“Waking Up and Taking Charge,” by Anya Kamenetz is about college students needing to stand up for themselves by forming Political Action Committees and making a difference by getting the cost of schooling down. Kamenetz shows how college students are being taken advantage of because most don’t know what they’re getting themselves into. She takes note that most young adults today don’t know the dangers of debt when it comes to school or even opening a credit card or signing a loan. Kamenetz is trying to shine a light on this issue by convincing students to rally together and demand a change. I believe that Kamenetz’s essay was convincing enough to make me want to make a change. However, she does not talk about the negative consequences it could have by having s campaign. She definitely got her point across and tugged at everyone by relating to them, but her plan is not all that though out and it may not turn out the way everyone would hope. Change definitely needs to be more student let, but, they cannot do it all on their own. They would need some outside sources or even those who work at the college to have their back when trying to make this change.
Kamenetz uses emotional appeal and reason for her rhetorical appeals in this essay. She uses emotional appeal by giving real life examples by showing how students struggle to understand the concept of debt and money. She makes reference that most young adults and teenagers do not understand the dangers of debt and how fast it can accumulate. Most people who acquire debt dont think about the end factors and think of it as a “later problem.” That’s where people mess up because when debt starts to build up people dont realize how deep you are in and it makes it a a lot harder to get out. Kamenetz also uses reason by saying “If we don’t march for us, who will?” This really puts it into perspective that if we as students want something done FOR US, then we need to make it happen. We are the ones who need to initiate change and work for something that we want. We aren’t going to be handed things as we get older so we have to start putting in some work if we want to turn things around.
