What does eating up the applause mean?

Which word from the stanza can you use as a clue to determine the meaning of the word vales ?

Which of the following is an appeal to reason? (5 points) a statistics or other facts that will bring audiences to a logical conclusion b positive references to the audience's sense of right versus wrong c strong organization and use of proper spelling, punctuation, and grammar d descriptions of events or places that have meanings to the audience

I’ve given a lot of thought to what one of them should be, and the answer seems clear.