Marshall Shepherd, Atmospheric scientist and author of “Academics, Sports or Both?”, writes about how academics are still necessary for student-athletes. Shepherd uses many stylistic devices to persuade his readers; He uses personal anecdotes, factual evidence, and reference to a TV show. The author uses many personal anecdotes. Many readers are drawn to personal anecdotes because they can relate. Shepherd says how he “had everything needed to succeed in life, but the reality for me is that those resources were just not available to me. Meteorology was.” People might be able to relate to this, feeling like they have all of the necessary resources, yet lack the environment. In his personal anecdotes, he talks about a project when he was in sixth grade. This project inspired his love for meteorology, and he continued pursuing it; however, he also excelled at many sports. So he had to choose, either focus on sports or focus on meteorology. This story also might focus on relatability. As a student proceeds in their life, they need to make choices that dictate their future. A main choice is pursuing sports or academics. …show more content…
Shepherd uses factual evidence, meaning it is not an opinion or emotion, it is solid, unchangeable evidence. Some of the evidence he used was an NCAA recruitment facts sheet, showing that only 2% of NCAA student-athletes go to play professionally. It also said most of them end up focusing on academics or switching to academics once they are in college. This evidence cannot be proven wrong, so readers have no reason to doubt it. He uses a few articles in this essay to show hard facts and statistics and the choice between academics or sports. It gives the reader a perspective on the numerical side of the decision and helps persuade the