Short Critical Analyses

Critical Analysis #2: Uplift 

Deadline extended to 4/14/12 -- 5:00 p.m in Oncourse dropbox


Purpose and Overview
How can you use Killingsworth’s discussion of kairos or exigence, Pascal’s autobiographical form, Campbell’s agency, and/or Booth’s types of narration as a lens for discovering a more complex interaction in what you read? For this short critical analysis, your goal is to present an original idea by putting two or more readings into conversation with each other. Putting them into conversation with each other generally requires that you do more than simply comment on them, compare them, or formulate an opinion about them. It generally requires that you use both texts together in order to arrive at some discovery that advances your thinking. This original argument, or discovery, should shed some light on how uplift functions in documentary literature.

Prompts
I offer some prompts to help you begin, but please understand that a “prompt” is simply a very general beginning point—a place from which to jump off to another place. Your original argument, or discovery, should do more than simply answer the prompt: 
  • How your texts do/could disrupt the status quo as autobiography or polemic 
  • How your texts do/could promote a kind of civic participation 
  • How your texts do/could promote a kind of feminist agency 
  • How your texts do/could lay groundwork for complicating “gender” or “race” 

Characteristics and Evaluation Criteria
This assignment is worth 100 points. Here are some specific criteria I will use to evaluate: 

Argument & Thesis Statement 
For this analysis, “argument” does not mean “position” in the traditional pro/con, good/bad, right/wrong sense of argumentation. It does mean a non-obvious claim that you discover by putting two or more texts into conversation with each other. Your analysis should be guided by an original and clear thesis statement that is not simply a summary of the texts’ main purpose or theme, does not simply repeat what we discussed in class, and does not simply state the obvious about the texts you are reading. In other words, your thesis statement should provide us the answer to or outcome of your discussion, rather than just telling us broadly what you hope to find. If you do begin with one of the prompts listed above, your thesis statement should not simply restate the language of the prompt—it should move beyond it. 

Textual & Contextual Evidence 
You should develop your argument by drawing heavily on the texts have chosen, and you should use examples accurately and well. For example, your claim may require you to unpack two different aspects of Killingsworth’s complex appeals to time in order to explain how a particular writer’s use of metaphor creates a sense of urgency for her reader and to demonstrate why that is an important part of the documentary’s persuasive effectiveness. Or, your claim may require that you combine several aspects of Pascal’s autobiography theory with Booth’s narration types in order to explain how and why a writer relies on distance. Or, your claim may require that you draw on the critical commentaries in Our Nig or in Maggie, as a way of providing more context for the situation of each novel. The way in which you use evidence should demonstrate some comfort with the texts and a knowledgeable use of the concepts we are learning. Please use parenthetical citations when you paraphrase or quote from any source and please avoid extensive block quoting. 

Reader Awareness 
Please write for a reader who is somewhat knowledgeable about the text(s) you are analyzing, but not very familiar with how you are using the texts as a “lens.” Assume a reader who needs to be convinced based on your careful handling of textual evidence. Educate your reader wherever possible by defining important terms. 

Organization & Coherence 
How you organize your critical discussion should ultimately reflect the argument you want to make. This includes a clear introduction and conclusion, useful transitions, and adequate development of each point. Your thesis may act like a “thread” for your main and supporting points, and each paragraph should be well focused and guided by a topic sentence that helps your thesis to unfold in a series of logical steps. Your introduction should provide us with a frame or context for your argument, and your conclusion should do more than simply summarize or repeat your main points. 

Language & Style 
Your discussion can be confident while also carrying a balanced tone, with neutral language and strong sentences. Your use of terms should be thoughtful, even elegant. Please do not use excessive metadiscourse, “I think/feel/believe,” or “In my opinion” statements to carry your argument forward. It should always be clear who is speaking. No patterns of sentence- or paragraph-level error should get in the way of meaning. Spelling and punctuation should be exact. 

Length, Formatting & Citation 
Please limit your analysis to 2-3 pages, single-spaced, with a separate “Works Cited” page in MLA format. Please title your critical analysis. The title should reflect what you are trying to argue and may be creative or contain layers of meaning. Citation conventions should be accurate. The final draft should be: 
  • word-processed or typed in a legible 11- or 12-point serif font 
  • formatted with 1-inch margins 
  • Please include your name, due date, and course information at the top left of the first page. Please create a header or footer with your last name and page number on all remaining pages. 

Please feel free to ask questions if any part of this assignment is unclear or if you would like some guidance.

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Critical Analysis #1: Enculturation 
Deadline extended to 3/24/12 -- 5:00 p.m in Oncourse dropbox

Purpose and Overview
How can you use Booth’s theory of narrative, Schirato and Webb’s theory of “intertext” or visual narrative, Killingsworth’s rhetorical situation, or McCloud’s comic theory as a lens for discovering a more complex interaction in what you read? For this first short critical analysis, your goal is to present an original idea by putting two or more readings into conversation with each other. Putting them into conversation with each other generally requires that you do more than simply comment on them, compare them, or formulate an opinion about them. It generally requires that you use both texts together in order to arrive at some discovery that advances your thinking. This original argument, or discovery, should shed some light on how enculturation functions in documentary literature. 

Prompts
I offer some prompts to help you begin, but please understand that a “prompt” is simply a very general beginning point—a place from which to jump off to another place. Your original argument, or discovery, should do more than simply answer the prompt: 
  • The role of iconic representation in Persepolis and Up the Yangtze 
  • The role of narrative persona in “In Search of America” and Persepolis 
  • The use of un/reliable narrators in “In Search of America” and Persepolis 
  • How Persepolis and Up the Yangtze establish reader-writer distance 
  • How Persepolis and Up the Yangtze complicate moral rightness/wrongness 

Characteristics and Evaluation Criteria
This assignment is worth 100 points. Here are some specific criteria I will use to evaluate: 

Argument & Thesis Statement 
For this analysis, “argument” does not mean “position” in the traditional pro/con, good/bad, right/wrong sense of argumentation. It does mean a non-obvious claim that you discover by putting two or more texts into conversation with each other. Your analysis should be guided by an original and clear thesis statement that is not simply a summary of the texts’ main purpose or theme, and does not simply state the obvious about the texts you are reading. In other words, your thesis statement should provide us the answer to or outcome of your discussion, rather than just telling us broadly what you hope to find.

Textual & Contextual Evidence 
You should develop your argument by drawing heavily on the texts have chosen, and you should use examples accurately and well. For example, your claim may require you to explain one aspect of Killingsworth’s “rhetorical situation” in order to explain how Asch constructs a critical distance for his reader and why that is an important part of the documentary’s effectiveness. Or, your claim may require that you combine several aspects of McCloud’s comic theory with Schirato and Webb’s visual narrative in order to explain how Up the Yangtze depicts cultural migration. The way in which you use evidence should demonstrate some comfort with the texts and a knowledgeable use of the concepts we are learning. Please use parenthetical citations when you paraphrase or quote from any source and please avoid extensive block quoting. 

Reader Awareness 
Please write for a reader who is somewhat knowledgeable about the text(s) you are analyzing, but not very familiar with how you are using the texts as a “lens.” Assume a skeptical reader who needs to be convinced based on your careful handling of textual evidence. Educate your reader wherever possible by defining important terms. 

Organization & Coherence 
How you organize your critical discussion should ultimately reflect the argument you want to make. This includes a clear introduction and conclusion, useful transitions, and adequate development of each point. Your thesis may act like a “thread” for your main and supporting points, and each paragraph should be well focused and guided by a topic sentence that helps your thesis to unfold in a series of logical steps. Your introduction should provide us with a frame or context for your argument, and your conclusion should do more than simply summarize or repeat your main points. 

Language & Style 
Your discussion can be confident while also carrying a balanced tone, with neutral language and strong sentences. Your use of terms should be thoughtful, even elegant. Please do not use excessive metadiscourse, “I think/feel/believe,” or “In my opinion” statements to carry your argument forward. It should always be clear who is speaking. No patterns of sentence- or paragraph-level error should get in the way of meaning. Spelling and punctuation should be exact. 

Length, Formatting & Citation 
Please limit your analysis to 2-3 pages, single-spaced, with a separate “Works Cited” page in MLA format. Please title your critical analysis. The title should reflect what you are trying to argue and may be creative or contain layers of meaning. Citation conventions should be accurate. The final draft should be: 
  • word-processed or typed in a legible 11- or 12-point serif font 
  • formatted with 1-inch margins 
  • Please include your name, due date, and course information at the top left of the first page. Please create a header or footer with your last name and page number on all remaining pages. 

Please feel free to ask questions if any part of this assignment is unclear or if you would like some guidance.