It is true that Margaret Talbot opens her essay, "Best In
Class", examining the Sarasota High School's valedictorian "problem." In the end, the
former principal, Daniel Kennedy, opened a charter school and refused to give out the
honor of valedictorian based upon the peril he faced at
SHS.
“My
advice to other principals is, Whatever you do, do not name a
valedictorian. Any principal who does is facing
peril.”
While the focus on
SHS basically ends here, Talbot goes on to mention the problems other high schools faced
when determining a valedictorian.
While her "primary
subject is neither that school [SHS] nor its students", Talbot is simply showing the
issues that schools today face regarding the cut-throat fight to gain the
title.
In the end, Talbot fails to offer her definitive
opinion on the subject. Instead, she offers both alternative
views:
In some
ways, it seems that the valedictorian is a status designed for a simpler time, when
fewer people aspired to
college.
and
Still, perhaps something is lost if schools
eliminate valedictorians.
By
doing this, Talbot's rhetorical style is one of ethos. Ethos, according to Purdue's OWL
website, is
the ethical appeal is based on the character,
credibility, or reliability of the writer. There are many ways to establish good
character and credibility as an
author.
Here, the author is
simply offering an objective point of view. The author is not offering up their own
personal feelings on the subject. Instead, they offer both sides of the argument and
shows respect to the reader by doing so.
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