Jan Brogan's article, "The Trouble with High School Valedictorian Awards," explores the negative aspect of the valedictorian award. Through the use of two classic appeals, Logos and Pathos, the author establishes a clear argument using personal and logical information as to why the promotion system is not only flawed, but should be abandoned. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Brogan begins his argument and builds it around the classic appeal of Pathos. She wants to establish an emotional connection with her audience. To do this, she uses personal stories surrounding her own experience with her daughter being valedictorian. She begins her essay by talking about the day her daughter graduated. For most parents, this would be an exceptionally happy time. But for Jan, that wasn't the case. She said she "was jealous of the parents of the carefree students who accepted their awards for their community service and school spirit." Even though her daughter received the most prestigious award at graduation, she secretly wished her daughter received a less prestigious honor. This hints at the frustrations she would discuss as the article progresses. As the article progresses, Brogan seeks to support his initial claims using more Pathos. She explains in paragraph eight that when her daughter turned 12, she was "already buying her books on the dangers of perfectionism" and that at 14 "she was preparing for what would become annual bouts of exhaustion that mimic the mono". Brogan seeks to further establish how her daughter's quest for success began at a young age and would come to haunt her further as she stood for valedictorian honors. She concludes this barrage of horrible truths by saying that two months after her speech, "she was hospitalized for an eating disorder." Through this, Brogan seeks to express all the problems she faced in her daughter's campaign for the award. This is not true for all valedictorians, however, as Brogan reveals a positive study in his article. Karen Arnold, who is "one of the only valedictorian researchers in the country," conducted a study of the valedictorians of the class of 1981. The results found that 80 of the 82 students followed for 15 years had not no lasting regrets. Although this information seriously contradicts Brogan's opinion, she rejects it using Logos in the following paragraphs. Jan Brogan rejects Karen Arnold's claims about valedictorians using sound reasoning through Logos. She explains how the high school climate has changed dramatically since 1981. She supports this statement by referencing Lexington High School, exclaiming, "with some of the highest achieving students in the state, they feel compelled to organize an official “stress reduction” day.” The school also rejected the valedictorian system for this very reason. Some students are so attracted to the prize that they create a field in which it becomes their sole focus. This leads to the types of problems Brogan's daughter faced during her teenage years. She further reiterates these effects through the findings of Jason Moser, assistant professor of psychology at Michigan State University. He says perfectionism often leads to "poor physical health and mental health problems like eating disorders, anxiety and depression." These.