Essay Questions

Condense the binary distinction involving mindsets in Dweck’s text.

Inelasticity (non-learners) versus Elasticity (learners): Dweck explicates, “Believing that your qualities are carved in stone––the fixed mindset––creates an urgency to prove yourself over and over… This growth mindset is based on the belief that your basic qualities are things you can cultivate through your efforts, your strategies, and help from others.” Inelasticity constrains personal, cerebral, and intellectual growth. Comparatively, elasticity augments all-round growth, resulting in the broadening of one’s potential.

How does Carol Dweck enable Reader Involvement?

Dweck discourses with the reader unswervingly, and stimulates the reader to envisage different circumstances. For instance, Dweck writes, “To give you a better sense of how the two mindsets work, imagine-as vividly as you can-that you are a young adult having a really bad day: One day, you go to a class that is really important to you and that you like a lot. The professor returns the midterm papers to the class. You got a C+. You’re very disappointed. That evening on the way back to your home, you find that you’ve gotten a parking ticket. Being really frustrated, you call your best friend to share your experience but are sort of brushed off.” Motivating the reader to conceive his or her responses to the grade escalates the reader’s conception of mindsets. The question of grades is familiar among all learners; thus, the illustration would be applicable to all readers since grading of scores is universal.

Also, Dweck provokes reader’s involvement when she asserts, “Which mindset do you have? Answer these questions about intelligence. Read each statement and decide whether you mostly agree with it or disagree with it.” This inducement is tactical as it facilitates the readers to diagnose their mindsets. Dweck makes available a scheme at the end of the list to direct readers. The book would not be substantial if a reader finished it without verifying the mindset that he/she advocates.

How does Intertextuality amplify the Dweck’s Ethos?

Dweck quotes credible texts to reinforce her perceptions concerning mindsets. For instance, she writes, “Howard Gardner, in his book Extraordinary Minds, concluded that exceptional individuals have “a special talent for identifying their own strengths and weaknesses.” It’s interesting that those with the growth mindset seem to have that talent.” Quoting an authoritative author such as Howard Garner upholds that Carol Dweck’s book is satisfactorily researched. Through intertextuality, Dweck validates that her text is not fictitious. The intertextuality renders Dweck’s text, a pertinent, postmodern composition.