Rhetorical Analysis of Two Field Artifacts

The millions of teens and young adults taking part in their schooling endure numerous burdens and stressors that come with success. In order for them to proceed on their chosen path, they are forced to live off of minimal sleep, pressure from family, and their previous fatiguing habits. Once entering higher education, these stressors take a heavier toll than before, causing true mental health issues. This is a pressing issue in our society, as these students will be taking care of and controlling our society in years to come. The increased rates of depression, anxiety, isolation, and suicidal ideation must be given our best effort to help them and their futures. The common lack of support, counseling, coping skills, and resources causes students to dive deeper into the black hole they’ve been swallowed by. Younger generations who are aspiring to go to college may not know that their mental health could only get worse and high school is not the worst it gets. In this rhetorical analysis, two different artifacts addressing the mental health of students will be assessed, compared, and contrasted. The use of different genres and artifacts will boost the understanding of the public; therefore, this analysis of two different artifacts aims to create a better understanding of the current crisis in the educational system in order to improve the support system of our new generations.

            The first artifact is text-based, discussing the topic of students’ mental health is a CNN article published in 2023. “Mental health struggles are driving more college students to consider dropping out, survey finds” addresses the previously mentioned topic by offering many sources of supporting evidence that demonstrates many rhetorical appeals (McPhillips 2023). The article starts with a segment about a 20-year-old undergraduate student, Isabel. Using an interview from a fellow student, the article does a better job at connecting to students through ethos. Isabel said that she felt as if she was “sinking” and did not feel like herself throughout certain semesters. She overheard a video being watched by other students about racism in her communities and she exploded with negative emotions and dove into a panic attack. Her panic episode led her parents to make her take a medical withdrawal. Telling Isabel’s story at the start of this artifact, not only using ethos, it uses pathos to connect with the students who have suffered the same kind of panic and dulling emotions. After capturing the audience through pathos and ethos, CNN starts to cite statistics proving the mental health decline of students. One major statistic of this article was that more than 40% of students currently enrolled in any undergraduate program had considered dropping out within the last 6 months, compared to 34% in the first year of COVID-19 (McPhillips 2023). From this survey, they found that most people said that personal mental health and stress caused their want to withdraw. CNN also cited an assistant professor at Boston University, developing more ethos throughout the artifact. She stated, “about 75% of lifetime mental health problems will onset by the mid-20s, so that means that the college years are a very epidemically vulnerable time” (McPhillips 2023).  One very impactful statistic employing pathos, is that 1 in 7 college students report having suicidal ideation, an increasing statistic. The use of a statistic regarding suicide shows that there is a significant number of students whose mental health reaches its limit, requiring help from other people. This highlights the urgency of the issue. The article circles back to Isabel, stating that she “didn’t know how to take care of herself” and how overwhelmed she was with balancing school, a social life, and personal hygiene. Other rhetorical devices used in this article are emotive language, repetition of “mental health”, and anecdote when referring to Isabel’s struggles. Her story and obstacles provide an example to the broad topic of mental health challenges in the educational system of today. Connecting to the pathos employed in this artifact, emotive language adds to the emotions and pathos-attention grabbing ideas. The author chooses words that evoke strong reactions from the readers to preach their message as loud as possible. The article ends with a section titled “Building support”. This section offers many potential resources and policies to put in place to solve or improve this pressing issue. They propose tracking progress, an increase of mental health professionals in schools, and college faculty training in the mental health field. The article’s audience is the general public of the education system, whether its students, faculty, or family of students. Employing ethos and pathos using credible sources like a fellow student and a professor at a college, the article successfully reaches out to its target audience.

            The second artifact is non-text based, being an infographic. The infographic is from Command Education’s article “Ultimate Guide to College Student Mental Health”. This infographic uses a combination of rhetorical appeals and visuals to reach its target audience. The infographic aims to reach anyone taking part in the educational system or people in students’ support systems. The infographic mainly uses logos as an appeal, offering 9 different statistics regarding mental health of students. The infographic is very simple in rhetorical organization and structure. This artifact uses the simple design to make the use of logos pop more to the reader. Some of the main, impactful facts cited in the image are that 19% of students have had suicidal thoughts, 63% of students have suffered from depression, and that an overwhelming 82% are dealing with anxiety. 56% of students are significantly concerned with their own ability to take care of their mental health, being an impactful statistic showing that these suffering students need the support from others, as they do not know what to do on their own. This use of logos properly enforces the urgency of this rhetorical situation at hand. The image also utilizes repetition of bolded statistics to capture the viewers eyes, leading them to read the text beneath the numbers. A non-texted based genre can appeal to its audience due its simplicity and minimal information, making the chosen facts more impactful by first glance. This infographic employs its genre aspects to its advantage, only citing the most important facts to appeal to the reader.

            The two artifacts together successfully address the issue of students’ suffering mental health through their own uses of rhetorical appeals, genre conventions and target audience. Both artifacts aim towards the same audience of the general public of the educational system of America. Both the article and the infographic exist in the same rhetorical situation, speaking to the same target audience: the general public involved in the education system. Having the same audience, they both use simple, straight-forward statistics that anyone can interpret, understand, and act upon. They both use logos as a proper way to prove that the issue is a prominent and declining event. Through the combination of these rhetorical appeals and devices, the artifacts effectively engage the audience on multiple levels, fostering a deeper understanding and emotional connection to the issue of mental health in education. This approach also pushes individuals to advocate for positive changes within the educational system, ultimately leading to a healthy, supportive environment for students.

            On the other hand, the two artifacts use their separate genre conventions and aspects to express the issue in different ways. the two artifacts employ distinct genre conventions and approaches to illuminate the issue from different angles. While the article, with its textual complexity, employs a plethora of rhetorical devices, the infographic opts for simplicity, relying on concise statistics to appeal to its audience. Text-based, the article delves deeper into explanations and citations, leveraging appeals to pathos and ethos through personal narratives and expert opinions. It harnesses its capacity to cite numerous sources, including firsthand experiences and expert insights, to make connections to the reader. Conversely, the infographic, with minimal text, lacks the depth of specific examples and sources but effectively communicates key statistics. Despite their differences, both artifacts serve to engage the same audience and address the same rhetorical situation, each employing its unique blend of appeals and genre conventions to convey the message effectively. Moreover, the article's length allows for a more thorough exploration of the statistics presented, lending greater significance and emphasis to the data. Through these differing approaches, both artifacts contribute to a comprehensive understanding of the issue and advocate for improved support systems within the education system. By analyzing their individual strengths and limitations, society and support systems can better tailor to the challenges of student’s mental health.

The connecting features and contrasting aspects of the two artifacts effectively tackle the pressing concern of the gradual deterioration of students' mental well-being. Enrollment in an undergraduate program signifies a significant achievement for millions of young adults nationwide. However, embarking on this academic journey often entails encountering the mental health challenges highlighted in these artifacts. By engaging with these artifacts and scrutinizing their rhetorical strategies, we can foster the development of additional resources and solutions to support the burgeoning adults of our current and future generations. Delving into the insights offered by these artifacts empowers us to better understand the complexities of student mental health and work towards implementing effective interventions that address the evolving needs of students across generations.