Rhetorical Analysis and Quotables – Bri

Part 4: Rhetorical Analysis

The author is Wendy Berliner. She is an author, journalist, and CEO. Berliner wants the school system to promote curiosity in children. We can see how she is trying to show educators and the public, her primary audience, why curiosity is important in children. She is targeting educators because this topic has to do with school. I feel like there are no audiences she is ignoring because everyone should know about this topic. Berliner created this because she noticed the decline in children’s curiosity and wanted to dig deeper into it. She is trying to encourage educators to allow children to be curious and more comfortable asking questions. This genre is the best to address their audience because it is informative and incorporates images and scenes so readers can visualize. The convention of this genre is to include pictures and facts, which were included. The tone is determined because she wants a change in the school system. Berliner gave facts using logos when she showed that there is a decrease in students raising their hands. She used ethos because she got credible information. For example, she got research from Dr. Prachi Shah, Paul Howard-Jones, and Susan Engel, who are all credible. She used pathos by providing pictures of the children with the cardboard boxes. The time it was written does not matter because it is a feature article, so it is not about current events. It helps answer my question because it shows me why educators should make children be curious. This article was published by the Guardian, and it is a credible source. All the experts are verified to be credible by other sources. This seems like information because she is informing people of what is happening to children’s curiosities.

Part 5: Notable Quotables

“Teachers who concentrate on developing focus and good behavior because of the links to good academic performance, now need to take on board that developing curiosity could be even more important” (Berliner 2)

“In one lesson she observed, a ninth grader raised her hand to ask if there were any places in the world where no one made art. The teacher stopped her mid-sentence with, “Zoe, no questions now, please; it’s time for learning” (Berliner 2).

“When teachers teach young children not to ask questions, it is not surprising that high-performing students studied by American researchers in 2013 were found to be less curious, because they saw curiosity as a risk to their results” (Berliner 3).

““Children should be prompted and encouraged to ask questions even though that can be challenging for the teacher,” he says” (Berliner 3).