Summary Of The Seven Deadly Sin Of Student By Thomas H. Benton

Questions:

1. What is the purpose of the text?

• In this text Thomas H Benton talks about the importance of liberal arts education.

2. Who is the intended audience?

• His general audience, I believe, would be anyone dealing with the problems he talks about. And his intended audience are the college students.

3. What is the genre?

• This is a piece of scholarly research paper and presents new knowledge to other professionals.

4. What is the medium?

• The Seven Deadly sin of Student was published in the Chronicle of Higher Education in April 2006

5. To what arguments is the author responding?

Benton’s thesis comes towards the end of his paper as he talks about how the “seven deadly sins” can be used as an ethical guide, and that higher education should lean towards liberal arts as a means to learning and stay away from unwarranted pride. Benton explains logic and how if students realize how small they really are, and not get too ahead of themselves, then they could really grow as a person.

6. What do you know about the writer?

• Thomas H. Benton is an associate professor of English at Hope college in Holland, Michigan. Received his Ph.D. in the history of American civilization form Harvard University in 1999.

7. What is their stance?

• His

Benton appeals to ethics right from the start even in his title. He says he isn’t talking about the sins in a religious context, but points out how sins parallel behaviors like giving into lust or drinking too much alcohol. Emotions also come into play when we realize how he exaggerates events. Seeing ourselves in his analogy helps the audience really take the bait and really start to believe what he is saying. Once he gets us to identify with sinners, he tells us we can fix it ourselves if we accept knowledge and practice good actions. His logic is implied through most of his paper strategically to solidify his