text
stringlengths 169
862
|
|---|
For example, three students at Harvard College-Andrea Delgado, Denzel (no last name given), and Kimi Fafowora-give their perspective on student life and multicultural identity on campus to incoming students via YouTube . The students explain how minority programs on campus have helped them adjust to a new college environment as first-year students. As Delgado puts it, Considers problems with minority clubs. |
I thought [cultural clubs were] something I maybe didn't need, but come November, I missed speaking Spanish and I missed having tacos, and other things like that. That's the reason why I started attending meetings more regularly. Latinas Unidas has been a great intersection of my cultural background and my political views. |
(Student Voices) The experiences these minority students shared support the scholarly evidence that minority clubs help incoming students transition into a new and often intimidating environment. While the benefits of these clubs are quite evident, several problems can also arise from them. The most widely recognized is self-segregation. Self-segregating tendencies are not exclusive to minority students: college students in general tend to self-segregate as they enter an unfamiliar environment. |
As a study by Nathan Martin and colleagues finds, Today, the student bodies of our leading colleges and universities are more diverse than ever. However, college students are increasingly self-segregating by race or ethnicity (720). Several studies as well as interviews with students suggest that minority clubs exacerbate students' inclination to self-segregate. And as students become comfortable with their minority peers, they may no longer desire or feel the need to branch out of their comfort zone. |
Cites research pointing out problems with many clubs. In another study, Julie Park, a professor at the University of Maryland, examines the relationship between participation in college student organizations and the development of interracial friendships. Park suggests, if students spend the majority of time in such groups [Greek, ethnic, and religious student organizations], participation may affect student involvement in the broader diversity of the institution (642). |
In other words, if minority students form all of their social and academic ties within their minority group, the desired cultural exchange among the student body could suffer. Considers views opposing biracial and multiracial clubs. So what can be done? |
In the Penn State study mentioned earlier, in which data were collected by an online survey, participants were asked to respond to an open-ended question about what they think universities should do to create a more inviting environment for biracial students (Ingram et al. 303). |
On one hand, multiple students responded with opinions opposing the formation of both biracial and multiracial clubs: I feel instead of having biracial and multiracial clubs the colleges should have diversity clubs and just allow everyone to get together. All these separate' categorizing of clubs, isn't that just separation of groups? Having a ton of clubs that are for specific races is counter-productive. It creates segregation and lack of communication across cultures (304-05). |
Cites student testimony in support of multicultural activities. On the other hand, students offered suggestions for the formation of multicultural activities: Encourage more racial integration to show students races aren't so different from each other and to lessen stereotypes (305). Hold cultural events that allow students of different races to express / share their heritage (306). |
Patreese Ingram and colleagues conclude that, while biracial and multiracial student organizations are helpful in establishing an inviting college environment for minority students, Quotes research on the need for an inclusive environment. creating a truly inclusive environment . . . requires additional efforts: these include multicultural awareness training for faculty, staff, and students, and incorporation of multicultural issues into the curriculum. |
In addition to the creation of biracial / multiracial clubs and organizations, the students in this study want to increase awareness of the mixed heritage population among others on college campuses. (308) Sums up evidence on both sides of the issue. The two very different opinions reported in this study point to the challenges minority student programs can create, but also suggest ways to resolve these challenges. |
Now that evidence from both research studies and student perspectives confirms that these clubs, while beneficial to minority students' experiences, can inhibit cultural immersion, I will continue with my original argument that the entire student body would benefit if campuses also implemented multicultural advocacy clubs, rather than just selective minority clubs. |
Gurin and colleagues, the researchers who identify the three types of diversity in higher education, contend that even with the presence of diverse racial and ethnic groups and regular communication among students formally and informally, a greater push from educators is needed: Reiterates claim. |
In order to foster citizenship for a diverse democracy, educators must intentionally structure opportunities for students to leave the comfort of their homogenous peer group and build relationships across racially/ethnically diverse student communities on campus. (363) This suggestion implies that participation from students and faculty is needed to foster cultural immersion in higher education. Another way to improve cross-cultural exchange is by developing a diverse curriculum. |
An article on multiculturalism in higher education by Alma Clayton-Pedersen and Caryn McTighe Musil in the Encyclopedia of Education reviews the ways in which universities have incorporated diversity studies into their core curriculum over the last several decades. The authors report that the numbers of courses that seek to prepare students for a democratic society rich in diversity have increased (1711, 1714). |
However, they recommend that institutions need to take a more holistic approach to their academic curricula in order to pursue higher education programs that prepare students to face complex and demanding questions and to use their new knowledge and civic, intercultural capacities to address real-world problems (1714). |
My research suggests that a more holistic approach to the importance of diversity studies in the college curriculum, as well as multicultural advocacy clubs, are necessary in order to prepare all students, not just minority students, for the diverse world and society ahead of them. |
Thus, even though minority student clubs can lead to self-segregation among students and result in less cross-cultural interaction, their benefits to minority students suggest that a balance needs to be found between providing support for minorities and avoiding segregation of these groups from the rest of the student body. |
Besides sponsoring minority student programs, colleges and universities can implement multicultural events and activities for all students to participate in, especially during the freshman year. An initiative like this would enhance the diverse interactions that occur on campuses, promote cultural immersion, and garner support for minority student clubs. Concludes by calling for response in the form of further research. |
Beyond the reach of this evaluation, further research should be conducted, specifically on the types of cultural events that are most effective in promoting cultural awareness and meaningful diverse interactions among the student body. By examining different multicultural organizations from both public and private institutions, and comparing student experiences and participation in those programs, researchers can suggest an ideal multicultural program to provide an optimal student experience. |
Works Cited Clayton-Pedersen, Alma R., and Caryn McTighe Musil. Multiculturalism in Higher Education. Encyclopedia of Education , edited by James W. Guthrie, 2nd ed., vol. 5, Macmillan, 2002, pp. 1709-16. Gurin, Patricia, et al. Diversity and Higher Education: Theory and Impact on Educational Outcomes. Harvard Educational Review , vol. 72, no. 3, 2002, pp. 330-63. ResearchGate , doi:10.17763/haer.72.3.01151786u134n051. Hall, Wendell, et al. |
A Tale of Two Groups: Differences between Minority Students and Non-Minority Students in Their Predispositions to and Engagement with Diverse Peers at a Predominantly White Institution. Research in Higher Education , vol. 52, no. 4, 2011, pp. 420-39. Academic Search Premier , https://doi.org/10.1007/s11162-010-9201-4. Hurtado, Sylvia, and Adriana Ruiz. The Climate for Underrepresented Groups and Diversity on Campus. Higher Education Research Institute , 2012, heri.ucla.edu/briefs/urmbrief.php. |
Ingram, Patreese, et al. How Do Biracial Students Interact with Others on the College Campus? College Student Journal , vol. 48, no. 2, 2014, pp. 297-311. Martin, Nathan D., et al. Interracial Friendships across the College Years: Evidence from a Longitudinal Case Study. Journal of College Student Development , vol. 55, no. 7, 2014, pp. 720-25. Academic Search Premier , https://doi.org/10.1353/csd.2014.0075. |
Museus, Samuel D. The Role of Ethnic Student Organizations in Fostering African American and Asian American Students' Cultural Adjustment and Membership at Predominantly White Institutions. Journal of College Student Development , vol. 49, no. 6, 2008, pp. 568-86. Project MUSE , https://doi.org/10.1353/csd.0.0039. Park, Julie J. Clubs and the Campus Racial Climate: Student Organizations and Interracial Friendship in College. Journal of College Student Development , vol. 55, no. 7, 2014, pp. 641-60. |
Academic Search Premier , https://doi.org/10.1353/csd.2014.0076. Student Voice: Multicultural Perspectives. YouTube , uploaded by Harvard College Admissions and Financial Aid, 7 Aug. 2014, www.youtube.com/watch?v=djWQgDx-Jc. Thinking about the Text 1. What do you take away as the main CLAIM of Gabriela Moro's argument? 2. How well do you think she supports this claim? Show examples from the text that you find most persuasive. 3. How does Moro take COUNTERARGUMENTS into consideration? |
Do you think she deals fairly and evenhandedly with all sides? Cite examples from her text. 4. What does Moro do to convince you that she is CREDIBLE and trustworthy? What more might she have done? 5. Moro obviously cares deeply about this topic. Think of a topic that is equally important to you, and write a paragraph or two introducing the topic and summarizing an argument you'd most like to make about it. Glossary CLAIM, 84-85, 103-5 A statement of a belief or POSITION . |
In an ARGUMENT , a claim needs to be stated in a THESIS or clearly implied, and requires support by REASONS and EVIDENCE . COUNTERARGUMENT, 16, 90-91, 265 In ARGUMENT , an alternative POSITION or objection to the writer's position. The writer of an argument should not only acknowledge counterarguments but also, if at all possible, accept, accommodate, or refute each counterargument. CREDIBILITY, 164-66, 297-98 The sense of trustworthiness that a writer conveys through the text. |
Endnotes Poses questions that guided her research. Return to text PART 3 WRITING / MAKE YOUR POINT Chapter 9 Analyzing HOPE IS NOT THE BASIS FOR POLICY. WISE POLICYMAKERS ANALYZE ISSUES CAREFULLY AND LOOK AT FACTS AND PROBABILITIES INSTEAD OF JUST HOPING FOR THE BEST. -LAURA INGRAHAM I'M A HUGE FAN OF TEACHING YOU TO THINK, ANALYZE, AND COMMUNICATE, THEN SENDING YOU OUT INTO THE WORLD TO CAUSE TROUBLE. -HILARY MASON Why have you put on five pounds in the last month? What made Tiger King so popular? |
Which candidate should you vote for? Answering such questions calls for analysis, for examining something in detail in order to understand it in some way. In analyzing why you've gained five pounds, you might begin by detailing your eating patterns: At what time of the day do you eat? How often do you eat? What prompts you to eat-or not? What foods do you favor, and which ones do you avoid? |
As you gather data on what and when you eat, and on your reasons for eating as you do, you are generating evidence you can use to answer your original question. Analyzing Tiger King will lead you to examine the features of that show that made it so popular: the eccentric characters, the tension and unpredictability, the setting, and so on. And in order to decide which candidate to vote for, you'll need to consider all the candidates, their policies, the issues you care about, and so on. |
Whatever your subject, conducting a detailed analysis-looking at facts and probabilities rather than hoping for the best, in Laura Ingraham's words-will help you answer questions and understand your topic better as a result. Every field uses analysis. Engineers carry out detailed analyses to understand whether a bridge can be built in a specific location. Scientists use quantitative data to analyze causes and effects. Social scientists use qualitative analysis to help them understand human behavior. |
Literature students analyze poetry in order to understand how various aspects of a poem lead us to understand it in a certain way. This chapter provides guidelines for doing a rhetorical analysis, focusing on texts of various kinds and how an author or artist communicates a message to an audience. REFLECT! Think of an issue that's being discussed and debated now-on campus, in a local community, in the world. What are people saying? What do the various sides think, and why? |
What kinds of analysis are they doing or citing as support for what they think? A GUIDE TO ANALYZING A TEXT A speech, a novel, an ad, a painting, a contract: all are texts , and all are things that you might be assigned to analyze. Or just need to analyze, to figure out what it says and what you think about that. Here now is some advice that will help you analyze texts of various kinds. As you'll see, it's designed to be used as you write . Keep it close at hand! |
Identify a text you want to understand Whether you're assigned to analyze a specific text or get to choose one yourself, you'll do your best work if the topic or text is of interest to you. But all analysis is driven by a question of some kind, something you're curious about, so a good way to begin is by looking for a question that you really want to know the answer to: What was the best Super Bowl ad this year? What makes K-pop so popular? |
Journalist Charles Duhigg asks such a question in Why Are We So Angry?-a lengthy essay that unfolds the story of how we all got so mad at one another. Inspired by a strange questionnaire asking people in a small town in Massachusetts to recall the number of times they'd been angry in the past week and to describe the most angry of these experiences, his essay opens by summarizing some of what they said. |
In his analysis, Duhigg shows that the United States has always been an angry country (it arose from an angry, violent revolution, after all) and then focuses on three kinds of anger-everyday or ordinary anger, moral indignation, and desire for revenge-giving copious examples of each and showing how one can escalate into another. |
In his thesis, Duhigg previews the results of his analysis: We are further down this path [from moral indignation to desire for revenge] than you may realize, but it's not too late for us to reverse course. If we can understand anger's mechanisms, we might find a way to turn our indignation back into a strength. |
-CHARLES DUHIGG, Why Are We So Angry? Analyzing anger's mechanisms becomes a major focus of the essay, helping Duhigg to answer why we are so angry and to suggest what we may be able to do about it. Think about your rhetorical situation Once you have a chosen a text to analyze, take time to consider your rhetorical situation. Purpose. What do you want to happen as a result of your analysis-a more thorough understanding of a complex text? a certain interpretation of a poem? a decision about a proposal? |
How can you best accomplish your goals? Audience. Who will be reading your analysis, and what do you know about them-their age, gender, cultural background? What are they likely to know about the text you're analyzing, and what background information will you need to provide? Can you assume they'll be interested in your subject? If not, how can you frame your analysis in a way that they will relate to? |
If you're analyzing some of the corporate statements professing solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement for your composition class, for instance, you'd likely analyze any ethical and emotional appeals and look for evidence of what kind of support they plan to provide. If, however, you were writing on Instagram , you might simply post one corporate statement along with a question asking what else they can offer in addition to solidarity. Stance. |
How do you want to come across to your readers-as well-informed? objective? enthusiastic? Whatever it is, how can your writing reflect your stance? And how are you approaching the text you're analyzing-as a student? a serious reader? a critic? something else? Context. What else has been said about the subject of your analysis? What are the various perspectives? You'll need to provide some of that larger context in your analysis. |
And what's your context-if you're writing in response to an assignment, what's your time frame, and are there any requirements that you need to keep in mind? Media and design. Think carefully about how you will deliver your analysis-will it be a print text? an online digital text? an oral or multimedia presentation? |
Your medium will affect the way it is designed and even the kinds of evidence you provide: for an oral presentation, you might use PowerPoint or Prezi slides; for a print text, you might include illustrations with captions as well as headings. Whatever the medium, your design should aim to help readers follow the major points of your analysis. |
Be sure it's a text you can manage-and approach with an open mind Think carefully about how much time you have to complete your analysis before you decide definitively on a text. A student in a course on the history of the Bible who was interested in the Book of Judges proposed doing an analysis of that book. |
This student quickly realized, however, that such a task was far from manageable given the due date, and so he chose to analyze one story in that book that he had always been curious about, the Samson and Delilah story. Consider as well what resources you may need to carry out your analysis-and whether you have access to them. |
The student analyzing the Samson and Delilah story had access to several different translations as well as to a bibliography provided by the instructor that included other scholarly analyses of this story. Finally, think about how open-minded you are about the subject of your analysis. The purpose of an analysis is to gain some kind of insight about the subject, not to confirm something you already believe about it. |
Think about what you want to know about the text You may need little but the text itself to conduct a rhetorical analysis, especially in cases where the text is assigned in class. Sometimes, however, you may need to do some research to find out more about the topic. Wesley Cohen grew up in a household that would never have subscribed to Cosmopolitan , a magazine she therefore assumed was all fluff and no substance-the kind of thing you'd pick up while waiting for a dental appointment. |
But once she got to college and was free to read anything, including Cosmo , she was surprised to see that it now includes articles about some very serious issues-domestic violence, equal pay-right alongside horoscopes and fashion advice. |
So for an assignment to write a feature in a journalism class, she decided to look at what was happening over at Cosmo . Noting that It's rare to find a magazine that covers domestic violence and celebrity fashion on equal footing, she set out to analyze the changes that have taken place there in recent years. If you want to read about what's happening at Cosmo , see Wesley Cohen's essay on p. 148 . |
You might not always begin an analysis with an explicit question as Cohen did, but your analysis will always be prompted by a question of some kind, by something that you're curious about. Conduct a preliminary rhetorical analysis A rhetorical analysis looks closely at a text (verbal or visual) in order to see what it says and how it does so. When you analyze a text, you examine each of its parts systematically to show how they engage readers' attention and lead them to understand the text in a certain way. |
If you take any humanities courses, you'll surely be asked to analyze various kinds of texts. Imagine, for example, how you might go about analyzing the following short but powerful poem: A word is dead When it is said, Some say. I say it just Begins to live That day. -EMILY DICKINSON In analyzing this poem, you might begin by summing up the meaning as you see it and then showing how each line builds to that meaning. |
You'd consider why Dickinson breaks lines where she does, how rhyme and repetition contribute to the meaning, and what the contrast between living words and dead words suggests about spoken words. You might also be assigned to analyze a visual text. One assignment I've often given to my first-year students asks them to analyze the campus map. Ours is a huge university, and they need to learn their way around campus. Analyzing the map gets them thinking about what's where and why. |
Why are certain buildings in one place rather than another? What is at the center of campus and what is on the periphery? What are the largest buildings? the smallest? Does one area of the map seem dominant? If so, what does that area represent-science and technology? the humanities? the administration? sports arenas? Analyzing the map reveals a lot! |
Suppose you are working on a presentation for an environmental engineering course on what the city of New Orleans should consider doing to prepare for any future hurricanes. You might show a slide of a map in your presentation showing which areas of the city lie at or below sea level as part of your analysis of the potential problems along with specific suggestions for what needs to be done now to ensure the safety of those who live in those low-lying neighborhoods. |
A map of New Orleans showing areas above sea level and those at or below sea level. Whether the text you're analyzing is written or visual, you'll need to examine it carefully to see how it supports what it says. Asking the following questions will help you to do so systematically. Analyzing a written text What is your overall impression of the text-and what specific elements lead you to that impression? What CLAIM is the text making, and how do you know? |
What REASONS and EVIDENCE does the writer provide to support the claim? How convincing do you find them? What has motivated the writer to take on this topic? What's the larger conversation this text is responding to? How has the writer acknowledged and responded to COUNTERARGUMENTS -other points of view on the subject? Are they presented fairly and honestly? Does the writer use any EMOTIONAL APPEALS ? How does the writer establish AUTHORITY and CREDIBILITY to address this topic? |
Analyzing a visual text What does your eye go to first, and why has the designer chosen to draw your eye to that spot? What seems most important or interesting? Who do you think the visual aims to reach-who is its AUDIENCE , and how do you know? What is its PURPOSE ? How well does it achieve its goal? Even if there are no words, what does the visual say ? What's its ARGUMENT (it may be implicit rather than explicit), and how do you know? |
If there are words, how do they help get the message across? What's the font, and how does it affect the TONE ? What does your preliminary analysis show? By the time you've completed a preliminary analysis, you should be immersed in your subject, so it's time to step back and look not at the trees but at the forest: What does your analysis reveal about the text? What most interests you about what you've discovered, and why does it seem important? |
Begin by making notes answering these questions and looking for patterns that may emerge. In studying the notes she had taken on our campus map, for example, one of my students found that the very center of the campus houses the administrative offices but that two very large areas, the medical complex and the sports complex, take up the biggest part of campus. |
She found that the engineering and science area is next in terms of space occupied and in prominence on the map, and that student dorms are on the outer periphery of the campus. These findings got her wondering if it had always been this way, so she went to the library and found the original campus map, showing classroom buildings in the center and only one small office devoted to administration. The library was the largest and most prominent building on campus. |
As she continued to think about the data she'd gathered, she thought hard about what her analysis revealed about the university and its values. How do these values play out in terms of campus layout and building design? Do changes in the development of the campus suggest a shift in what the university values? See pp. 84-85 for more on coming up with a working thesis. Come up with a working thesis Once you've analyzed your subject, you need to determine what your analysis shows. |
What have you learned about the subject, and what can you now say about it? Try writing that out as a working thesis, saying what you've analyzed and what you can now claim about the subject. |
Here's what my student wrote: Our campus map is a work in progress, constantly changing in ways that reflect shifting priorities and financial realities. Remember that you may need to qualify your thesis On reflection, my student worried that she was overstating her case, saying that shifting priorities are always linked to financial realities. Such overstatements can hurt a writer's credibility and make an analysis less persuasive, or perhaps not even taken seriously. Be careful to qualify if need be. |
Here's how my student did that: Our campus map is a work in progress, constantly changing in ways that reflect shifting priorities that are often linked to financial realities. Develop support for your analysis Every textual analysis depends on support, and there are three questions you can ask to begin gathering support: What evidence supports the analysis? Is the author trustworthy? Does the text make any emotional appeals? What evidence supports the analysis? |
Any analysis of a text needs to examine its use of facts and other evidence. In Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company That Addicted America , Beth Macy analyzes the factors that led up to the current opioid epidemic in the United States. Macy, an award-winning journalist, has the credentials to make her account trustworthy and credible; and her interviews with addicted people and those who love them provide very strong emotional appeals. |
The first, by researchers at Princeton, supports Macy's finding that opioid addiction has now reached a crisis point: this study found that mortality rates had quietly risen a half-percentage point annually between 1999 and 2013 while midlife mortality continued to fall in other affluent countries. She then turns to results of a poll conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation showing that today 56 percent of Americans now know someone who abused, was addicted to, or died from an overdose of opioids. Indeed, Macy's book-length analysis piles up facts and statistics that make her conclusions inescapable: America is dopesick. In addition to facts and statistics, Macy draws on the expert testimony of doctors and medical researchers, who support her analysis of the complicit role the medical community unwittingly played in exacerbating the opioid epidemic. |
And she provides one major example-Purdue Pharma, which introduced OxyContin after it gained FDA approval in 1995 and advertised it as completely safe: If you take the medicine like it is prescribed, the risk of addiction is one half of one percent. Many people using OxyContin, however, ignored the if. Within two months of its release, Macy shows, the drug was on the streets in large amounts, even as it was also being prescribed by doctors nationwide. |
This extended example supports Macy's analysis and the argument she is making about the opioid crisis. The kinds of evidence that you provide as support for an analysis will depend on your topic, but could include ANALOGIES , ANECDOTES , COMPARISONS , examples, FACTS , QUOTATIONS , DEFINITIONS , statistics, personal experience, and so on. Is the author trustworthy? |
It may be a truism to say we tend to believe people who seem trustworthy, credible, and honest-but establishing such credentials has never been more important than it is today. Whatever kind of text you're analyzing, then, you should ask how the author (or speaker, or artist) manages to come across as believable, as someone whose work you can trust. |
In an analysis of How Change Happens: Why Some Social Movements Succeed While Others Don't , law professor David Cole focuses on that book's author, Leslie Crutchfield, introducing her as someone who has studied social movements extensively over the last several decades. We learn that Crutchfield has analyzed campaigns against smoking and drunk driving, as well as both for and against gun control. |
Cole is careful, then, to provide credentials for the author of the text he is analyzing: she is experienced, deeply knowledgeable, and open-minded-thus, he suggests, readers can trust the advice she offers to those seeking to establish effective social movements. |
He himself is careful to QUALIFY his own conclusions about the viability of some social movements-noting, for instance, the following: Whether #MeToo and other movements will achieve lasting reform will depend on those organizations working collectively in multiple forums, including courtrooms, state legislatures, corporate boardrooms, union halls, and, most importantly, at the ballot box. |
-DAVID COLE, The Path of Greatest Resistance Cole uses Crutchfield's qualification of her claim as further evidence of her credibility: she is a careful researcher not given to exaggeration or to absolute conclusions. Analyzing whether or not you can trust an author or speaker will lead you to look carefully at the words they use to see what kind of TONE they establish (careful and cautious? angry and belligerent? even-handed?). |
Likewise, in analyzing a visual text, the use of fonts and colors and even layout might give you a sense of whether it's taking its subject seriously or not. Does the text make any emotional appeals? Any rhetorical analysis should carefully consider whether the text appeals to its audience's emotions-and if so, to what effect. Emotional appeals are often misused: think of ads that suggest that buying a certain skincare product will make us as gorgeous as the model using it, for example. |
But appeals to emotion can also tug at our heartstrings in positive ways, persuading us to appoint a designated driver when we've been drinking, for instance, or to contribute to the life-saving work of Doctors without Borders. |
See how Vanessa Friedman, a fashion critic at the New York Times , appealed to readers' emotions in her analysis of the role that clothing played at President Trump's 2019 State of the Union address: When the television cameras came up on the buzzing House chamber as Congress awaited President Trump's entrance, the most striking sight was not the grandeur of the room (though it is pretty grand) or the nerves and excitement of the special guests, but rather the unmistakable block of Congresswomen practically aglow in white on the Democratic side of the aisle. |
-VANESSA FRIEDMAN, A Sea of White, Lit by History Congresswomen in white at the 2019 State of the Union address. A photo underscores Friedman's point: no one, she said, could miss the message in what they wore: one of gender equality and pride, the long arc of history and the fight for women's rights, commitment to an agenda and, in the background, joy. The photo captures that moment of joy and appeals to readers to share in that joy and the message it delivers. |
When analyzing any text, look carefully for emotional appeals, and think about how they're used. Are they used to create empathy? to arouse outrage? to change minds? to help establish the author's credibility? Or are they used negatively, to call out or humiliate someone, or to stoke divisiveness or even hatred? Perhaps they're simply illustrating why readers should care about the topic. |
In each case, think about how any emotional appeal supports or relates to the argument the text is making, and whether it does so fairly. Consider the larger context-and perspectives other than your own If you're analyzing a text or topic that you think matters, chances are that you won't be the first one to do so. That means you should try to look beyond your own reaction and consider other perspectives. |
Being open to the ideas of others will help you produce a stronger analysis and will underscore your credibility as someone who's open to what others think and doesn't rush to judgment. For excellence, the presence of others is always required. |
-HANNAH ARENDT In a lengthy analysis of American exceptionalism, Jake Sullivan, who is a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, sums up the perspectives of others before offering his own conclusion: Some argue that the United States is fractured beyond repair- . . . that you can no longer make arguments to the American people based on higher purpose-they are too angry or too cynical. I see it another way. . . . |
Let's not forget that, throughout American history, the path forward has been determined not in times of disruption but in their aftermath. . . . As for the American people, I believe that they would welcome a renewed form of exceptionalism that addresses their concerns, speaks to their aspirations, and restores confidence that their country can be a force for good in the world. . . . American exceptionalism is not a description of reality but the expression of an ambition. |
It is about striving, and falling short, and improving. This is the essence of a patriotism that every American can embrace. -JAKE SULLIVAN, Yes, America Can Still Lead the World Thus does Sullivan's lengthy analysis of anger lead him to move beyond those who think we cannot recover from the current divisiveness, arguing that his analysis shows that Americans are very likely to keep working toward the goal of improving, always improving. |
Invite response Good analyses need to be able to withstand close scrutiny by others, so remember to ask for response to your draft. When ethnographer Patricia Lather carried out a study of women living with HIV, she used a series of interviews to analyze their experiences, which resulted in a book-length study called Troubling the Angels . Lather didn't publish her book, however, until she had asked the women she'd interviewed to read and respond to it. |
They did so, at length, and Lather then used their astute insights and criticisms to revise her analysis. You can benefit by following Lather's example and inviting response to what you write. Read your draft with a critical eye, get response-and revise Now's the time to read over what you've written to see that you've made clear what question has driven your analysis and that you've provided sufficient evidence to support the conclusion your analysis draws. |
Then you'll want to ask others to read over your draft. Here are some questions that can help you or others read over the draft. How will your OPENING grab readers' attention? If you aim to reach a specific AUDIENCE , will your opening make them want to read on? How else might you begin? Have you DESCRIBED the text in enough detail for readers to follow your analysis? Is there more background information you need to add? |
Have you made clear what your analysis revealed about the text-and have you stated it explicitly in a THESIS ? If not, should you do so? What EVIDENCE supports your analysis? Is there any other evidence that could add to the strength of your analysis? Have you made any EMOTIONAL APPEALS -and if so, how do they support your analysis? How have you established your CREDIBILITY to write on this subject? Have you addressed PERSPECTIVES other than your own-and if not, should you do so? |
Have you considered such perspectives fairly? If you've cited any sources, have you DOCUMENTED them fully? How effective is your CONCLUSION ? What does it leave your audience thinking? How else could you conclude? Consider your title. Does it make clear what your analysis is about, and will it engage readers' interest? How might you make the title more engaging? Now's the time to REVISE ! If you've analyzed your analysis (!) and gotten advice from others, you've got a plan. You know what you want to do. |
But remember what you need to do: to explain what your ANALYSIS shows and provide EVIDENCE that supports your conclusions. And as always, keep in mind your AUDIENCE and the rest of your RHETORICAL SITUATION . REFLECT! Set your analysis aside for a few days. Then come back to it with fresh eyes and read it again. What do you find most effective about your analysis? What is your favorite sentence or passage-and why? What spots might call for further revision-and why? |
How well do you think you conveyed your point(s) to your audience? Write a paragraph or two in which you sum up what you've learned-both about the text, and the process of analysis itself. Glossary CLAIM, 84-85, 103-5 A statement of a belief or POSITION . In an ARGUMENT , a claim needs to be stated in a THESIS or clearly implied, and requires support by REASONS and EVIDENCE . REASONS, 105-8 Support for a CLAIM or a POSITION . A reason, in turn, requires its own support. |
EVIDENCE, 85-90 In ARGUMENT , the data you present to support your REASONS . Such data may include statistics, calculations, examples, ANECDOTES , QUOTATIONS , case studies, or anything else that will convince your readers that your reasons are compelling. Evidence should be sufficient (enough to show that the reasons have merit) and relevant (appropriate to the argument you're making). COUNTERARGUMENT, 16, 90-91, 265 In ARGUMENT , an alternative POSITION or objection to the writer's position. |
The writer of an argument should not only acknowledge counterarguments but also, if at all possible, accept, accommodate, or refute each counterargument. EMOTIONAL APPEALS, 113-14, 415 Ways of appealing to an AUDIENCE 's emotions, values, and beliefs by arousing specific feelings-compassion, sympathy, anger, and so on. See also ETHICAL APPEALS ; LOGICAL APPEALS AUTHORITY, 57, 112-13, 142-43 A person or text that is cited as support for an ARGUMENT . |
A structural engineer may be quoted as an authority on bridge construction, for example. Authority also refers to a quality conveyed by writers who are knowledgeable about their subjects. CREDIBILITY, 164-66, 297-98 The sense of trustworthiness that a writer conveys through the text. AUDIENCE, 25-26 Those to whom a text is directed-the people who read, listen to, or view the text. Audience is a key part of any RHETORICAL SITUATION . |
PURPOSE, 25 In writing, your goal: to explore a topic, to express an opinion, to entertain, to report information, to persuade, and so on. Purpose is one element of the RHETORICAL SITUATION . ARGUMENT, 99-131 Any text that makes a CLAIM supported by REASONS and EVIDENCE . A GENRE that uses REASONS and EVIDENCE to support a CLAIM . |
Key Features: an explicit POSITION - a response to what others have said - appropriate background information - a clear indication of why the topic matters - good REASONS and EVIDENCE - attention to more than one POINT OF VIEW - an authoritative TONE - an appeal to readers' values TONE, 27, 96 The way a writer's or speaker's STANCE is reflected in the text. ANALOGY, 414 A STRATEGY for COMPARISON by explaining something unfamiliar in terms of something that is more familiar. |
See also FALSE ANALOGY ANECDOTE, 85, 412 A brief NARRATIVE used to illustrate a point. COMPARISON AND CONTRAST, 87-88 A STRATEGY that highlights the points of similarity and difference between items. Using the block method , a writer discusses all the points about one item and then all the same points about the next item; using the point-by-point method , a writer discusses one point for both items before going on to discuss the next point for both items, and so on. |
Sometimes comparison and/or contrast can serve as the organizing principle for a paragraph or whole text. FACTS, 69-70, 266-69 Information that can be backed up and verified by reliable evidence: Ruth Bader Ginsburg died in 2020 . QUOTE, 285-90 To cite someone else's words exactly as they were said or written. Quotation is most effective when the wording is worth repeating or makes a point so well that no rewording will do it justice or when you want to cite someone's exact words. |
Quotations in academic writing need to be acknowledged with DOCUMENTATION . DEFINITION, 88 A STRATEGY that says what something is. Formal definitions identify the category that something belongs to and tell what distinguishes it from other things in that category: A worm is an invertebrate (a category) with a long, rounded body and no appendages (distinguishing features). Extended definitions go into more detail: a paragraph or even an essay explaining why a character in a story is tragic. |
Stipulative definitions give a writer's own use of a term, one not found in a dictionary. Definition can serve as the organizing principle for a paragraph or whole text. QUALIFY, 84, 104-5 To limit a CLAIM -saying, for example, that most people like cake rather than people like cake. Words like frequently, often, generally , or sometimes can help you qualify what you claim-and make it something you'll be able to support. TONE, 27, 96 The way a writer's or speaker's STANCE is reflected in the text. |
OPENING, 146, 410-12 The way a text begins, which plays an important role in drawing an AUDIENCE in. Some ways of beginning an essay: with a dramatic or deceptively simple statement, with something others have said about your topic, with a provocative question or a startling CLAIM , or with an ANECDOTE . AUDIENCE, 25-26 Those to whom a text is directed-the people who read, listen to, or view the text. Audience is a key part of any RHETORICAL SITUATION . |