Best In Class By Margaret Talbot

In “Best in Class”, Margaret Talbot reveals the stressful lives of students in high school. The majority can relate to her essay since most have endured this unforgiving time in life. The main point Talbot debates is the competition for valedictorian. The author shows that being valedictorian is a respectable honor; however, in recent years it has been corrupted and should be modified by implementing passionate pathos and understanding persona. Talbot is able to use great pathos to advance her message regarding valedictorian. Most of her pathos can be found in the students’ quotes. Stephanie Klotz, a former student, said that she “wanted to make sure the school knew how traumatic something like” competing for valedictorian can be (Talbot

This type of pathos is very resentful. The reader can trust in these claims because the source they come from is so credible; therefore, one can more thoroughly understand these feelings. This particular quote shows the painful extent one goes through to reach the top; it also shows how much hatred this person bears towards those supervising the valedictorian position. This use of pathos implies that the competition is unnecessarily cruel to the hard-working competitors. Kimberly Belcher, another student contestant for valedictorian, said that she “felt betrayed. [She’s] not angry anymore, but, boy [she] was angry then” when she lost (Talbot 224). This pathos shows obvious hate and anger. The author portrays the cruelty of the competition, and she

She proves she isn’t biased in her writing by depicting each side and at the end, comes up with a solution. Talbot stated that “[m]aybe the answer is to stick to one valedictorian but to make the rules of the contest clear” (231). By showing she is open to alterations for the sake of others, the reader may less reluctantly accept her claims and allow themselves to listen to her. By being unbiased, she can convey various solutions that will be more accepted by her audience. It greatly contributes to her message because an open mind attracts readers; it is a quality that benefits an author. This quality allows the author to spread her message and better convinces the audience of her viewpoints. Throughout the essay she incorporates interviews of people who want to kill the tradition of naming valedictorians, yet towards the end she says, “...perhaps something is lost if schools eliminate valedictorians” (Talbot 321). This here is her concession. If the reader stopped halfway through the essay they would most-likely assert that the author wants to eliminate the contest. However, Talbot is merely open-minded and actually aspires to perfect the competition rather than completely discarding it altogether. Upon viewing this, the reader knows that Talbot is unbiased and simply wants to help. The reader is drawn in because they know that they still can make up their own opinion