Annotated Bibliography #1

Smagorinsky, Peter. “Multiple Intelligences in the English Class: An Overview.” The English Journal 84.8 (1995): 19-26. Web. 25 Mar. 2012. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/821183>.

Smagorinsky discusses the role of multiple intelligences in the English classroom. He criticizes the Western notion that intelligence “can be measured quantitatively through standardized tests” (20), as this idea has led to a dependence on analytical writing in the classroom. Standardized tests measure only two of the seven different intelligences: linguistic and logical. To succeed in an activity or career often relies on more than this. Smagorinsky argue that activities like dancing and drawing not only achieve “the same developmental processes [students] would experience in writing,” but others that they would not achieve in writing (22). His own classroom study demonstrates the development of a student’s interpretation and understanding of a text through non-writing “texts” such as drawing, dancing, and creating musical compositions. The examples are convincing in demonstrating how by engaging different intelligences through other creative activities students gain a richer understanding of literature than if they focused solely on writing compositions that engage only logic and linguistic intelligences. It would also make for a more interesting classroom experience. The problem, as Smagorinsky poses but does not answer, lies in assessment of these other creative activities.