What Does It Mean To Be a College Grad?

1. The first two paragraphs serves as an introduction to the topic, which is about whether a college degree is necessary or important. The first two paragraphs introduce us to the life of college grad, what she leaves behind and what may be ahead of her in the future. For me, I believe that this introduction could have been reduced to just one paragraph, but it does serve as a good connection to the author about the topic. 
2. The thesis statement is stated at the beginning of the third paragraph. The question is “What does it mean to hold a college degree?” Personally, I believe that the thesis statement should be written as a statement and not a question, but it fits into the tone of the whole thesis itself. The thesis seems more of a personal thesis, using personal ethos to its advantage. 
3. The refutation in this thesis is the belief that bachelor degrees are too standard. Having and getting a degree from college nowadays seem like the norm. Thesis is a standard refutation on this subject, but I feel that it could have been expanded about with citations, which this thesis does not use. 
4. As I stated before, this thesis uses more emotional appeals to its advantage. This is seen in the back-story of the author’s mother and her own childhood, as well as what her family are doing now as well, in terms of education. The only evidence it has is the fact that only 27% of Americans have a bachelor’s degree or higher. She does not reference where she got this information. I believe this evidence section would work much better with less emotional appeals and more cited evidence to back up its statement for the argument. 
5. The first statement of the conclusion does not undercut the argument. What it does is mention the refutation again only to shortly sum up her argument. I do believe she touches slightly upon this statement in the thesis, I believe that the refutation would have been stronger for that statement had it been elaborated on. 

Le, Jennie. "What Does It Mean to Be a College Grad?" Practical Argument. 2nd ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2014. 36-37. Print.