Dasbender's Essay 'Living Like Weasels'

Writing Assignment 3 The concept of critical thinking can be abstract. However, it is expected of college students, especially in writing courses. To think critically one must interact with ideas in an intellectual level. In addition, to be critical thinker and improve their writing students first need to attentively read their academic texts, and, by doing so, absorb the texts’ ideas and form their own (DasBender 38). Moreover, DasBender uses the essay “Living Like Weasels” (Dillard 217-221) to demonstrate the process of thinking critically when responding to texts. She does so by analyzing the concept of living mindlessly (38-50). Critical thinking is directly related to how students interact with ideas. Likewise, to actively engage with a text students need to practice attentive reading, that is, stopping to think about the ideas the text is presenting. DasBender indicates the importance of this step by calling it a “foundation for critical …show more content…
In the essay Dillard talks about an encounter she had with a weasel and how they live in a “mindlessness” state, that is, living out of physical instincts and not your conscious mind. And by doing so, not letting your life be guided by any bias. She promotes this concept by stating “I might learn something of mindlessness, something of the purity of living in the physical senses and the dignity of living without bias or motive” (220). However, even though Dillard’s romanticized concept of living mindlessly, in a world free of bias, may sound attractive it fails to address the capacity of the human mind. Living consciously is what makes us able to think critically. In addition, humans are the most evolved species in the planet for a reason: our ability to think and create. We dream, visualize and set goals and these goals turn into reality. Living consciously is humans create civilizations, new technology and even the ability to travel to the