Make sure that you have read over the “Analysis” and “Rhetorical Tools” sections of the CEL Ch.6: Analyzing Written Texts, p.169-185.

When you are preparing to write about an important social or cultural issue, it is essential to begin reading what others have already written about this topic. When we read other people’s ideas and opinions, we must, as the authors of the CEL suggest, “look at the whole [text] and find smaller elements within it” (169). When you read critically, you are not just reading for information, but rather reading to find “subtleties lurking between, beneath, and around the text itself” (168). Reading carefully in this way involves listening to other perspectives by paying close attention to the words that others write.

For this writing activity, you will write a short critical reading of a text relevant to the issue you are exploring for this course.

Assignment:

Choose an article that is relevant to the issue you are exploring for this course and write a short critical reading of the text. (If you need help selecting an essay to read critically, see Week 2: Suggestions for Inventing Ideas

In your critical reading, try to focus on analyzing what the writer is saying and how they are saying it. Don’t worry too much in this assignment about evaluating whether or not the writer is right. For specific guidance on what to look for in the text, you can find specific terms and concepts under the “Analysis” section in CEL Ch.6 (beginning on p.169). In particular, ask yourself:

Analyzing Purpose: what is the text attempting to do to readers? What are its broad and specific goals?

Analyzing the Thesis/Main Idea: what singular insight does the essay communicate?

Analyzing Support/Rhetorical Tools: what rhetorical elements does the writer use particularly well?

Analyzing Organization: how is the text arranged, and how is the arrangement effective?

Analyzing Voice and Vitality: what is the author’s tone, style, and ethos or character?

Analyzing Context: To whom is this text written? Why is it relevant?

Analyzing Subtext: what is this text saying “between the lines”? What does it assume readers will know or want to know?

Analyzing uniqueness: what makes the text distinctive or unique?

Submit your critical reading in a response of at least 200 words to this assignment. Try to organize your thoughts into one or more coherent paragraphs rather than answering each questions separately.

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