ENG 108 "Standardized Testing vs. Education" Analysis Name: Jooho Kim
1. According to James, how does standardized testing define education?
According to James, "Standardized testing tells students and society that education is a quantity to be consumed and measured. ... Standardized testing teaches students that education means getting content from a teacher or getting good at a skill. Students come to think education means getting a grade on the test, accumulating points, and arriving at an average grade based on those points. Standardized tests make education boring."
P.S. In James's opinion, "Standardized tests teach students to practice and perform, but education is more about developing a sense of curiosity."
2. What is James's line of reasoning? What basic premises must you follow before you accept his main claim? (Are any of those premises unstated in James's essay?)
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From this anecdote, James tells us standardized testing makes students bored and unenthusiastic. Then he argues what education is, why standardized testing should not be defined as education. First, he argues education is developing a sense of curiosity. Second, he provides quotes from other people who know side effects of standardized testing to explain why standardized testing should not be defined as education. Consequently, he reaches his conclusion, standardized testing is a harmful definition of education.
3. Discuss how the following sentence makes an appeal to values:
Standardized testing ends up sending a wrong message: It tells students and society that education is a quantity to be consumed and measured (paragraph 1).
The word "wrong" includes an opinion and judgement about the value of standardized testing. It makes a connection between the topic and a shared value: