Analysis essay

Please read over the following assignment PROMPT for Unit 4. This assignment will be turned in during Week 14 (Nov. 28).

 Format: Typed, double-spaced, submitted as a word-processing document.

12 point, text-weight font, 1-inch margins.

 Length: 1000 words (approx. 4)

 Value: This project will be graded out of 100 possible points, and will be worth 30% of the grade for the course.

 Overview: in Unit 4: Writing Analysis, students will develop an analytical argument that shows original thinking and offers insight into their topic. They will offer conclusions that address the implications of how their perspective might influence the way the topic is perceived or practiced.

Assignment

Write an analysis of a journal article, magazine article, editorial, speech, book, or website.

Analysis is a common form of academic writing that asks us to think critically as readers and make connections between arguments and their larger contexts. For this project, you will identify an issue relevant to the community you investigated in the previous unit. Then, you will explore the written arguments surrounding that issue, eventually narrowing your focus to a single journal article, magazine article, editorial, speech, book, or website. After you choose this text, you will analyze the context, subtext and appeals of a particular text, focusing on both textual analysis (close reading of the text itself) and contextual analysis (analyzing the text within its larger context). Your final analysis should offer a better or richer understanding of how the text represents a topic (concept, issue, or other idea) that has significance for a specific community or communities (168).

Objectives

These questions help to guide discussion and inquiry for this unit. The goal is not necessarily to answer these questions, but to explore them through the work of class discussions, writing, and reflection.

 What is analysis? What is the purpose and value of analysis in classroom settings and outside of school? 

 What potential does writing have to make change in the world? What are the implications of written arguments? What impacts can arguments have on communities? 

 How can I use writing to explain and break down complex ideas into parts that audiences can understand? How can writing allow me to share my insight with others? 

 How can I use writing to advance larger points or ideas that I want to communicate? How can I advocate through writing?