Margaret Talbot’s “Best in Class” is an enticing and informational article about the argument on whether or not Valedictorians are a good thing. Having one valedictorian has been a tradition in schools for many, many years; however, as times change, students are becoming more invested and determined in school, so many kids are missing being valedictorian by 0.001%. Therefore, Talbot brings to light both sides of the story in this extraordinary article. Although Margaret seems to not choose a side, it is obvious through her strong diction and testimonies that she believes that appointing a single valedictorian is an unfair custom throughout U.S. schools. In “Best in Class,” the author, Margaret Talbot, appeals to people’s emotions because of …show more content…
Talbot’s use of testimony helps her pathos throughout her article. For example, Talbot uses Kylie Barker’s story of striving to be valedictorian as a testimony. Kylie Barker strived for being valedictorian for “pretty much forever” and she believed valedictorian was something “you worked really hard for.” Talbot brings to light the stressful and hostile battle for being valedictorian; she even talks about how Barker’s school called her mother to tell her that “[Kylie Barker is] in a pressure cooker [at the school], and she’s about to burst.” In the end, Kylie and her opponent decided that they would be co-valedictorians. Even though there were two co-valedictorians, many people were still upset because they weren’t getting acknowledgement. If valedictorians didn’t exist, if everyone who worked hard was recognized in some way, if there wasn’t so much pressure on a student to be the best, students would be happier and feel more accomplished when they graduate. Talbot is trying to get the reader to sympathize with the fact that it would be unfair if only one person got rewarded for their hard work. Working hard with no reward is a horrible thing, and Talbot is able to make a connection with the reader because, although some readers may not have experienced this kind of rewardless work, readers can understand what that must feel
Being named the highest academic achiever of anyone in your school is quite the achievement; however, in “Best in Class” by Margaret Talbot, she puts forth the message that the fight for valedictorian is causing much more harm than good. Talbot reinforces this argument through her uses of hard evidence to appeal to ethos and her anecdotal interviews to appeal to pathos. Being one of the strongest parts of her article, Talbot’s use of great amounts of hard evidence strengthens her appeal to ethos. Being a reporter, and a female reporter at that, Talbot must be very careful to avoid using overly-emotional appeals to try and convey her argument. The reporting industry is one in which someone can lose their credibility to critics very quickly
According to the article, “Neither a Wallflower Nor a Paris Geller Be” (Rebecca Schuman, Slate Magazine, 14 Oct 14), in order to be a successful student, class participation is the key aspect of college students. Additionally, Schuman explains that taking part in the class is to experiment with new thoughts, banter about, and examine. It is not to win a type of splendid comment challenge, she argues. Regardless of whether by the timid, hesitant, or excited. Agreeing to Schuman you ought to connect a gathering venture where, indeed, a few people from the gathering are more brilliant than others.
During her visit to Whitman, Alexandra made comparisons between her high school years and the high school years of the upperclassmen observed. She noticed the variety of differences between them because during her years there was not much palpable competition but now there was between the students at Whitman. The competition of getting the best grades was a huge deal to the students because their grades were a factor to getting admitted to the college of their choice. Pete a junior student at Whitman, was one of the many overachievers who put in the effort to get the best grades he could even if it meant to risk his own health. Pete was a straight A student who one night took so much caffeine to complete a paper that was due the next day.
Rhetorical Analysis Essay Graduating from college is the time to begin a new chapter and change your life for the better. Commencement speeches are supposed to inspire and make graduating college students want to make that change. George Saunders gave a commencement speech at Syracuse University graduation in 2013. He carries out his speech in the traditional way but added a new twist on what is really important in life and in everyone’s career.
All writers have their own unique style and use many different devices to grab and keep the reader's attention. Writers also use their writing styles and topics to target their intended audience. Some writers such as Leonard Pitts Jr. decide to create editorial pieces based on controversial topics on the uprise. Pitts wrote Don’t Lower The Bar On Education Standards to show education should not be based on race, ethnicity or disability and all students should learn the same criteria. Another article Pitts wrote is Torture Might Work
Being honored for the award led the school to be even more diverse. They engaged themselves so much in racial and ethnic unity which led to intentional diversity because of that the honor for the award was no longer considered, Scheller was told during an interview with Michael Scales and David Turk, the president and provost of the college. (Michael Scales & David Turk para. 1). Intentional diversity
As humans, we face many obstacles throughout our lifetime. Some may be minor, while others may be drastic. However, each new obstacle changes us as well as the way we think about life. For better or for worse, these trials help shape who we are today. In the book Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl, Blue van Meer is no stranger to taking tests, whether they’re in school, or in her life.
Upon beginning my first class at Walden University, it has been difficult to see myself getting through this 8-week course. Furthering my education has been something I have struggled to accomplish for the last 4 years. I almost decided to give up and continue being just a high school teacher. However, being a senior teacher that motivates my students to go above an beyond to reach their goal has pushed me to work hard and start a new journey. Though it is only the beginning of my journey, I can see graduation.
Imagine blowing up a balloon, with every exhale of breath the balloon gets bigger. Similar to a balloon, with every year that passes grades inflate. In “Grade Inflation Gone Wild” by Stuart Rojstaczer, he discusses how the grading system has changed over the years. Rojstaczer’s overall purpose is to increase awareness of grade inflation and persuade his audience to take action. He argues that “changes in grading have had a profound influence on college life and learning” (2).
It has been proven that many individuals find it difficult to determine if attending class should be mandatory or not. Many argue that as long as the student is doing well on the assignments and understanding the information, he/she should not be required to come to class. There are also many counter-arguments that say that one should be required to come to class no matter what. In his article “‘A’ is for Absent”, Chris Piper wants his audience to believe that attendance should not effect grades due to the fact that if a student can pass without coming to class, he/she should pass without being questions about their attendance.
Nour Harb Speech to Critique The speech “You’re Not Special” was given by David McCullough Jr., a teacher at Wellesley High School, at their 2012 commencement ceremony. The audience he spoke to was not only the graduating class, but the parents of those students, and teacher or administrators of that school. He gave a commemorative speech. David McCullough Jr. gave a speech to not only commend the graduates for all they’ve done but to urge them to know that they are not even close to finishing their journey.
Students are fully aware of the positive and negative consequences of grade inflation whether it is something as simple as a grade curve or as drastic as a student trying to bargain their way into graduation. However, another smaller issue that arises is the “participation trophy.” When doing something, everyone gets an equal amount of victory. When discussing this topic in class, I realized that many of my peers saw participation trophies and inflated grades as one in the same. Both items apparently trigger narcissism and false hope in children.
Every writer or speaker spends a lot of time prepare what they what to say and how they want to say it. It is a long process and takes a lot of time; because they need to think and re-think about the main idea and the purpose. Also they need to be awareness that it is difficult to engage people in spoken or written form. In order to communicate effectively most of them use rhetorical enhances communications and presentation skills. Rhetoric is an ancient art which started in Greece but it is still use it now day in speeches on different situations.
In 1994, the United States Congress passed the Gun-Free Schools Act. This act mandated that if any student were to be found with a fire-arm in their possession on campus, their school was then required to give them an at least one-year expulsion. Support for this act significantly strengthened after the Columbine School Shooting in 1999, and thus zero tolerance policies as we know them began (Glanzer). Since the initial act in 1994, school policies have changed greatly. Now, all schools across the United States exhibit zero tolerance to most all negative behaviors – doling out serious punishments for not only the possession of fire-arms, but anything resembling any type of weapon, including a miniature gun on a Lego toy, any kind of drug, including ibuprofen, and even mere disobedience towards authority.
2. The strength of these philosophies lies in the fact they are all student centered approaches to teaching and learning. I most appreciate the prescriptive nature of the philosophies meaning that they all are attempting to increase learning and decrease behavior issues by establishing roles, routines, and norms of a classroom. I think if I can actively utilize the approaches above, I can create the type of environment that is helpful to both students and still be a place I want to work in. I do not expect that I can do it all the first year, but maybe over time I can bring in more research based applications of classroom management.