Invention exercises for Assignment 2: Comparative Analysis

1. In 2-3 sentences, summarize in your own words each essay. Remember, a summary is a condensed version of the source text. It does not include any opinion. It does include the title of the piece and the author’s full name. Don’t worry about getting the wording perfect right now—just try to capture the essence of the readings.

a. Dobb’s “Beautiful Brains” talks about the reason teenagers are doing dangerous and impulsive things. The essay touches on human brain development, adult versus teenager point of view, and teenage habits. Although she does bash teenagers by saying that our decisions can be poor and we don’t have the greatest understand, she later goes on to support us by saying that the “bad traits” the come with teenagers are also the traits that make us be more social, have more energy, and look for more exciting things to do. Teenagers have a thirst for adventure that adults have lost.

b. In Barbara Smuts’ “Apes of Wrath”, male to female human relationships are being compared to those of primates. She states that many human behaviors in response to aggressive males are similar to those of the apes, and that male dominance is shown in both societies.

2. In 2-3 sentences, paraphrase in your own words a particular passage from each essay of not more than a paragraph. A paraphrase is different from a summary in that it is used with short passages—usually a few sentences—and doesn’t necessary shorten/condense the original. Choose a passage that you feel is important in each essay. After each paraphrase explain why it is significant.

a. Teenagers have a thirst for thrill. Researchers Steinberg and Casey believe that in the case of cost versus reward, those who take the risk for the reward gain higher adaptively.

Success comes from stepping out of your comfort zone. This, in turn, is similar for satisfying the taste for thrill.

b. These dangerous traits are what makes us adaptive. They show up in every single human alive, but it’s shown that most people only recognize these traits in the adolescent years; where we have a thirst for excitement, adventure, and company.

The dangerous traits that people associate with teenagers is actually in everyone, but its association with teenagers is so strong that people think that only teenagers have it, when in reality, everyone has that craving for something new and exciting.

3. Choose a direct quote from each essay. After each quote explain why it is significant. What textual tools does the writer use to persuade the reader?

a. Quote: “The biggest risk takers use the same basic cognitive strategies just as well as adults.” This is significant because it shows that even though teenagers may seem as if they’re wreckless and do dangerous things, they’re full aware of it, and they know their limit. Teenagers aren’t stupid, they think things through just as well as adults do. The writer uses logos to persuade the reader by using facts from a recent study.

This is persuasive because: it has research backing up this claim, it isn’t just a fake statement made up by the writer.

b. Quote: “Teens take more risks not because they don’t understand the dangers but because they weigh risk versus reward differently.” This shows that teenagers have a different thought process than adults. They’re more willing to take the risk for the bigger reward, while adults are much more conservative. The writer is using logos to logically reason with readers that teenagers and adults don’t think similarly. They’re not stupid.

This is persuasive because: adults and teenagers don’t often see eye to eye with one another. This is just another reason (supported by scientific evidence), that supports the idea that teenagers and adults have different mindsets.

4. What are some common themes of these two readings?

5. What are some common textual strategies of these two readings? (Think about rhetorical modes, persuasive appeals, organization, diction, etc. Identify at least 3).

5. Imagine the two authors of these texts are sitting in a room together. Write the conversation they are having. What do they agree on? Where do they disagree?

Beautiful, Yet Dangerous Brains

David Dobbs’  article ‘Beautiful Brains’, is written to inform the public of new scientific discoveries about the brain, how it develops and why adolescence is such a difficult time period for most parents to handle. What Dobbs writes is that through experiments and images of brain activity, many scientists realized that the brain takes much longer to develop than most people thought. He goes into details describing the way stronger links develop between the hippocampus and that this causes humans to become better at decision making. Throughout his article, Dobbs gives examples of how his son was in his adolescent years and how this research helped Dobbs realize more about why his son was put into jail for driving at 113 mph for instance.

Dobbs mixed in anecdotes with science discovery very well and made it flow. I enjoyed being able to relate to science on an easier level than if Dobbs were to just write a science journal will all its technicalities and scientific lexicon. Dobbs was able to clearly state the people who worked on these experiments and what they did. The experiments that were run on teens were explained thoroughly and given a reason for why this kind of experiment was given and what it uncovered. Not only was science a main part of this article but so was the way in which this science relates to every day life and socialization, for example when Dobbs talks about how teens usually search for approval from their peers and how this is seen through brain activity and development. Dobbs allowed avergae people to be able to understand complex scientific discovery and be updated on the current flow of what is going on in science.

Exploring new disciplines on teens’ brains

In parents’ common sense, teenagers are always irrational and reckless. David Dobbs conveys people with his son’s high-speed driving experience on this concept of adolescents. This narrative beginning can attract readers quickly and makes readers deeply understand what is going on during the rest of his essay. Dobbs’s story raises the common consideration through thousands years from general public, which is what teens’ brains are going on. Dobbs cites plenty of scientific materials which are exploring on teens ‘brains. For instance, Dobbs compares adults brains and teens’ brains through numerous studies. Studies shows “Compared with adults, teens tended to make less use of brain regions that monitor performance, spot errors, plan, and stay focused- areas the adults seemed to bring online automatically”(159). In other words, it seems that adults can use their brain easier and more stable than teenagers. What these materials finally define that teens brains are immature and still are developing. However, it seems that Dobbs has different views with these materials.  He starts to emphasize his view by mentioning “The story you’re reading right now, however, tells a different scientific tale about the teen brain”. (160). This sentence not only makes a good connection between what comes before and what goes after, but also let intended readers rethink if  these scientific materials are really that critical and rational on the relationship between teens’ brains and teens’ behavior. He supposes that the adolescent brain can be accounted for “the adaptive-adolescent story” based on the natural selection principle. Dobbs divides it into three parts:  seeking sensation or novelty, risk taking and peer community. He explains all three abstract parts based on concrete examples. He gives examples for sensation seeking such as a skydive or a fast drive. He also stands on both positive and negative effects of these three parts. For example, he shows sensation seeking could positively generate inspiration and success from novel experiences. Dobbs gives counter example when explain “risk taking”-“The age group from roughly fifteen to twenty-five  dies of accidents of almost every sort (other than work accidents) at high rates”(161).

Although he stands at the adolescents’ side to redefine their behaviors, he ends his essay by standing on parents’ sides to teach parents how to educate and help their children. Dobbs observes that parents need to guide and give suggestions to help their children to adapt to the adults’ world, not simply or entirely control children’s life via “parental authority”. He said “…the teen recognizes that the parent can offer certain kernels of wisdom-knowledge valued not because it comes from parental authority but because it comes from the parent’s own struggles to learn how the world turns” (165).  I guess it is an effective way to educate teenagers since as an adolescent, I prefer to hear advice from my parents and then make decisions by myself than just entirely listen and follow my parents’ steps.  Dobbs can convince readers because he is not only a writer but also a father. Parents always have similar views with him and can be easier to be persuasive.

Works cited: http://blackboard.stonybrook.edu/bbcswebdav/pid-2611041-dt-content-rid-10816616_1/courses/1134-WRT-102-SEC22-40032/dobbs_brains.pdf

The Complex Teenage Mind

Are teens really stupid? No, they’re not. Teenagers just haven’t fully developed their brains. According to Dobbs’ “Beautiful Brains”, the reason teenagers these days are doing dangerous and impulsive things is because their brains are still developing. They’re still in the process of becoming adults. However, the qualities of “angst, idiocy, and haste; impulsiveness, selfishness, and reckless bumbling” (Dobbs), shouldn’t be associated with adolescence. These traits are merely the ones that we recognize easiest because these are there the reasons that teenagers annoy us or concern us. However, they aren’t all bad. These traits are reasons why teenagers are so eager to make friends, take risks, and look for something usual or surprising. Their thirsts for attention and rewards are fueled by such traits, but to teenagers, what they get out of these dangerous behaviors are worth the risk; unlike adults, teens weigh risk and reward differently, which may be the reason why adults view teens as impulsive, risky, and immature.

I have to agree with Dobbs on the points that were made in the article. Adults don’t always see eye to eye with teenagers. Adults tend to be more conservative with their actions: over-weighing the risks, while under-weighing the rewards. The stereotype for teenagers is impulsive and immature. Immaturity, however, can be viewed as being risky. Typically, people who seem to have no consideration for the dangers or consequences of one’s actions can be viewed as being immature, but also risky. The teenage brain is still developing and is undergoing “upgrade”, but like Dobbs says in the article, “if we smartened up sooner, we’d end up dumber.” Life is all about learning from your mistakes and improving yourself through this process. If we “smartened” up sooner, where would we learn these valuable lessons from? We never really stop learning in life, but through the mistakes we’ve made growing up, we can offer advice to our children, and hopefully they could learn something from it too.

Response to “Beautiful Brains”

David Dobbs essay, “Beautiful Brains,” discusses the reasons and the importance of certain traits of teenagers. It’s always been believed that teenagers are just trouble and incapable of making good decisions, but Dobbs claims that this is just the natural urge for teenagers to take risks and be “sensation seeking.” He explains this by describing several experiments that reveal the difference between teen and adult behavior. He claims that teenagers tend to have more risky behavior because they think more about the reward of taking a risk rather than the dangers. And this natural tendency is exactly what’s beautiful about the brain; it causes teenagers to be “quite possibly the most fully, crucially adaptive human beings around.” It’s this behavior that inspired people to try new things and branch out. Without this, people would not start their own life and try something different; the human race wouldn’t be as successful if they were too cautious.

The title of the essay, “Beautiful Brains,” itself is a way for Dobbs to emphasize his view on how incredible the brain is. He is specifically referring to brains during the adolescence stage as being “beautiful.” When many people claim teenagers as being stupid, not thinking, and not using their brain, Dobbs is explaining how fascinating their behaviors are, because they are using their brains. Dobbs introduces the idea of adolescence brain development through an anecdote; he begins with an entertaining story of how his son got a speeding ticket. This personal story served as a way to draw the reader in and grab their attention. He then transitioned this story into how it made him curious about how and why teenagers have a tendency to be risky and daring. Throughout his essay, Dobbs uses logic to explain the brain development of humans through their adolescence stage. He refers to multiple tests that prove how teenagers are more likely to take risks than adults. He also uses rhetorical questions to get the reader to ponder on certain concepts, he asks, “So if teens think as well as adults do and recognize risk just as well, why do they take more chances?” He proceeds to answer the question by explaining how teenagers focus on the rewards rather than the negative consequences. And while this may appear to be a very bad thing, it’s actually a very positive aspect of human nature. Without a little danger, humans would not be flourishing like they are. Dobbs concludes his essay by addressing how adolescence is the perfect time for humans to be risky; it gives them the chance to discover new, incredible things, while learning from their mistakes and mistakes of others.