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Makinley Brown

Dr. Haslam

English 1010

3 November 2021

Rhetorical Analysis on “More Evidence Links Social Media Use to Poorer Mental Health

in Teens” by E.J. Mundell

When E.J. Mundell wrote “More Evidence Links Social Media Use to Poorer

Mental Health in Teens”, published on February 10, 2020 by HealthDay, he wrote it to

spread awareness about the negative effects of social media on teenagers. It was

written for teenagers, parents, teachers, and doctors to read in hopes that they will be

inspired to take action to fix this problem. This is a huge topic of discussion in the world

today because it is such a prevalent issue as more and more teens are becoming

addicted to social media.

In this article, Mundell presented a lot of facts about how and why teens’ mental

health has been declining over the years. He explained that there is a correlation

between the rise in technology and mental health. As technology is becoming more and

more available to people, so is social media. This increase in access has caused people

to become addicted to social media, which has very negatively impacted their overall

physical and mental health. Mundell presented statistics from multiple studies and

resources that prove this claim. For example he states, “In one U.S. study, the rate at

which kids and teens arrive in hospitals due to suicidal thoughts or attempts ‘almost

doubled between 2008 and 2015, with the highest increase among adolescent girls,’ the

researchers noted”. He then went on to propose a solution to this growing problem.

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While there are a lot of cons to social media use, there are also a lot of pros. Social

media helps us to express ourselves creatively and feel connected with the world and

those around us. Because of these benefits, Mundell suggested that cutting off all

technology and social media cold turkey would not be a good idea. He claimed that this

is why doctors will not tell someone with a social media addiction to get rid of social

media, but to cut back on the amount of time spent on it. Mundell wrapped up his article

by urging parents and guardians to monitor their child's screen time and social media

use in order to fix this problem of declining mental health.

Through the use of logos, ethos, and pathos, E.J. Mundell was able to effectively

communicate the severity of the issue at hand: the decline of mental health in teens due

to excess social media and technology usage in his article, “More Evidence Links Social

Media Use to Poorer Mental Health in Teens”. Right off the bat at the very beginning of

his article, Mundell saturated his writing with facts and quotes to employ logos. He cited

information from multiple scientific studies and sources. For example, in his article he

states, “Canadian researchers pored over dozens of studies and said the negative

effects of social media on teens' well-being is on the rise. `Physicians, teachers and

families need to work together with youth to decrease possible harmful effects of

smartphones and social media on their relationships, sense of self, sleep, academic

performance, and emotional well-being,’ said study lead author Dr. Elia Abi-Jaoude”.

Throughout the rest of the article he continues to cite the works of Dr. Elia Abi-Jaoude

and many others. Additionally, all of the arguments that he makes in this article flow well

together and make logical sense to the reader’s brain. This helps make his writing more

persuasive and successful. For example, he says, “However, excessive internet use
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may pose hazards. Therefore, the researchers suggest doctors should advise teens to

reduce their social media use rather than stop it completely, and should encourage

parents to be part of such conversations...Many teens might agree: One recent poll

found that 54% of U.S. teens think they spend too much time on their smartphones and

about half said they're cutting back on usage”. The author structured his writing by

making a logical claim, and then backing it up with plenty of evidence. This was

beneficial because it guided the thought process of the reader, making them more likely

to be persuaded.

Mundell also employed ethos in his article, “More Evidence Links Social Media

Use to Poorer Mental Health in Teens”. He did this by his use of tone. The tone in his

writing was very formal and there were a lot of big vocabulary words. This creates a

sense of professionalism that is much more convincing than if the author were to write

with a more casual and unprofessional tone. This also helped the reader to think deeper

about the topic and get a better understanding of the issue without having to question

the credibility of what they were reading. The professionalism and smooth flow helped

to engage the reader and provoked deeper thinking.

In this article, Mundell also incorporated some aspects of pathos. A lot of the

information he presents is mind-blowing, concerning, and sad. There are vivid

descriptions and explanations about what teens are going through as they are

continuously exposed to the internet and social media. Mundell structures his use of

ethos by presenting sorrowful information and provoking sadness in the reader. For

example, he states, “In one U.S. study, the rate at which kids and teens arrive in

hospitals due to suicidal thoughts or attempts ‘almost doubled between 2008 and 2015,
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with the highest increase among adolescent girls,’ the researchers noted. [In addition,]

U.S. overdose rates for young people ages 10 to 18, which has previously been on the

decline, ‘increased substantially from 2011 to 2018, primarily among girls,’ another

study found”. The topics of suicide and drug overdose are very striking and sensitive

topics, so bringing up negative statistics about those topis effectively provoke strong

emotions of concern in the reader. In contrast, Mendell then proceeds to present some

happier information to spark hope and motivation in the reader. He states,

“‘Encouragingly, youth are increasingly recognizing the negative impact of social media

on their lives and starting to take steps to mitigate it,’ the authors wrote”. This allowed

the reader to see the light at the end of the tunnel and inspired them to take action to

bring about change.

In conclusion, E.J. Mundell effectively employed a variety of rhetorical strategies

to help make his writing more impactful and successful. Some of these strategies

included elements of logos, ethos, and pathos. Mundell also structured and organized

his writing in a way that smoothly guided the reader to the main idea of the article. This

helped to keep the reader engaged, and therefore made them more likely to be

persuaded to take action and make change. Therefore, Mundell successfully crafted a

strong, persuasive article that will have a big impact on many people.

Word Count: 1106

Works Cited:

Mundell, E. J. (2020, October 27). More evidence links social media use to poorer

mental health in teens. HealthDay. Retrieved November 3, 2021, from

https://consumer.healthday.com/kids-health-information-23/adolescents-and-teen-health
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-news-719/more-evidence-links-social-media-use-to-poorer-mental-health-in-teens-754

691.html.

Peer Review Comments:

1. This essay has a lot of evidence to back up the claims they are making about the

paper. Their proof of how the author shows ethos, pathos, and logos and how this

supported them was very strong and there was a lot of it.

2.The introduction gives just enough information to the reader about what the essay

was about, why it was written and why this is important to the author. It isn’t too lengthy

or wordy, very straight to the point.

3. The summary does it’s job and is very easy to follow. I would like to see more direct

quotes and examples of these stats he is talking about in his article.

4.Through the use of ethos, and a little logos and pathos, E.J. Mundell was able to

effectively communicate the severity of the issue at hand: the decline of

mental health in teens due to excess social media and technology usage in

his article, “More Evidence Links Social Media Use to Poorer Mental Health in

Teens”. This does focus on text.

5. She said that the author used facts to employ ethos, used pathos because the facts

that were

Sad and that he used logos because the way he stated the facts flowed nicely and

makes sense

To the readers.

6. The claims are well developed but I think that the ethos needs to switch with the

logos. Having
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The author make sense might be able to show credibility, but the use of facts should be

logos.

7. She re-stated her claims in a shorter way, but there wasn’t much of an argument

being made.

8.the essay very much focuses on the rhetorical elements of the text and doesn’t focus

on the contents

Unless talking about pathos and the feelings reading the facts made them feel.

9.This essay flows very well and was easy for me to read. I could follow along and didn’t

get lost.

The claims also did a good job of introducing what the paragraph would be about.

10. No errors that I noticed.

11. No questions posed

The explanation of rhetorical strategies used in the article are a strong portion of the

essay. The thesis paragraph is especially strong because it helps the reader to

understand why the article is effective. The introduction successfully establishes a

context of the text. Understanding why the author wrote the article, makes the beginning

paragraph stronger. The only thing that could be added is a more detailed explanation

of why it is a prevalent topic, so that the first paragraph flows into the second paragraph.

The summary accurately gives an overview of the original text. Explaining the

correlations in the article and the use of the text in the summary is particularly effective.

The thesis statement is that the use of rhetorical strategies, especially ethos, effectively

communicates the severity of the issue. The only thing that could be changed is the

word choice. It may help to say, “The focus of ethos, with support of logos and
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pathos…” The claims that support the thesis are that the author uses his credibility and

scientific studies to prove the point. The claims given successfully support the thesis

given. The conclusion argues for overall effectiveness in persuading the audience. The

essay effectively explains the use of rhetorical strategies in the article. It is well

organized and flows logically. The only thing that could be improved grammatically is

the word choice. Using even more detailed words could make the essay more

successful. Overall the essay is well organized and effective.