FORGET GRIT: SOCRATIC SEMINAR
AP Lang · Gal Beckerman, “Forget Grit,” The Atlantic
SET UP
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THE QUESTIONS
Find your evidence in the text.
1. Beckerman says grit is a lie adults tell kids when the system fails them. Is he right, or is he just letting everyone off the hook?
2. Find the moment his evidence actually proves something, and the moment he’s just telling a story and hoping you won’t notice. Which is which?
3. Where does his commentary change your mind, and where is he just repeating himself louder?
4. Beckerman gives Duckworth her due, then buries her. Is his concession a fair fight or a setup?
5. You’re Duckworth. Beckerman just called your life’s work a scam. What’s your first punch back, using his own text against him?
6. If Beckerman wins and schools stop preaching grit tomorrow, what do we lose that actually mattered?
BEFORE YOU LEAVE
In your composition book: one idea from a classmate that moved you, how your thinking about grit changed, and one discussion move you will do better next time.