Argument+Essay

Argument Unit:
How to Cite Sources: []

How to Cite our Text: Talbot, Margaret. “Best in Class.” //The Language of Composition//. Eds. Renee Shea, Lawrence Scanlon, and Robin Aufses. New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2013. 223-232. Print.

Body Paragraph: The current structure of American high schools fails to promote true education because grades are prioritized over learning. In her article on valedictorians in high schools, Margaret Talbot profiles, Audrey Lin, who admitted cheating to earn valedictorian honors and had to return her valedictorian plaque (231). Talbot’s work shows that students are tempted to do anything necessary to finish at the top of the class, even if that means cheating or taking advantage of how grade point average is calculated. David Foster Wallace also highlights how students miss the larger point of education, and he chides that “the capital T Truth is about life //before// death” (237). Becoming an educated person is the aim of schooling, and not simply getting the best grades. With grades prioritized over learning, schools seem to have lost their way.