Summary Of The Major And Interest By Mariah Ross

When choosing a college major most students will listen to the age old advice “just follow your passion.” Mariah Ross’ essay “The Major and Interest,” she uses organization to affect elements such as voice and appeals.
Ross begins with the common expression: “Follow your passion,” but goes on to say that it “is the most pervasive advice given to college students.” By starting her first paragraph off with an attention getting statement Ross shows the reader that she is willing to go outside of their normal expectations, while showing also showing the reader that this essay will be about more than choosing a college major. Ross continues the paragraph by stating that she agrees with Nathan Gebhard, author of the article “Four Steps to Choosing

Ross says, “More often than not,passion tends to “push” students into selecting majors that do not line up with their career goals. Passion motivates students to choose majors without understanding the kind of job [that] major will qualify them for,” this quote starts off the text’s line of reasoning because it sets up the following paragraphs by stating the first reason of why following a passion is bad for a student's future. The paragraph also appeals to need- the need that students have to get a job that they won’t regret. After all, the text is constantly saying that following a passion will cause the reader to have an unfulfilling career. Ross uses statements like “trapped in a trifling career,” “feeling frustrated,” and “resulting in disappointment”By organizing the essay so that it would appeal to logic and need at the same time, Ross causes the reader to think not only logically but about how a major will affect their future

In the third paragraph it says “Passion does not invoke the need to learn…. interest [tends] to develop curiosity and the need to learn.” This constant backward and forth between interest and passion serves as a semi-counter because anytime the reader thinks of something good about following their passion the text shuts it down with the next claim.
The fourth paragraph begins with “Passions are not timeless,” this is the shortest sentence in Ross’ entire essay. Ross uses this short sentence to show that she is serious about this claim, the shortness of the sentence makes it sound sharp and to the point and it gives the next few sentences even more weight. In the remainder of the paragraph the author switches methodically between long and short sentence and it conveys a very matter-of-factly tone. The organization causes the entire paragraph to sound completely