Rhetorical Reading Response: “Beautiful Teenage Brains”

Rhetorical Reading Response: “Beautiful Teenage Brains”

In David Dodds’ article “Beautiful Teenage Brains” (2012), he explains that there are reasons why teenagers act irrationally. Dodds develops the idea by describing case studies in which teenager’s actions were studied and compared. Dodds wrote this work in order to inform that there are reasons why teenagers make impulsive decisions and why they behave the way they do. The intended audience is people who don’t understand teenage behavior.

I feel like this article defines the teenage brain in a nutshell and proves that teens understand the risks but has a higher regard for the reward for taking the risk.  I know from my own personal experiences there were certain things that I would not do in front of my parents that I would do in front of my friends. I knew and understood the consequences that came with them, but I wanted to be cool for my friends. To me, during the teenage stage, it’s all about image when it comes to being a teenager. It's either you're popular or you're not popular. Teens take more risk not because they don’t understand the dangers, but because they weigh risk versus rewards differently (Dodds). It is stated to believe that teens understand they just don’t care when it comes to getting approval from their peers.

Dodds does a great job at elaborating his thesis statement. “14-17-year olds-the biggest risk takers-use the same basic cognitive strategies [ways of knowing] that adults do” (Dodds). In this quote, Dodds is saying that teenagers have the ability to think critically as adults can. This leads to how teenagers view risk versus rewards, which enable them to make hard decisions. Dodds mentions that because teens take more risk, they are able to think more critically and start to succeed more often. “They usually reason their way through problems just as well as adults” (Dodds). The quote suggests that teens can reason just as good as adults because they usually overestimate risk. Dodds further informs us about a driving game test done to teens and adults. The teens ended up driving more carefully with friends around unlike the adults, which further confirms the critical thinking power that young people possess. Overall, Dodds was able to cover over sufficient information about the young brilliant minds of today’s generation.

Works Cited

Dodds, David. “Beautiful Teenage Brains” LaunchPad. Originally published in National Geographic Creative, October 2011 http://www.macmillanhighered.com/launchpadsolo/readwrite/7385790/Home#/launchpad/item/MODULE_bsi__2B8776E4__C845__493C__8BFF__4BCA15B8E06E/bsi__BCEC3C1D__6394__4FDC__B0B6__9AA8F81E92A0?mode=Preview&getChildrenGrades=True&includeDiscussion=False&readOnly=False&toc=syllabusfilter&renderIn=fne