The text is Amy Tan, “Mother Tongue”
Once you have chosen a text to analyze, it’s time to study it: read it carefully, annotate it, write down your reactions to it, re-read it again, paying attention to how your reaction might have changed the second time over. As you re-read the text, pay attention to the following questions:
Author: who is/are the author(s) of the text? What do you know about them based on the information provided, and what can you infer? Do some research on the author(s) as well; what details about their backgrounds might be important for understanding the text?
Origin: where was the text originally published? (Note: if you are analyzing one of the texts in our textbook, track down its original publication – it’s mentioned in the textbook.) If it’s a journal, magazine, or newspaper, look it up on this chartLinks to an external site.. Research the publication: is it affiliated with any political, private, or government agencies? Is it sponsored by any groups or companies? How trustworthy is it, and does it carry an agenda?
Audience: who are the intended primary audiences for the text? Does the text target any other audiences, and how can you tell?
Purpose: what are the authors’ purposes? What are they trying to achieve with this text? How might the text’s audience affect its purpose?
Rhetorical strategies: what kind of argumentative strategies does the text use? Which rhetorical appeals does it rely on the most? Does it primarily appeal to the audience’s emotions (pathos), logical thinking (logos), or the authors’ authority (ethos)? How effective are these appeals? Note that usually, you will find a combination of two or three kinds of appeal in any given text or argument.
Language: What kind of language does the text use? Look closely at the tone, register (level of formality), and any elements that stand out, such as emotionally loaded words, repetitions, metaphors or descriptive words, words or phrases that signify specific political or social viewpoints, etc. How do you think the author(s) tailored their language for their intended audiences?
Organization and structure: How is the text organized? Does it follow the genre conventions in its organization or not, and why? Where is the central claim located? What do the introduction and conclusion look like? How effective is the organization overall?
Visuals: What kind of visual elements does the text use? Are there any pictures or images? How do they work together with the text?
Genre: What genre does the text fall under? How closely does it follow the conventions of that genre? Does the text ever break the expectations for the genre, and to what effect?
Step 3: Do research and start drafting your analysis
Based on your answers to the questions above, start drafting your analysis. You do not need to spend the same amount of time on each question. Decide which questions are most important for your text and address them in more depth than the others. For example, your text might have no visuals, but the author’s background might require some extra time to unpack.
Ultimately, your analysis should answer these main questions: what were the main purposes of the text, and was the author(s) successful in achieving them, and why or why not?
Once you have created the first draft of your analysis, you will share it with your classmates for peer review and get your instructor’s feedback on it. After that, you will have time to revise it before submitting it for grading.
Directions:
Your analysis should have an informative title.
The introduction paragraph should introduce the text you are analyzing, briefly describe its topic, and give a preview of the main results of your analysis.
The body paragraphs should go into more detail, analyzing different aspects of the text.
Your conclusion should summarize the main points of your analysis and offer a final judgment on the text’s rhetorical effectiveness.
Use the text you’re analyzing to support your analysis: you can use direct quotes and paraphrases to illustrate your points and make your analysis clearer to your readers. Just be careful not to overuse direct quotes: your paper should still be primarily your ideas and writing, not quoted material.
