Rhetorical Analysis: Shouak Bagchi's Letter

Sometimes a stern warning is just what you need in order to push you to take a step back and evaluate your next move, especially when it could be a life changing one. In “Alumnus Welcomes New UC Berkeley Students with Stern Warning,” Shouak Bagchi, an alumnus of UC Berkeley, addresses the Berkeley freshmen class of 2017 with appraisal and advice for the future. Bagchi writes to the new students about what attending one of the most prestigious public universities entails. This article is rhetorically persuasive due to the fact that Bagchi is an alumnus of UC Berkeley. He references topics that the students can relate to and he mentions many of the successful alumni of the university. Bagchi’s inspiration for this letter to the incoming freshmen
class at UC Berkeley was rooted in the purpose of aid to someone who had experienced the intensity of attending a school like UC Berkeley. He is writing to the students in order to inform them of things he had wished someone told him before he started his college journey. Bagchi also gives them advice on how to uphold the reputation of such a prestigious university. His goal is that the new students will take his advice and have a successful four years at the “world’s best public school.” Bagchi’s use of ethos is rhetorically persuasive because he is an alumnus of UC Berkeley.
When giving advice to someone, especially as stern as Bagchi gives it, it helps if the person has been through the same situation they are giving advice on. This makes the author, and the article, more credible and the students are more likely to take the advice that they are given. If Bagchi had attended another university his letter to the students wouldn’t have as great of an impact. Another way that ethos is used in this letter is that it was published in the Op-Eds in The Daily California. The author of the newspaper felt the letter should be read by more people than just the incoming freshman class. By the newspaper doing this the students will be more likely to read the letter and take what he is saying to heart because they will feel it holds actual importance. Creditably of a source is crucial but so is their appeal to the
audience. Bagchi’s uses pathos when he references particular topics that most of the students can relate to.
He appeals to the most common emotion or struggle found among all freshmen, homesickness. Bagchi uses this when he mentions, “The constant reminders of childhood friends enjoying the comfort and familiarity of staying home for college (Bagchi, 2017).” He also glorifies a restaurant that Berkeley students commonly go to by saying, “Grab a burrito at Gordo’s and start exploring your new home (Bagchi, 2017).” He has already talked about their past and “childhood friends” which makes them look back at what they are going to be missing so now he is forcing them to look at the future. This appeals to the students’ emotion by causing them to look back on their past and be nostalgic, but look forward at their future and be excited. The students will pay more attention and be intrigued by the article if they can relate to what it is saying. The students begin to trust him and Bagchi gives real life examples to further prove his
claim. Bagchi’s lists the many successful people who have graduated from Berkeley which would be his use of logos. He incorporates real life examples to the incoming students about their potential and what many people have done after coming out of this university. Bagchi makes reference to, “World-class athletes Jason Kidd, Marshawn Lynch, Natalie Coughlin, movie stars Gregory Peck and Chris Pine, tech icons Eric Schmidt and Steve Wozniak and California’s Governor Jerry Brown (Bagchi, 2017).” By providing the incoming freshmen with this lengthy list of accomplished people, the students are intrigued and automatically set a goal to be as well known as some of those people on that list. Since he spoke highly about university earlier in the letter by giving this list it once again proves that what he was saying was true. This also makes the school more appealing and helps the students to look past everything that Bagchi was saying about issues that arise at the university. It helps to prove that all of the hard work and dealing with controversial issues will be worth it. By doing this it only brings the freshmen further into the essay and makes them more curious and excited to see what is to come. One of the issues brought up in this article is the free speech movement and how both the students and the public are attacking it. Controversial people have been scheduled to speak and Berkeley and the student body have violently protested, violating the speakers’ free speech right. Bagchi made the incoming class aware of this issue and told them how to deal with it since it will be a part of their daily life. Overall, this essay was rhetorically persuasive for many reasons: Bagchi’s credibility being an alumnus, his appeal to the emotions of the students that come along with leaving home, and listing the successful people to come out of Berkeley.