Read the article I attached and then analyze it by responding in specific detail to the following questions:
Rhetorical Knowledge: The Writer’s Situation and Rhetoric
Audience: Do you think Briggs is writing for a general population, or does she have a more specific
audience in mind? What makes you think so?
Purpose: Briggs sees a problem with the way many people approach learning, leading to a lack of
intellectual humility. To address the problem, she explains the relationship between intellectual humility and
love of learning. She also gives specific examples of how intellectual humility can be incorporated into a
range of learning models. Do you think Briggs accomplishes her purpose? Why or why not?
Voice and tone: Briggs is writing about a serious problem: a lack of intellectual humility in today’s
classrooms, and so also in today’s workplaces. Do you feel her tone is appropriate for her topic? Why or
why not?
Responsibility: Briggs quotes more than a dozen sources in her text but does not provide a list of
references. A reference list would allow readers to locate and read those sources for more information.
How does this lack of such a list affect Briggs’s credibility?
Context, format, and genre: This essay originally appeared as an opinion piece on a Web site for educators
interested in the latest trends and ideas applied to learn technologies. Can you identify what also makes
this a piece of writing that looks for a solution to solve a problem? What makes you come to your
conclusion?
Critical Thinking: The Writer’s Ideas and Your Personal Response
As a student who is looking to enter the workforce in the future, or who is currently balancing school and
work, how do you feel about the problem Briggs describes and her proposed solutions? How would you
judge your own level of intellectual humility? How do you think you can further develop it?
Since Briggs is presenting solutions that researchers like Ian Church and Peter Samuelson have identified
during their years of working on the subject, readers need to get a sense of both Briggs’ and her sources’
ethos on this topic. How does Briggs establish both her own ethos and her other sources’ as well?
Composing Processes and Knowledge of Conventions: The Writer’s Strategies
Explain what strategy Briggs uses to establish that a problem exists within education. Then describe how
she encourages her audience to agree that the problem exists.
Sample Solution
