Cheater, Cheater

560 Words3 Pages
In the past it was the struggling student who was more likely to cheat just to get by, but today it is also the above-average college bound students who are cheating. Increased pressure to succeed has made students more willing to do whatever it takes to get the A. College freshman, Collen Wenke, in her essay “Too Much Pressure”, argues that cheating in college and especially high school has become a more prevalent issue in today’s culture and society. Wenke’s purpose is to explore the effects of this problem on our present world. She employs a combination of a quizzical and contemplative tone to appeal to readers and to connect to their feelings and experiences. In the first paragraph, Wenke begins by placing the reader in the perspective of a student who resorts to cheating on a test. By doing this, she invokes sympathy in the reader. At the beginning of the paragraph, the student is in danger of failing. Later, though, after the student has cheated, there is a sense of ease and resolution to the situation, and this weakens her argument, making the issue of cheating seem almost irrelevant or benign. The reader also notices Wenke’s use of the personal pronoun “you” throughout the scenario in the first paragraph, suggesting that she is aiming the argument at high school and college students. It’s evident that the tone of this piece shifts, but the author begins with a quizzical tone and asks many questions throughout her argument. “If my parents’ generation had such high morals and wouldn’t cheat, wouldn’t they teach their children the same?” (Wenke, Page 1) She then moves to a more contemplative tone in the latter part of the piece, explaining the possible effects of cheating on our society today. She points out that “this attitude will not stop in the classroom, but will carry on into the business world… [the students who cheat] are in turn the ones who will

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