Assignment Explanation: In this essay, you will
demonstrate your ability to critically read, summarize, analyze and respond to
a text.
Your “text” will be an article of your choice from the
SIRS Knowledge Source database
Your 3-5 page essay will include a summary of the text
and your analytical response to the text.
Your response will be in the form of a mixed response, incorporating all
three response options discussed in The
Prentice Hall Guide for College Writers p.54-5 and 73-6. In short, you’ll analyze the rhetorical effectiveness of the text, you’ll agree and/or disagree with the ideas in the text,
and you’ll interpret and reflect on the text.
You will not have a strong essay if you choose an article that you only agree
with. Banned topics: Top 40
highly-controversial issues, including abortion, capital punishment,
legalization of marijuana, steroids in sports, changing the drinking age, and
so on. These are commonly overdone and often cause students to lose sight of
the purpose of analyzing the text. Your purpose is to analyze, not persuade.
For this reason, topic approval is required.
Directions: The following steps will
help you work through the writing process for this 3-5 page essay. Only the final draft of the essay (with in-text
citations and a Work Cited page) will be submitted for formal grading; however,
failure to work through the entire writing process will likely result in a weak
essay.
·
Preview/read: Preview your
article from SIRS, using critical
reading and re-reading strategies (Reid, 45-47; Rules 54-61).
·
Annotate: Annotate your
article as you actively read, converse with, question, and challenge the text
(Reid, 70; Rules 55-57). Ask “So
what?” questions; why does this issue matter?
·
Double-entry log: As you read and
annotate your article, make a double-entry log, briefly summarizing the main
points of the text and recording your reactions and questions (Reid 46; Rules 57-59).
·
Summarize your article
accurately and objectively, using third-person and present tense (Rules 62-64).
o
In addition to the title of the text and
the author, also include the title of the publication in the first sentence.
·
Analyze: Use the Response
Collecting Chart to draft the three types of responses to your article.
Remember, you must use all three
response options in your essay. Use evidence from the text to support your
analysis.
