English 111
Reflection of Essay
The purpose of this Argumentative Response essay is to highlight that in addition to a student’s academic score, his or her cognitive skills should also be considered for selection.
The most compelling point that I make in my draft is that it is cognitive skills development that will help students succeed in life, and not their academic grades. The reason for saying this is that unless a student can act to different situations and challenges confidently, they are bound to fail in their professional pursuit.
The least compelling point of response I made in the draft is that students don’t have the time or inclination to do anything else than study to score high grades to get placed in a good college. The only way to make it more compelling is by introducing a skills-testing clause for selection to colleges. Page 264:
- Talented students sometimes find themselves pushed into studying something they are less interested in, and because of this, they underperform.
- Academically high grade scorers need not be successful in their professional life.
- Yes, it does.
- It is only by developing one’s cognitive skills will the person be able to overcome challenging situations. Yes, those claims are sufficiently refuted.
- Yes, he does. For all possible objections, the writer provides constructive and supporting evidence.Page 266:
- The warranting assumption is that it is enough to select students in colleges based on their academic scores.
- The assumption is arguable because it is not enough to score marks to do well, but it also important that students develop cognitive skills to prove their competency.
- The assumption is incorrect because it has been proved by many scholars that it does not guarantee success if a person becomes a manager because he has scored well in academics. The example of Douglas W. Bray who used the assessment center at AT&T to develop techniques for testing the cognitive skills of corporate managers on leadership skills, motivation and optimism, showed how it was effective in enhancing and predicting their managerial capabilities and effectiveness to changes.
- I do agree that there are practical and financial difficulties in introducing assessment centers in colleges, and that it would have to be manned by qualified personnel who have to be paid a high salary, but I strongly disagree that this should be used as an example to continue with the current practice of selecting students based on their academic grades.
- My assumptions are similar to that of the author because I too believe that there are far too many loop-holes in the current practice. The practice of biased selection is one of the major drawbacks of such practices. In addition, deserving students who don’t find favour with college administrators are bound to find their cases rejected. Also, the fact that students who are extremely brilliant but have not performed well academically, could find themselves studying in subjects they are not comfortable or interested in. Therefore, as the author assumes, societal, economic, political and life in general can improve only if students are able to pursue courses in which they excel.
- The original argument that students should be selected based on their grades is narrow; for the simple reason that it does not offer much scope for ‘skilled’ students to become successful. Robbing skilful students from pursuing their dreams will only instil a sense of insecurity and self-doubt.
- The point that most readers may fail to see in the original argument is that the selection process can be biased, and students who really deserve selection to colleges are ignored on the pretext that they are not good enough to study in their college because of the grade they scored. They do not consider that those students who do get good grades are students who memorize rote knowledge. This is an important issue that needs to be discussed in detail, as it limits the scope for students who are exceptionally talented to become great innovators or trouble shooters.
- The original argument can be broadened for further discussion by highlighting the results drawn from professionals who, though they scored good grades in college, failed professionally because they lacked the skills to tackle practical problems in their area of expertise.
