The Reasons Why Valedictorian System Should Be Discontinued

Jan Brogan's article, "The Trouble with High School Valedictorian Awards", explores the negative aspect of the Valedictorian award. Through the use of two classical appeals, Logos and Pathos, the author establishes a clear argument through personal and logical information as to why the Valedictorian system is not only flawed, but should be discontinued.

Brogan begins her argument, and builds it around, the classical appeal of Pathos. She wants to establish an emotional connection with her audience. In order to do this she uses personal stories surrounding her own experience with her daughter being a Valedictorian. She begins her essay by recalling the day her daughter graduated. For most parents this would be an exceptionally happy moment. For Jan however, it was not. She says that she, "was jealous of the parents of the carefree students accepting their awards for community service and school spirit". Although her daughter was receiving the most prestigious award at the graduation she secretly wished her daughter was receiving a less prestigious honor. This alludes to the frustrations she would discuss as the article continued.

As the article goes on Brogan looks to support her initial claims through use of more Pathos. She explains in paragraph eight that when her daughter turned 12 she was already, "buying her books about the dangers of perfectionism" and by 14 "she was working herself into what would become annual bouts of exhaustion that mimicked mono". Brogan looks to further establish how her daughter's drive for success began at a young age and would come to haunt her further as she went for the Valedictorian honor. She wraps this barrage of horrific truths by saying that two months after her speech, "she was hospitalized for an eating disorder". Through this Brogan looks to express all the problems she was faced with in her daughters drive for the award. This however is not true for all Valedictorians as Brogan reveals a positive study within her article.

Karen Arnold, who is "one of the country’s only researchers of valedictorians", completed a study on award recipients from the graduating class of 1981. The results found that an astounding 80 of the 82 students that were followed for 15 years had no lasting regrets. Although this information severely contradicts Brogan's opinion she dismisses it through the use of Logos in the paragraphs to follow.

Jan Brogan dismisses Karen Arnold's claims on valedictorians through the use of sound reasoning by means of Logos. She discusses how the high school climate has changed dramatically since 1981. She backs this claim by referencing Lexington High School, exclaiming, “with some of the state’s highest achieving students, feel compelled to host official “stress reduction” day”. The school also dismissed the valedictorian system for this very reason. Some students become so compelled by the award that they create a realm in which it becomes their only focus. This leads to the types of issues Brogan’s daughter experienced over the course of her teenage years. She further reiterates these effects through findings by Jason Moser, the assistant psychology professor at Michigan State University. He states that perfectionism often leads to,”poor physical health and to mental health problems like eating disorders, anxiety, and depression”. These findings help to establish the types of things a valedictorian could experience as they strive for what Brogan believes is an unimportant goal.

Brogan uses her article as a way to establish her opinion on a pressing issue. Through the use of Pathos she reveals to the audience how the valedictorian award severely affected her own daughter. She enhances these emotional stories through facts and reasoning from outside sources. This applies Logos to her article further enhancing her claims as to why the system should be done away with.

Through application of the classical appeals, Pathos and Logos, Brogan establishes a concise argument through reasoning and personal stories to establish why the valedictorian award should be dismissed.