When children start school, their parents almost immediately look for extracurricular activities to put their children in. The activities can be educational, or just for overall fun and development. This can shape the child in many ways, such as mentally, physically, and emotionally. However, there are other hidden ways that extracurricular activities can influence children. The articles examined contribute their opinions using style, tone, and ethos.
Claudette Chirstson organizes her article, The Benefits of Participating in Extracurricular Activities, by breaking it down into six sections: Abstract, Academic Achievement, Character Development, Social Development, Community Involvement, and the conclusion. In general, the tone and style of this article is academic and analytical, with Christson incorporating citations and reasoning to back up her claims. Her article is also written in third person, lacking a personal touch to her work. At the end of Christson’s article, there is a note about her education and current work experience, demonstrating ethos to establish her own credibility.
The use of citations helps Christston establish logos, as well as using evidence and examples to support her claims. In her Academic Achievement section, Christson cites examples such as kids participating in athletic clubs showing better academic performance. She also mentions that kids that partake in activities are at a greater chance of pursuing higher education, providing statistics to back up her findings. In the Character Development section, the author describes how kids that do after school activities develop a unique sense of self and develop leadership and time management skills. These skills are important in the workplace and for self-identity. In her Social Development section, she describes how different activities can develop either communal skills, or independent motivation.
Crimson Education’s blog, Benefits of Extracurricular Activities, breaks its opinion down into 9 relevant sections. These include networking, resumes, and essential life skills. The tone and style of the article are more informal and conversational, with the article being written in second person. The article is also meant to be informative, but not as academic as Christson’s article. The author of the blog also urges people to wisely consider the activities they choose, since it could have adverse effects. Overall, the author incorporates ethos by citing some external evidence to solidify their claims, but it is scarce. Crimson Education also has quotes by professors at Ivy League universities so the author’s ethos in their claims.
Ultimately, both Claudette Christson and Crimson Education argue in favor of children participating in extracurricular activities. They do this but establish their credibility through citations and ethos.
Anastasia, I like how straightforward your essay is and how there aren’t really any instances where you “go on about nothing” if that makes sense. However, if there were anything that I were to critique, it would be that you should probably include that the authors use arrangement in their arguments in the thesis. This is because the thesis should set expectations about what you’ll cover, but you cover arrangement, which isn’t brought up in the thesis. I also don’t understand why you didn’t include style and tone when you restated it in the conclusion. I should also add that citations are more of an appeal to ethos than they are to logos. Logos would of course appeal to logic and is more directly related to using examples to advance claims. I think you understand that though; it’s just a bit nitpicky. Also, while I do understand style and tone, but I feel link you can elaborate on it a bit to better explain why you would characterize the styles and tones the way that you do and most importantly, why they may or may not work. Other than that, I think you’re on the right track!
Your essay is really well written. It is very understandable for the readers. I like how you talked about the articles and then talked about both of them. I think your conclusion could have been a little more longer, talking about them both. You could have included about the authors arrangements and maybe use logos for your appeal. But overall, your essay is really great.