Builds upon a summary

a formalized, critical reading of a passage that includes a personal response purpose is to turn a critical reading of a passage into a systematic evaluation to deepen a readers understanding of that passage

must determine what an author says how well the points are made what assumptions underlie the argument what issues are overlooked, and what implication can be drawn from such an analysis, statement and explanation of personal assumptions (opinions/responses)

Begin by posing two broad questions about readings:

To what extent does the author succeed in his/her purpose? To what extent do you agree with the author?

identify authors thesis identify the selections content and structure identify the authors purpose. authors purpose to inform, persuade, and/or entertain

Reason an author writes something

To inform To persuade To entertain

Is the information accurate? Is the information significant? What can the reader gain from this information? How is knowledge advanced by the publication of this material? Is the information of importance to you or to others in a particular audience? Why or why not?

Does the author fairly interpret the factual information? Could you offer a contrary explanation for the same facts? Does more information need to be gathered before firm conclusions can be drawn? Why?

What is the authors assertion or thesis statement? Is the authors argument valid? Does the author use clearly defined key terms? Does the author use information fairly? Has the author argued logically and not fallaciously? Watch out for faulty thinking and logical fallacies

Which elements of the work seemed effective/ineffective? Why? Offer an overall assessment, elaborating on personal views.
Did I care for the portrayal of a certain character? Did that character seem overly sentimental or heroic? Did his adversaries seem too villainous or stupid?

 Did his adversaries seem too villainous or stupid? Were the situations believable? Was the action interesting or merely formulaic? Was the theme developed subtly or powerfully, or did the work come across as preachy or shrill? Did the action at the end of the work follow plausibly from what had come before? Was the language fresh and incisive or stale and predictable?

To what extent do you agree with the author? your assessment of the presentation may not coincide with personal views:
you may agree with the author but feel the presentation is superficial

respond to authors main assertions (arguments) identify points of agreement and disagreement identify assumptions Elaborate upon your opinion.WHY do you agree or disagree?

identify the article title and author provide background information that answers one or more of the following questions:

Why is the subject of current interest?

How or why is the subject of the passage controversial?

What is the authors background?

Under what circumstances was the passage written?

include a specific thesis statement

summarizes the authors main points and purpose for writing is brief, complete, objective, and avoids plagiarism

essay objectively assesses the validity of the authors presentation by commenting on the authors success in achieving his/her purpose by reviewing 3 or 4 specific points

The specific points are based upon the following criteria:

Is the information accurate? Is the information significant?

Has the author clearly defined terms?

Has the author used and interpreted

information fairly? Has the author argued logically?

Essay responds to the authors views Essay discusses reasons for agreement and/or disagreement Questions to answer include:

With which views do you agree? Why? With which views do you disagree? Why?

states conclusions about the overall validity of the article assesses authors success at achieving aims mentions personal reactions to authors views restates the thesis by mentioning the weaknesses/strengths of passage

16. While reflecting on Cuomos article, there is some evidence to support his argument, but his lack of elaboration on some of the main points and his biased opinion harms the strength of the validity of the argument.

17. Although profanity does effect players aggression and behavior, different variables such as past exposure to video games, amount of video games played per day, and the protagonist or antagonist use of profanity can help the effect of profanity in video games.

1. The following will summarize the article, evaluate the article, and have a personal response on the article. 2. In the article, The Death Penalty Debate, Patricia Smith writes about capital punishment and the controversial reason some might oppose to it while others concur that the death penalty is the just thing to do.

3. In Sean Gregorys Should This Kid Be Making $225, 047 A year for Playing College Football? his writing delves into many different subjects on the current state of college athletics like the people who are benefiting the most from unpaid student athletes, Johnny Manziel, and some reasons on why student athletes are not currently paid.

4. The issue of elderly driving will be analyzed by looking at a brief summary of Andersons article, a critique of Andersons article, and my personal stance and opinions on this controversial issue.

5. High unemployment of college graduates and outstanding student loan debts are reasons for some to reconsider their future plans and find out which educational route is best for them. 6. This paper will demonstrate the economic and environmental benefits of hunting on the local and national levels.

7. Abortions is wrong, Kerby Anderson has many points to back this statement. 8. In the article Why Im Against Gun Control, Peter Tucci covers important topics on the controversy of gun control and why he is not a supporter. 9. Euthanasia should be a given right, especially to those who are terminally ill and live their lives so close to the edge of death.

10. Lowering the drinking age would cause more harm to not only the young adults, but to the whole society.

11. If public schools around the world want to teach evolution, then it is only fair to supporters of divine creation to teach creationism alongside evolution without bringing up religion.
12. The passage will include a brief summary, an assessment of Kinsleys performance, and a personal response from the writer.

13. Londono has very important facts, but the whole article is very biased which I disagree with since my family has had some military background.

14. When reflecting on Tara Parker-Popes article, I found that there are many good points and research that she refers to while avoiding bias, which is often difficult to do on such a controversial topic. 15. When referring to Pavoines article, there is strong evidence to support these topics.

Choose a controversial topic that can later be developed into an argument. Find an article to support your position. Read this article and write a critique based upon the previously outlined criteria.
100 points

Rough draft due Wednesday, March 19

http://pegasus.cc.ucf.edu/~uwc/Writing%20Reso urces/Handouts/research_topics.htm

Read sample critiques on Weebly In class, we will review the midterm and discuss the sample critiques.