Rhetorical Analysis Of College Pressures By William Zinsser

In the article, “College Pressures,” William Zinsser discusses the many struggles college students face while trying to focus on their studying. He convinces the reader of his point by using different types of rhetorical strategies. Zinsser’s usage of the rhetorical strategies such as getting straight to the point, quoting, paragraphing, the use of word pictures, and choosing a title was effectively done in his article to persuade his reader of the struggles faced by college students.

The author did not waste anytime getting to the main point in his article, which is effective because it makes me interested in what he had to say. Zinsser starts off the article by giving the reader examples of notes, which students would leave for their Dean. One of many from a random student was, “I desperately need a dean’s excuse for my chem midterm which will begin in 1 hour” (Zinsser 1). Right after he gives the reader a couple examples, which shows emphasis on his topic, and then went on to explain what they were. He states that the notes were of, “men and women who belong to Branford College…and the messages are just a few of the hundreds that they left their dean, Carlos Hortas- - often slipped under his door at 4 a.m. - - last year” (Zinsser 1). As you can see, Zinsser went straight into his article about the pressures faced by undergraduates.

They’re paying all this money and …’” (Zinsser 3). This dialogue backs up Zinsser’s point that college students are facing struggles and it also captures the reader’s attention. That is for the reason that the dialogue stands out, which is what it is supposed to do. By adding a dialogue, Zinsser makes his reader pause for a brief moment and have his/her mind active because it’s not the same way he has been writing the entire article. He changes up his style of writing to keep the reader entertained and also gave them a view of a student’s perspective in