The Critique (analyzing an essay s argument)

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1 The Critique (analyzing an essay s argument) The Assignment: Write a critique of the essay that you summarized. Unless you come up with a different structure (please see me if you have a specific plan), your essay will have four sections: 1. Introduction (including YOUR thesis statement ABOUT the textbook essay). 2. Summary (including the AUTHOR S thesis in the textbook essay). You can use the summary that you already have written, though it may need some changes. 3. Analysis. Here s where you critique the textbook essay, analyzing how it s good, bad, effective, manipulative, wrong, right, dishonest, noble, etc. 4. Conclusion Rough draft with completed peer feedback form is due Wednesday, April 22 at the end of class. Turning in a complete rough draft accompanied by a meaningfully completed peer feedback form will get you 25 out of 25 homework points. I will return them to you to revise for the final draft. In order to be complete, your rough draft must: be at least two and a half pages. be typed, double spaced in MLA format, with title, header, etc. * have at least two outside sources. The other essay(s) in the textbook s section may work well. You will be using these outside sources to help analyze the textbook essay. include a Works Cited page at the end. See the Documentation section of our textbook (beginning on page 278 of CIEQ ) for guidance. To cite essays in the textbook, see An Article or Essay Reprinted in a Collection on page 291. The final draft will be due Wednesday, April 29 at the end of class. 200 points. The final draft must be at least four pages and have at least four outside sources. Automatic deductions on final draft: Header, page one info, title, Works Cited, MLA format, misspell my name, etc.

2 Your essay should have four sections (though more than four paragraphs!): 1. Your introduction. This should give the author s complete name, the essay s title and original publication info. The last sentence of the introduction should be YOUR thesis statement. That is, YOUR statement about the essay, with your judgment of the essay s value and your main reasons. 2. A brief summary. This should be less than one page total. This should include (probably as its first sentence) the author s thesis statement in your own words. Then cover the main points. As in the previous summary, sprinkle in some short quotes (cite the page number) and use the author s name with verbs of argument (Jacoby argues, Schiffren claims, concedes, etc.). 3. Your analysis of the essay. This is by far the most important part, and should be the largest section of your essay. More on this below. 4. Your conclusion Wrap up your analysis of the author s argument. ALSO: Works Cited See page 278 for guidance. THE ANALYSIS SECTION As in the summary, use occasional quotations to let your reader hear the tone of the author and to ensure fairness and accuracy (as our text puts it). Cite page numbers in parentheses. Stick closely to the essay you are analyzing. Use your opinions and beliefs to critique the essay, but don t go off on a tangent solely about your views of the topic. Confine yourself to analyzing the essay. Aspects of the argument to focus on (not every item will be relevant to every essay): 1. The author s thesis (and title). What claim is being asserted? What action called for? What judgment pronounced? 2. The author s purpose. What does he or she want to happen as a result of this essay? 3. The author s methods (this is the most important part) 4. The author s support the examples, statistics, authorities, etc. 5. The author s logic deductive? inductive? Valid, truthful? 6. The author s assumptions stated and unstated. 7. Is there an appeal to emotion or use of nonrational devices such as sarcasm? 8. Definitions that the author uses. 9. The author s persona and tone. Is he or she fair and honest? Does he or she consider counterarguments? 10. The author s style. Some thoughts about organizing the analysis section. There are many ways to do this. You can have a paragraph for individual aspects listed 1 10 above. But a more likely method would be to focus on main points that the author makes in the essay. Or you could organize it by your main points about the essay. There are also other ways, depending on your overall strategy. Admittedly, this assignment is somewhat formulaic.

3 BRAINSTORMING This assignment is adapted from PART TWO of CIEQ. So you can refer to the text for questions, especially pages and There are sample analyses on pages 187 and 255. The essay you ve chosen: 1. What is the author s thesis in your own words (see page 177). 2. What is the significance of the title? What does it tell you about the essay, its author, its tone, etc.? For example, consider the difference in tone of the titles: Bring Back Flogging, I Want a Wife, and My Husband s Nine Wives. 3. What is the author s purpose (see page 178 of Current Issues ). What does he or she want to happen as a result of this essay? For example: in Bring Back Flogging, is Derek Jacoby s purpose really to revive this archaic punishment? Or does he have another purpose? 4. Why did the author write this essay? Sometimes this is easy to figure out, sometimes not. If you can do no more than speculate, do so, but try to infer the author s reason.

4 THE AUTHOR S METHODS Evaluate the methods that the author uses. Leave blank any that don t apply. I ve put page numbers after each item, in case you want to look back at chapter 3, where these things are discussed. 5. Evidence (page 90). What type of examples? Real events, invented instances, analogies? Are they effective, revealing, manipulative, etc.? Are they relevant and convincing? For example, The Case for Torture begins with an invented instance. How effective is this example? Is it a justified piece of rhetoric, or is it manipulative? 6. Statistics (96). [Skip this section if your essay does not use statistics.] Scrutinize these with care! Does a use of statistics present any problems? Are they persuasive? Are they relevant, accurate and complete? Do they allow only the interpretation that is offered in the argument? Remember the old saying: There are three types of lies: lies, damn lies, and statistics. For example, Bring Back Flogging uses a lot of statistics, though not as many as it might. Is this an effective and necessary rhetorical choice? How does the author convince you that his statistics are trustworthy? Does he need more? 7. Authorities (95). [Skip this section if your essay does not use authorities.] Whom is quoted? Are these reputable and impartial sources, authoritative testimony? For example, The Case for Torture quotes no authorities. Why doesn t it? Jacoby quotes a Princeton professor. To what effect?

5 8. The author s logic (84). Is it deductive? inductive? Valid, truthful, etc.? Any enthymemes, perchance? For example, Drug Policy and the Intellectuals contains several hidden syllogisms and enthymemes about the cause and effect of drug use and drug laws. 9. What are the author s assumptions stated and unstated? (82). For example, what are Elizabeth Joseph s hidden assumptions about the roles of men and women in My Husband s Nine Wives? 10. Is there an appeal to emotion: pity, outrage, sadness, pride, etc.? Does this emotion strengthen the argument? Is it a fair use of emotion, or does it hide a weak argument?

6 11. Are there any nonrational strategies such as satire, verbal irony or sarcasm? (100). Is any such appeal fair? Is it supported by rational argument? For example, just how sarcastic is Judy Brady being in I Want a Wife? Does this sarcasm help or undercut her argument? 12. What definitions does the author use? (78). Are important terms satisfactorily defined? List any terms here, along with the stated or implied definitions. Are these reasonable definitions? What type of definitions are they? For example, Levin never actually defines torture in his essay. Is this a problem? Are there any problems with any of the authors definitions? 13. The author s persona and tone (77, 180). Is he or she fair and honest? Does he or she consider counterarguments? Has the writer considered all relevant factors? Has he or she omitted some points that you think should be discussed? Should the author recognize certain opposing positions, and perhaps concede something to them? For example, how would you describe William Bennett s tone in Drug Policy and the Intellectuals? Why is this tone so important for this essay?

7 14. The author s style. Does the author do anything particularly interesting in terms of style? Is there any striking syntax, figurative language, diction, etc.? 15. What are some promising places to look for other sources? Also, if you might use some of the other essays in this section of CIEQ, write the titles and pages here.

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