Critical Analysis of Texts

p English 1102

Critical Analysis of Texts

As we 've talked about in class , being able to critically read and understand a work is an important part of learning how to construct your own argument . This will help you learn how to gather important information about a subject /issue that you will write about critical thinking makes you look closely at something and learn about the implied ideas behind it and the context the argument was constructed in . In turn , you will be learning new models of writing and will find countless

br ways of using your critical thinking skills to create rhetoric that will meet your purposes

We have discussed the importance of analyzing the author , audience , and the author 's purpose /claim and finding pathos , ethos , and logos . Today you will go on a little Critical Student Inquiry (or CSI ) type adventure (hopefully there will be no corpses , but you will perform autopsies on these texts to solve some mysteries- you 're going to essentially dissect them . You will use primarily the text itself to answer the questions and NO OTHER SOURCE that would give you the direct answer . For example , think back to our e-mail example .it would be acceptable to look up the Bible verse or different languages translations but not acceptable to Google the author or email title Answer the questions below and provide specific items from the text to support your answers . Most of the answers for each question should be 2-5 sentences long . Just make sure to answer the questions as thoroughly as possible

Don 't forget that for all of these there are major clues in the diction (words , format of the text (letter , italicized words , bolding , the pronouns used , tone , title of the work , repetitive /descriptive language sentence structure , name dropping in the work , and beginning and ending paragraphs or final statements . I promise you that all of the questions can be answered fairly accurately without any other resources besides your thinking skills and the text

Text : _____________________________

I . Author : Good idea to find out about the author first b /c it can give you clues to his /her audience and purpose

Age

He seems young as his tone and word choice is energetic and his style is vigorous . He appeals to emotions more than the mental faculties like a young man

Gender

He seems male as his target audiences is male (most of his points are related to male community

Race /ethnic background

No specific hint is given but he seems to me an Afro-American as only they deliver such forceful speeches

Economic status /background

He seems of middle class as they possess the same bigot attitude and stereotypical views about others

Education

He only seems to be educated in orthodox religious teachings and has no formal education as his information and ideas about other groups are limited and narrow and his views of religion are shallow

Stereotypes about others /things and /or biases

He has typical stereotypical view of liberals . He...