Umpierrez1 Stephanie Umpierrez Professor Mills ENC1101 23 October 2013 Benefits of Greek Life

In a rather opinionated tone, Glass establishes excellent credibility in her attempt to exalt Greek life. Glass article was published on USA TODAY College so we can assume that the majority of her audience is, in fact, in college. After further research, however, I found that Glass was not in a sorority. She is a staff writer for her schools newspaper. In her article, Glass aims to convince readers that Greek life is beneficial to attain, and why joining is an excellent investment. Facts and statistics are amongst a few techniques that she utilizes to create a strong argument. Glass begins her article with a strong fact about how only 3 presidents, since 1825, were not in a fraternity. This technique immediately captures the audience with its shock factor. It also appears to set the tone for the essay and establishes a certain sort of credibility. Being that her essay is to persuade readers to join a sorority or fraternity, Glass continues to ascertain specific numbers pertaining to successful outcomes of joining a sorority or fraternity. Glass establishes a sense of trustworthiness when she brings up one of the negative aspects of joining a sorority or fraternity, and that is, hazing. Glass claims that there has been at least one hazing induced death per year. Having brought this

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point up, Glass shows that despite the fact that her article is positive, she is not unwilling to properly educate her audience. She did not, however, bring up the statistics pertaining to the injuries that have occurred even within just the year her article was published, 2012. After having researched the hazing induced injuries, I have found the numbers to be a bit shocking which is why I suppose she chose to only expose the deaths per year. Glass also does not go into much depth on the costs of joining a sorority or fraternity Glass immediately bounces back to a positive note by tying the hazing incidents with the history of Greek life and how in the 1800s, Five Union College students came together to form a private group to engage in educational debates and discussions. By stating this, Glass diverts our attention from the still prominent events to the rich history and significance of Greek life. Glass then jumps from history to the present benefits of joining a sorority or fraternity. Quoting David Stollman, Co-founder of CAMPUSSPEAK, Glass informs the reader of the skills developed in a sorority or fraternity. Glass jumps ahead to the benefits you can reap by explaining that the interpersonal skills one can attain in Greek life are vital in the post-college work force. The article can also appeal to those who have not established a network because Glass explains that you inherit brothers and sisters who are there to pick

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you up when you fall and encourage you to try again. Glass argument has evaluative properties as she often quotes more prestigious individuals and then evaluates the quotes with her own opinions. By adding her opinion, she is able to capture and persuade the audience multiple times as opposed to just adding a quote and jumping to another topic. Glass then asks the question, What makes Greek life any different from other on campus organizations, like the debate team or sports teams? To find her answer, Glass immediately uses a quote by her universitys Greek life coordinator. Glass does a sandwich statement when she says the Greek life coordinator from her school, Curtis Burrill, understands the bad reputation created by careless students in sororities and fraternities, however, he believes the negatives are far outweighed by the benefits. Glass continues her correlation between success and Greek life when she quotes the NY Times columnist, David Brooks. Brooks explains how students should not only look to attain interpersonal skills, but also the abilities to look into peoples minds taking a psychological approach. Glass ends her article on a strong note, saying that it is up to the students to define their reputation at the end of the day. Almost lending us a choice and saying, Hey, its up to you, really. You have the chance of making a wonderful investment, or bashing the reputation of Greek life. Even though Glass herself is not in a sorority, she explains multiple times how a great amount of her friends are and they

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absolutely love it. Properly tying in her points, establishing credibility and trustworthiness, Glass presented a strong, valid argument.

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Works Cited: (http://www.usatodayeducate.com/staging/index.php/campuslife/examining-thebenefits-of-greek-life)