Persuasive-Descriptive Writing (Version 1)
PERSUASIVE-DESCRIPTIVE WRITING (VERSION 2)
Jamie Abrams
Dr. Holt
AP Literature 12:4
29 August 2019
The Necessity of Criticism, Inquiry and Self Reflection
The course pack reading, which includes A.O. Scott’s Better Living Through Criticism, Stepehen Greenblatt’s Renaissance Self Fashioning and Warren Berger’s A More Beautiful Question along with a selection of Maria Popova’s “Brain Pickings”, holistically inspires analysation, of both the text and self analysation by the reader, and forces the reader to analytically contemplate otherwise mundane concepts. Rather than simply providing definitions for key concepts, the three excerpts by A.O Scott, Stephen Greenblatt, and Warren Berger inspire the reader to investigate the value of education, art, criticism and inquiry and how these age old institutions can be improved to flourish in the modern world. In addition to self analysation, the reading inspires self improvement by means of inquiry and criticism.
A.O Scott, Stephen Greenblatt and Warren Berger along with Maria Popova carefully utilize quotes to both support their claims and further the knowledge of the reader on the given concepts before engaging in introspective discussions on the key topics. Out of the four excerpts, Popova’s “Brain Pickings” relies most heavily on the usage of quotes to promote inquiry and self-reflection; by including quotes and concepts derived from thinkers such as Immanuel Kant, Deborah Meir, and Shakespeare, Popova provides perspicuous context for the reader. By including similar theories by other thinkers, especially those active in past generations, each author is able to emphasize the historical significance of their ideas, thereby demonstrating the importance of their theories. By using quotes by such impactful thinkers such as Kant, Rilke and Burke, A.O. Scott emphasizes the prominence of criticism and how it has played a crucial role in society throughout history. For example, by including ideas from Edmund Burke’s A Philosophical Inquiry into Our Notions of the Sublime and Beautiful which states an object is “beautiful because everyone thinks it is, and everyone thinks so because it’s beautiful”, Scott gives a variety of viewpoints on the concept of beauty and criticism in addition to his own. Each author uses these quotes and concepts to support their ideas and enrich the conversation of self analysation by bringing in outside voices to elucidate their point.
It is important to constantly strive for self improvement and an understanding of one’s own thoughts and beliefs in order to educate oneself about the world around them. Constant betterment is crucial to survival in an inevitably modernizing world. As jobs historically filled by lower-class workers are automated throughout the globe, it is becoming a necessity to escalate one’s human capital through quality education, independent thinking and the self-confidence necessary for self-critique. As the job market becomes progressively more exclusive, the people obtaining new jobs and promotions must contribute unique, innovative ideas to the expanding sphere of new technology, systems and modern concepts. The importance of contextual inquiry, self-reflection and independence to survival in the modern economy cannot be overstated.
Individuality, the necessity of questioning authority and the importance of self image are explored throughout the reading through three main lenses: criticism, inquiry and self fashioning. If one can learn to efficiently utilize criticism and inquiry in their education, they will likely become more proficient in complex thought and independent thinking. The importance of individuality is often emphasized throughout the reading as all three authors refute the human tendency to conform to the beliefs of the majority. The importance of analysing and understanding oneself is often emphasized, especially throughout A.O. Scott’s Better Living Through Criticism and Stephen Greenblatt’s Renaissance Self Fashioning. As Berger explains, it is understood that “as everyday life becomes more jam-packed with tasks, activities, diversions, and distractions, stepping back and question is unlikely to get a slot on the schedule”, but the importance of questioning and self reflection becomes progressivelyx more crucial as the world modernizes. Rather than simply accepting the information that is presented, each author encourages that the reader questions and analyses what they are given; all four authors describe the quintessential independent thinker who can not only understand the information issued to them, but can also recognize why this new information is important.
Dr. Holt
AP Literature 12:4
29 August 2019
The Necessity of Criticism, Inquiry and Self Reflection
The course pack reading, which includes A.O. Scott’s Better Living Through Criticism, Stepehen Greenblatt’s Renaissance Self Fashioning and Warren Berger’s A More Beautiful Question along with a selection of Maria Popova’s “Brain Pickings”, holistically inspires analysation, of both the text and self analysation by the reader, and forces the reader to analytically contemplate otherwise mundane concepts. Rather than simply providing definitions for key concepts, the three excerpts by A.O Scott, Stephen Greenblatt, and Warren Berger inspire the reader to investigate the value of education, art, criticism and inquiry and how these age old institutions can be improved to flourish in the modern world. In addition to self analysation, the reading inspires self improvement by means of inquiry and criticism.
A.O Scott, Stephen Greenblatt and Warren Berger along with Maria Popova carefully utilize quotes to both support their claims and further the knowledge of the reader on the given concepts before engaging in introspective discussions on the key topics. Out of the four excerpts, Popova’s “Brain Pickings” relies most heavily on the usage of quotes to promote inquiry and self-reflection; by including quotes and concepts derived from thinkers such as Immanuel Kant, Deborah Meir, and Shakespeare, Popova provides perspicuous context for the reader. By including similar theories by other thinkers, especially those active in past generations, each author is able to emphasize the historical significance of their ideas, thereby demonstrating the importance of their theories. By using quotes by such impactful thinkers such as Kant, Rilke and Burke, A.O. Scott emphasizes the prominence of criticism and how it has played a crucial role in society throughout history. For example, by including ideas from Edmund Burke’s A Philosophical Inquiry into Our Notions of the Sublime and Beautiful which states an object is “beautiful because everyone thinks it is, and everyone thinks so because it’s beautiful”, Scott gives a variety of viewpoints on the concept of beauty and criticism in addition to his own. Each author uses these quotes and concepts to support their ideas and enrich the conversation of self analysation by bringing in outside voices to elucidate their point.
It is important to constantly strive for self improvement and an understanding of one’s own thoughts and beliefs in order to educate oneself about the world around them. Constant betterment is crucial to survival in an inevitably modernizing world. As jobs historically filled by lower-class workers are automated throughout the globe, it is becoming a necessity to escalate one’s human capital through quality education, independent thinking and the self-confidence necessary for self-critique. As the job market becomes progressively more exclusive, the people obtaining new jobs and promotions must contribute unique, innovative ideas to the expanding sphere of new technology, systems and modern concepts. The importance of contextual inquiry, self-reflection and independence to survival in the modern economy cannot be overstated.
Individuality, the necessity of questioning authority and the importance of self image are explored throughout the reading through three main lenses: criticism, inquiry and self fashioning. If one can learn to efficiently utilize criticism and inquiry in their education, they will likely become more proficient in complex thought and independent thinking. The importance of individuality is often emphasized throughout the reading as all three authors refute the human tendency to conform to the beliefs of the majority. The importance of analysing and understanding oneself is often emphasized, especially throughout A.O. Scott’s Better Living Through Criticism and Stephen Greenblatt’s Renaissance Self Fashioning. As Berger explains, it is understood that “as everyday life becomes more jam-packed with tasks, activities, diversions, and distractions, stepping back and question is unlikely to get a slot on the schedule”, but the importance of questioning and self reflection becomes progressivelyx more crucial as the world modernizes. Rather than simply accepting the information that is presented, each author encourages that the reader questions and analyses what they are given; all four authors describe the quintessential independent thinker who can not only understand the information issued to them, but can also recognize why this new information is important.
Cover Page (Version 1)
Cover Page (Version 2)
In an attempt to clearly display the similarities and differences between A.O. Scott’s Better Living Through Criticism, Stepehen Greenblatt’s Renaissance Self Fashioning and Warren Berger’s A More Beautiful Question I color coded my concept map, using blue for the concepts regarding Better Living Through Criticism, pink for A More Beautiful Question, and purple for Renaissance Self Fashioning. For the concepts that I felt were essential to all three discussions, I used all three colors. Although this process was rather tedious, I feel that it makes the relationship between the topics of discussion more clear to the viewer. While creating the map I struggled with fitting all of the information in the space provided and feel that I was unable to entirely encompass the concepts discussed. To help remedy this problem I added text onto the bottom branches of the map which reads “self image, individuality and questioning authority”; these concepts, although significant, were derived from the concepts listed in the boxes above, and therefore to prevent redundancy I did not make separate boxes for each of them. In each of Popova’s “Brain Pickings” she centers the discussion around a set of thinkers, often focusing primarily on one. To imitate this style I listed the most prominent intellects from each section alongside each column. Finally, the concept map culminates into one final box which explains that it “prepares the reader to gain success in the modern world by bettering the reader’s ability to critique, inquire and reflect”, as I felt the values discussed in the course pack reading and displayed in the concept map would heavily influence one’s ability to succeed in the modern world.