College and University Experience

Running head: COLLEGE AND UNIVERSITY EXPERIENCE
College and University Experience
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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COLLEGE AND UNIVERSITY EXPERIENCE
The topic that has been chosen from the two books “Becoming Master Student” and “The
truth about Stories” is “thinking”. The topic of thinking may seen to be very simple one but the
process of thinking in each and every person differs from one another and is quite a complex
process. The individual thought process makes a person the way he or she is. The way of
processing information, taking a decision is hugely influenced by the thought process of the
individuals. In both the books, the authors tried to discuss deeply about the process of thinking.
The authors emphasizes on the power of thoughts, while the book “Becoming Master Student”
uses direct points to explain the topic, the other book called “ The truth about stories” uses
different stories from the Bible and Native stories to explain the importance of thinking. In the
following paragraphs I will explain the theme of “thinking” and how it relates with both the
books and the other sources.
In the book “The truth about stories” there are stories about the creation of the Earth or
the “Genesis”, there are also stories about the disappearing of the Native Indians (Cottrell, 2017
the). According to my understanding, the author explains how the stories help us to interpret the
meaning of our world or the surrounding in which we live in. In both the books the human being
are considered to be the most intelligent species, the humans are capable to make their own
decisions and come to a conclusion about any decision. After analyzing the two books, I can say
that the decisions of the people can be influenced to a great extent and this is done by the other
human beings only. This kind of behaviour is observed in the political circumstances, when an
individual or a group of individuals are trying to persuade the mass to do something. I think this
can also be experienced with the advertisers who also try to pursue the people to buy their
products (Bruner, 2017). This thing is also explained in the book “The truth about stories”, it is
mentioned that the teachings in Bible also influence the people in the same way the politicians or

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COLLEGE AND UNIVERSITY EXPERIENCE
advertisers influence the common people. I have found that similar concept has also been
provided in the book “Becoming Master Student”. In the two books, importance has also been
provided to the rational form of thinking. Rational thinking differentiates between correct and
wrong decisions (McWhorter, 2016). I believe that a responsible thinker will show positive vibes
which will help that person to get a lot of friends and he/she will be called to be a positive
thinker, the negative thinker will always face problems while making relationships with others.
I have found that “Becoming a master student” use direct speeches and direct language to
explain the concept of thinking while the other book “The truth about stories” use the different
stories from various communities and religions to explain the importance of thinking and its
different ways (Davis, 2017). The book “Becoming a master student” emphasizes on the
prejudices and the social thinking which can also lead to wrong and negative thinking in an
individual.
The book named “A Rulebook for Arguments” by Anthony Weston provides a logical
and concise advice on how to find out evidences to support decision-making (Weston, 2018).
Another book called “Predictably Irrational, Revised and Expanded Edition: The Hidden Forces
That Shape Our Decisions” written by Dan Ariely is a revelation for many and delves deep into
the rationale of human thinking. According to this book, behaving in an irrational way is in the
nature of human beings (Fey, 2016). According to this book I have found out that human beings
do not take decisions that are rational or logical by nature rather human beings are dictated by
their emotions and psychological conditions. I saw that the author to prove his point has provided
many other interesting references. The book “Thinking fast and slow” is a bestseller by the New
York Times; this book has been written by Daniel Kahneman (Vohra & Biradar, M2017). This
book is a popular choice among the readers as the author provides easy and interesting ways to