  In this paper we present a detailed spectroscopic analysis of the suspected
marginal Am star HD\,71297. Our goal is to test the accuracy of two different
approaches to determine the atmospheric parameters effective temperature,
gravity, projected rotational velocity, and chemical abundances. The methods
used in this paper are: classical spectral synthesis and the {\it Versatile
Wavelength Analysis} ({\sl VWA}) software.
  Since our star is bright and very close to the Sun, we were able to determine
its effective temperature and gravity directly through photometric,
interferometric, and parallax measurements. The values found were taken as
reference to which we compare the values derived by spectroscopic methods. Our
analysis leads us to conclude that the spectroscopic methods considered in this
study to derive fundamental parameters give consistent results, if we consider
all the sources of experimental errors, that have been discussed in the text.
In addition, our study shows that the spectroscopic results are quite as
accurate as those derived from direct measurements.
  As for the specific object analyzed here, according to our analysis,
HD\,71297 has chemical abundances not compatible with the previous spectral
classification. We found moderate underabundances of carbon, sodium, magnesium,
and iron-peak elements, while oxygen, aluminum, silicon, sulfur, and heavy
elements (Z $\geq$ 39) are solar in content. This chemical pattern has been
confirmed by the calculations performed with both methods.
