for or if she was just extremely over exaggerating the true reason of her rejection. The use of specific examples of what she was told by colleges in the process of applying would have enabled readers to fill Weiss’s shoes adding pathos by making them understand better and feel the same pain as she did.
Weiss continues to support her claim by giving an elongated description of 6 logics she believed would’ve granted her acceptance. The first was diversity, where she makes the connotative statement, “I offer just about as much diversity as a saltine cracker.” She views herself as a plain person claiming no heritage and being potentially looked over by higher authority because of it. This even pushes Weiss to salute Senator Elizabeth Warren jokingly for the controversial debate of her falsely claiming minority status. In a quick transition, she also believes being involved in charities (real or fake) was a check on the list. Stating through fragments, she articulates how she should’ve been involved in “providing veterinary services for homeless people’s pets” along with multiple other things that would boost her own status while assisting the misfortunate.
Continuously using logos and ethos, she claims how her mother and father’s lack of efficient parenting too made Weiss consider why she was rejected. After parenting 4 girls, there was no urge to be strict and force hobbies among her leaving the youngest with the short end of the strict stick. Making Weiss feel directionless, she felt the need to question why Amy Chua, “the tiger mom”, couldn’t adopt her and impose her authoritarian parenting style. Summer camps were also among the list of achievements in her head that had to be fulfilled by going out of the country to assist a suffering child all the while taking photos and writing an essay on how a kid changed her life or just gave her something to talk about. Or even the internships that she also didn’t attend could have topped the summer camps and gave her an executive title such as, “Assistant Director of Mail Services” or “Chairwoman of Coffee Logistics” just to have some work experience on her resume. Lastly, after stating all her necessary accomplishments that were never attained, she uses a balanced sentence explaining how her parents make her watch shows and read articles on kids younger and smarter doing astonishing things in the world. Weiss felt there was a need to emphasize her jealousy and remain upset about the humiliation being thrown in her face.
Weiss believed that if all of her logics appeared on the perfect college application, she would’ve possibly been accepted. But the real question is, would this be true or overgeneralization? Damaging her ethos with the lack of statistics and stereotypical comments, Weiss thoroughly weakens her overall argument and fails at making her point efficiently. All of her topics were stereotypes and opinions on how she viewed acceptance of applicants and how college boards decide who is welcome. She could’ve redirected and even strengthened her claim by adding statistics on all the logics of her article. Statistics of the races valued and accepted, parenting styles that lead students to college, and significant involvement in charities, summer camps, and internships would’ve all been credible and supporting information.
The pathetic and ethical appeal are the final reasons why Weiss was close to success, but quickly slipped into failure. First, the pathetic appeal that grasps the audience’s values, motivations, and emotions differ between specific groups. Suzy Lee Weiss appeals first to the audience of rejected college applicants who most likely have the exact same emotions of anger, bitterness, and simply believe they were not accepted for the same reasons. The second audience are those who were accepted into Ivy League colleges and feel emotions of anger and mockery of claims from someone who was not capable to be in the position they are in. The third audience are those who want to attend college in the future and gives them a slightly true, yet somewhat inaccurate perspective on what they may need to be accepted. Weiss sets herself in a position that is broadly viewed in many different ways through pathetic appeal, but also has a hard time utilizing the ethical appeal. The ethical appeal plays into the credibility and honesty of the writer where Weiss is credible to some and irrelevant to others. Going back to the rejected and accepted audience, Weiss would seem to have credible information and honesty for those like her and be false information to those against. She could’ve taken the chance of having a more balanced and credible article by using opposing perspectives and having credentials in college acceptance.
Throughout the essay, Weiss establishes good logos and pathos through her supporting claims and experiences, yet she lacks facts, examples, and statistics leaving her without any credibility. Also, although Weiss presents a bitter, satiric, and mocking tone stating that colleges truly lied to her and the perception of the application process is “true”, she doesn’t offer any information on the preparation, advice, or sources from high school and supporting others to strengthen her claims. Dragging her article from top to bottom of the list, Suzy Lee Weiss concentrates too hard on her own experience presenting only absurd, partial truth about the college application process where she simply couldn’t accept rejection.