Formal Essay #1
Please respond to the following topic in your first formal essay:
How effective—i.e., how persuasive—is Howard Gardner in making and supporting his key arguments in the first and fourth chapters of his study, Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences? With our recent class discussions and activities in mind, analyze/critique some aspect or aspects of the material that you find especially important or intriguing. (Please note that you can do an excellent job in this essay whether you actually agree with Gardner’s claims or not. After all, the main focus of your critique is on how Gardner does his apparent task. Thus, a careful reader who agrees with Gardner’s main points could be disappointed in the degree to which she thinks Gardner succeeds in making his case, while a critical reader who ultimately disagrees with Gardner could assert that Gardner nonetheless does an impressive job and earns his respect.) Why does it matter so much whether Gardner makes a strong, clear case for his claims? In other words, what are, or what could be, the consequences of disseminating a “sloppy” argument concerning “multiple intelligences”?
Although you do not have to answer all of the following questions, and you are not limited to them, here are some questions you could ask about Gardner’s text to generate ideas for your analysis. Please note that writing critically/in depth about a small number of issues is vastly preferable to making meager or “sketchy” arguments on a large number of concerns:
–How effectively does Gardner establish his purpose(s)? How effectively does he indicate who is included in his primary audience and/or in other possible audiences? Does his choice of audience(s) in any way limit what he can write, and/or how he can write it?
–How effectively does Gardner use the “rhetorical modes” or tools we discussed in class, such as logos, pathos, and ethos? In particular, is his logic sound? Does he misuse (or even abuse) any of the rhetorical tools that are at his disposal?
–What types of evidence does Gardner rely upon? How strong are his choices and treatments of evidence?
–Does Gardner do anything as a writer that surprises you in positive ways? Does he do anything as a writer that surprises you in negative ways? Explain.
–Does Gardner leave anything out of his argument that you think is important? For example, does he make any problematic assumptions? Does he include anything that you think need or should not be there?
–In what ways does your position or perspective as a scholar-in-training in your own discipline likely affect your vision of Gardner’s ideas? That is, which of your field’s values and priorities come to the fore as you respond to/critique Gardner?
Important notes:
–Do not turn to outside sources (i.e., to any sources outside of your own head and your class notes) for your responses to Frames of Mind. Perform your own analysis by carefully and directly examining the Frames of Mind excerpts. If you’re interested in what others think about Gardner and his writing, read about those things after you write your own analysis! Your visions of the material are what we’re after, here!
–Remember, your main concern is how effectively (or not) Gardner makes his case, not how much you agree or disagree with his theory of multiple intelligences.
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A final draft of your paper is due at the beginning of the period on Tuesday, February 20th. Please note that your paper should be typed and double-spaced, and should be 1,000-1,200 words long, with one-inch margins on all sides. Make sure that your paper has:
- a clear, full, and debatable thesis
- articulate, well-organized subarguments and well-chosen examples, all of which you clearly tie
back into your overarching thesis
- a conclusion that does something more or other than simply restates your key points.
- one-inch margins all around
- identifying info in the top, left-hand corner
- a compelling title that points to the nature of your thesis
- an accurate word count jotted in one of the top corners of the first page
- If using anything that Gardner says, then state the page number in parenthesis
- Use present tense when referring to Gardner
- Give examples from the text and elaborate on them
- Chapter numbers should be in quotes
- Thesis should be ARGUABLE
- Thesis does not have to be only one sentence
