The author uses this technique A LOT in this article. It is like she has a formula that is something along the lines of "this IS true...BUT this is more likely..." or something along those lines. It is almost like she is politely proving you wrong, but you're okay with it. She states something the reader believes, which causes them to agree and listen, and then continues on with her point. She constantly acknowledges the reader's thoughts and gets inside their skin. She really makes the reader feel understood.

This was my "P" in the formula If p, then q. If q, then r. So, if p, then r. Here is my Toulmanian syllogism for this article:

If the internet is used to pick your suitable roommate, it takes the randomness out of life.

If it takes the randomness out of life, we lose serendipity.

So, if the internet is used to pick your suitable roommate, we lose serendipity.

I think the P was "the internet is used to pick your suitable roommate" because the internet is the culprit of what messed with the randomness in the selection of a roommate in the first place. This lead to my choice of the "Q" which was "it takes the randomness out of life" because the internet is what takes away the randomness. This lead to my "r" which was that the internet is the reason this author believes is the culprit for the loss of serendipity. My reasoning was focused entirely on what I felt the author of the article was trying to say.

A perfect example of Ethos. Bruni is building up his character here by not only giving credit to Selingo (and acknowledging him as the director of Academy for Innovative Higher Education Leadership) but also by including Selingo's most recent book. Bruni -- in the next line -- goes on to express worry that Selingo may be "suggesting an either/or where there needn't be. Instead of performing a typical "vilification" of Rhetoric by -- for a lack of a better term -- bashing Selingo into the mud with an opposing opinion, Bruni -- in a classy way -- instead uses the word "worry" and expresses his concerns with the idea that Selingo poses. This use of "worry" can also be considered a Style choice (one of the 5 canons) as it is an "appropriately favorable" impression on me as a reader (p. 23). I come to like and know Bruni as a respectable writer because he chose to express his "worry" instead of expressing a harsh, opposing opinion of Selingo's quote.

Here, the "rhetor" -- as mentioned in the Conino and Jolliffe reading --- demonstrates the first of the five Canons of Rhetoric: Invention. He does this by assessing the audience in order to "determine what they feel, think, and know about the subject" that the author wishes to write about (p. 22). By addressing that there are "concerns" and "questions" about whether colleges are offering the right majors and/or emphasizing them means that these are the questions and concerns the people already have, already are talking about, already are wondering/questioning. The author is acknowledging and addressing these concerns and later uses them to further his argument. He treats the concerns as concerns his audience has, and from there, used this to determine which facts to use, the types of sources to use, what to compare and contrast etc etc. This is what makes it inventive.