Analysis Of Margaret Talbot's Essay Best In Class

Throughout the course of history, education has always been an important piece of humanity. Learning, studying, a rigid workload, and applying knowledge to the real world-that is what education is. From education came the valedictorian, a student who has received an academic title of success, and was meant to be a reward for students who deserved it. Even though it may be somewhat competitive, it was never meant to do any harm. In “Best in Class” Margaret Talbot conveys how she wants to keep the tradition of a single valedictorian but wishes to reduce how obsessive people get over it through her appeals to logos and her selective presentation.
Many times throughout her essay Talbot appealed to logos. She first appeals to logos when she points

course” (Talbot 225). The reason for this is because it shows the shift in intelligence in recent years. Since students as a whole were becoming smarter, it became harder to name one sole valedictorian. Before this increase it had always been somewhat easy for principals to choose a valedictorian; however, it soon became difficult as the amount of candidates grew. Because of this, principals everywhere began to feel more pressure as they now faced public opinion depending on who was chosen. Although it has become a difficult choice, getting rid of a valedictorian in order to avoid upsetting some people is not the answer. Even though becoming a valedictorian is meant to be a competition, it is not meant to be something people take legal action over. In her essay Talbot mentions how “ a single-valedictorian tradition is also being endangered by lawsuits” and how sometimes legal action can be caused by “a difference of .00154” (Talbot 226, 227). Since Talbot is presenting the numbers, she is

In her essay, Talbot places the interviews concerning the negatives of a valedictorian (Talbot 223-228), then gives some historical background on American high schools (229-230), and closes with some positive interviews (230-232). Structuring her essay like this helps empower her positive interviews. By leaving the positive interviews after the historical background, she is subtly making sure her readers get a better understanding of the advantages of a valedictorian. Because the negative interviews come first most readers would have little background and more than likely assume Talbot was against a valedictorian;however, when they reach the background their opinion will more than likely change. This background displays being a valedictorian as people who are willing to succeed in life. While becoming a valedictorian is a challenging and grueling process, the interviews Talbot presents believe it should be included to reward students who go that extra mile. Another way she uses selective presentation is to reinforce her credibility. In her essay talbot covers many perspectives including: a principal (223), a valedictorian (224), students who took legal action (227), and parents of students (231). The reason she covers so many perspectives is to show she covered all sides of the argument. Even though that would make it seem like she has no clear stance, her stance is discreetly hidden in