Rhetorical Analysis

 

Is there any place in America where someone can work a full 40 hour week without making a penny? The answer is yes, there is a job like that out there. What’s even more crazy is that this job provides entertainment to millions of people throughout the country as well. This unpaid job that so many Americans take advantage of is known as being a “student athlete.” Millions of people tune in every week to watch their favorite college teams duke it out on the field and on the court, but the ones responsible for providing the entertainment aren’t making a cent. So the question is, should these student athletes be getting paid for their work? The author of a Best Colleges article titled “Should College Athletes be Paid?” seems to think so. The article itself seems to be attempting to avoid taking a stance on the issue in favor of just providing statistics and common arguments. However, there is a sense of bias that forms throughout the article. The author of the article, however unintentional it may be, is arguing in favor of the idea that student athletes should be able to receive monetary pay while participating in collegiate sports. They support this argument through their appeal to the reader’s pathos, specifically questioning their reader’s morality.

The author’s use of pathos throughout the article is effective in getting their point across, while not diminishing the credibility of the argument. The argument of whether or not college athletes should get paid is largely affected by the morality of the person arguing, and not just the facts.The author starts the article by creating a scene almost anyone has seen, or at least one anyone can picture: a typical Saturday with a major college football showdown. The University of Michigan Wolverines  vs. The Ohio State Buckeyes: 100,000+ fans packing the stands (Best Colleges). Right off the bat, the imagery in the author’s hook uses the excitement of College Football Saturday’s to draw the reader in. Another prime example of the author using pathos is when they write, “…apparel companies are making money on college swag featuring top players. When Nike sells an $80 Clemson University jersey with quarterback Trevor Lawrence’s name and number on it, shouldn’t he get a cut of the profits?”(Best Colleges). The quote here forces the reader to think about whether it is morally correct for big companies like Nike or Adidas to take all of the profit made off of the name of a college athlete; in some extreme cases athletes like Trevor Lawrence could be making millions of dollars while at college. According to the National Bureau of Economic Research, top college quarterbacks could be earning $2.4 million dollars a year for their play (Garthwaite). Throughout the first section of the article the reader is encouraged to contemplate the fact that “Big Business” is making millions of dollars off of children who aren’t allowed to make money off of the craft, and the author’s use of pathos is very effective at inviting the reader to think about it.

The author then goes on to list “6 Reasons Why College Athletes Should be Paid,” which are: they rake in cash for their schools, they give their school valuable exposure, playing equals working, sports take away from studies, athletes need spending money, and the potential for injury makes compensation a must, (Best Colleges). All 6 of these reasons combine the use of logos and pathos, but reason number 6: the potential for injury makes compensation a must, commands the most emotion out of the reader. Bringing up the fact that an athlete can lose not just their scholarship, but the opportunity to pursue their dreams because of one single injury is enough to tug on the heart strings of most. Sympathy and empathy are two of the most influential and persuasive emotions a person can feel, and the author makes sure to use them to the fullest extent in his final example.  To sum up, the author makes use of pathos to appeal to their audience, which is effective because the argument is heavily based upon the arguer’s morals.

However, the argument, as well as any argument, is not black and white, and the author makes sure to note that. In addition to providing their “6 Reasons Why College Athletes Should be Paid,” they also include a section titled “6 Reasons Why College Athletes Should Not Be Paid.” These 6 reasons are: they already get full scholarships, secondary sports would suffer, determining salaries could get messy, rich universities would benefit most, it would take away from the love of the game, and Title IX could muddy payment structures (Best Colleges). Most of these reasons are self-explanatory and more logos-based, such as “they already get full scholarships,” or “rich universities would benefit the most.” However, some of the other reasons that the author provides are much more based on the values of the reader. The most controversial of the 6 may be the last: “Title IX could muddy payment structure.” Title IX, by definition, states: “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance,” (Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972). The problem here comes from the thought that Title IX was written with only education in my mind. So the question is: would the colleges have to pay the female athletes at the college proportionally equal to what they would pay the male athletes? This question asks the reader to ponder their own beliefs regarding the pay difference in men’s and women’s athletics, at the professional level and now potentially at the college level. The author provides their own insight, believing that proportionate pay would not be required; “Would a university have to pay female athletes in aggregate the same amount as their male counterparts? Not necessarily – but a school would be required to ensure that female athletes receive proportionate opportunities for scholarships,” (Best Colleges). The quote shows that the author believes this commonly brought up issue is almost a nonfactor in the argument, as long as the colleges continue their previous practices concerning female athletes. He counters a question designed to incite one’s emotion with logic. The result of using logos against pathos entirely depends on the ear the argument falls upon. Someone more rooted in logic would have been much more swayed toward the author’s argument, rather than someone who follows their emotions more often than not. In conclusion, despite providing 6 reasons that go against their argument, they provide rebuttals, sometimes using logos against pathos, in order to assist in strengthening their argument.

The author’s use of pathos throughout  Best College’s “Should College Athletes Be Paid?” aids in arguing in favor of the athletes being financially compensated for their efforts. The use of pathos in regards to the argument is a smart decision because the side one supports in this debate is extremely dependent on their moral values. Do they value someone being more heavily rewarded for their hard work and talent versus someone who may not be as gifted, or do they value an even playing field despite the potential skill gap between athletes? These questions are where a large part of the divide is born. The author believes in the first ideal, which becomes more and more visible as you read through the article. However, the author is not directly asking the reader to join their side, only persuading the reader using pathos. However, they still just are just providing the details of the situation sprinkled with their own input. Ultimately, it falls upon the reader to decide what side of the argument they support.

Bibliography.

Garthwaite, Craig, et al. “WHO PROFITS FROM AMATEURISM? RENT-SHARING IN MODERN COLLEGE SPORTS.” NBER Working Paper Series, National Bureau of Economic Research, Oct. 2020, www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w27734/w27734.pdf. 

 

“Should College Athletes Be Paid?: BestColleges.” BestColleges.com, 7 Sep. 2021, www.bestcolleges.com/blog/should-college-athletes-be-paid/. 

 

“Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972.” US EPA, 30 Aug. 2021, www.epa.gov/ocr/title-ix-education-amendments-act-1972#:%7E:text=Title%20IX%20provides%3A,activity%20receiving%20Federal%20financial%20assistance.