How to Analyize and Argue an Essay Essay Example for Free

How to Analyize and Argue an Essay Essay A critique is an essay in which you evaluate (comment on the positive and negative aspects of) an essay or article. A critique can be positive (reasons the argument worked), negative (reasons the argument did not work), or shaded (reasons parts of it worked and parts of it didn’t). When you write a critique, it is important to keep in mind that you are not making suggestions for the author odds are the author isn’t interested in what you think she could have done differently—you are writing for another reader. A critique is often born out of reaction (you liked or disliked the argument), but is based on and supported by close reading and evaluation, not just how you feel. Writing a critique requires that you have a clear understanding of the essay. You should know the argument, the purpose, and the ways that the author supports the argument. If you can’t clearly articulate those things, you’ll have a hard time critiquing them. For tips on that process, see the summary page. Sometimes a critique is called an analysis or a close reading. In all cases you’re offering your own reasoned response to the ideas that the writer presents and the way the writer presents them. What to do: Begin by summarizing the piece. You’ll likely need a brief overview in your introduction anyway, and it never hurts to have a firm sense of the argument in your head before you begin a critique. In many cases your instructor will require you to begin a critique with a summary. Decide whether your critique will be positive or negative. Are you interested in the positives of the piece or the negatives? Did the author convince you or not? Do you want to highlight a combination of positive and negative? Pick several specific points from the essay that you wish to use as your supporting claims. You might take issue with an author’s organization or tone, or with her use of supporting arguments. The more specific you are in your points, the better your critique will be. See below for a list of possible critique points. The thesis of a critique is relatively straightforward. You simply need to present your evaluation of the article you’re critiquing. You then support that thesis using the several points you’ve chosen. In each paragraph of a critique, develop one of your points. Use specific examples from the text. If you want to say that the author’s tone was inappropriate for the subject matter, find a quote and then explain how the tone is inappropriate and why. Usually each paragraph explains only one example. You might have two paragraphs that discuss different examples of the same general point—for instance, two different examples of inappropriate tone. The number of body paragraphs depends on the length of the assignment. A two-page critique might not have more than two or three body paragraphs. A four-page critique might require five or six body paragraphs. Choose enough examples so that you can discuss each one in its own body paragraph. A general rule of thumb is that body paragraphs should be about a half a page long, double-spaced. In your conclusion, you want to remind readers of your thesis and pull all of your examples together. You don’t want your conclusion to simply restate your introduction, nor do you want to provide entirely new information. You want to naturally draw readers to an end. *Elements to Critique Here is a list of various elements you can look for in an article you want to critique. Keep in mind that not every item will be appropriate to every article. Logic: Has the writer picked examples that logically support her claim? Is her reasoning (the way she works out her ideas) in line with the claim and what you know to be true? Logic: Does the writer have reasonable support but is the overall claim itself flawed? (one might claim that global warming doesn’t exist, and then use sources that describe the recent temperature shifts as normal geological cycles. The supporting claims are logical, but the overall claim that global warming doesn’t exist is not logical because the temperatures are, in fact, rising. Does the writer use enough evidence to support his claims? Is the evidence the writer uses appropriate? For example, using outdated statistics is not effective, nor is using evidence that is not actually relevant to the topic. Tone: Is the writer’s tone appropriate to the subject matter? Is the tone at an appropriate level to the audience? If the writer is overly sarcastic, for example, that tone might not be appropriate to a subject like drunk driving. Tone: Does the author seem overly critical of a single person or movement in ways that do not support his or her thesis? Is the word choice appropriate for the audience? (If the article is from a popular magazine such as MacLean’s, but the language is highly technical and specialized, that might be less appropriate. ) Organization: Is the article organized in a way that makes sense? Does the organization make the article easier to read or more difficult? Expertise: Does the author establish herself as an authority on the subject? If so, how? Does she describe her credentials? Use technical terms? Refer to sources? These are just some of the different aspects of an article that are open to critique. Pick a few, look for very specific examples in the text, and build your body paragraphs around them. What it looks like: Below you will find two different samples. Each one contains the introduction and one body paragraph of a critique. One is a mostly positive critique, and one is a negative critique. Positive Critique: In â€Å"Game Theories† Clive Thompson uses the story of a man, Edward Castronova, to discuss online gaming worlds and their economy. He begins with a long introduction about Mr. Castronova, and then proceeds to outline several points about online gaming while still using Castronova’s story throughout the essay. His intent is to bring to light several opinions, facts, and debates regarding virtual reality games. In writing this piece, Thompson is effective in reaching this goal. He does so by using Edward Castronova as a credible example and reference, by his language and word choices, by quoting people highly involved in the virtual world, and by using recognizable and interesting examples of specific online gaming worlds. Thompson begins his essay by introducing readers to Edward Castronova, an economist who investigated the economy of online gaming worlds, and who submitted his findings on an academic website. Right off the bat Thompson draws the attention of readers by presenting Edward Castronova in a simple, story-like way. Readers find stories easy to read and to relate to, and for the first several paragraphs Thompson is in fact telling a brief story. Once Clive Thompson has successfully given readers Castronova’s background, he brings himself into the piece in a brief paragraph telling how he met Castronova. This is very effective because it associates him with the person whom readers are now interested in, and gives them more reason to find his writing credible and worth interest. Being able to associate with a real-life person allows readers to be more connected to the piece and to the author. It brings the entire piece closer to home, so to speak, which makes the entire essay more readable. Readers are more likely to enjoy an essay if they feel they can relate to its topic and to the author. Thompson accomplishes this reader comfort by introducing Edward Castronova and by connecting himself to this man. Negative Critique: In â€Å"Image World,† Michael Posner analyzes society’s dependence on visual stimulation using daily events as examples. Posner demonstrates society’s inability to distinguish reality from fantasy through numerous examples such as theme parks, rock concerts and political campaigns. Posner emphasizes on society’s attachment to imagery because he believes it is the only way to capture our attention, he also believes that it is the only way for people to understand the significance of a piece of writing or event. Posner’s primary audience include readers of Queen’s Quarterly and his secondary audience include students. Although readers recognize Posner’s argument on the effects of imagery within the culture of society, they are not convinced because of his negative outlook; therefore, he is not effective in his argument. In this essay I examine the different methods in which Posner is not effective: the use of excessive examples, tone and language, and organization. Posner’s use of excessive examples to support his argument distracts the reader. Although some readers may believe that using numerous examples further supports Posner’s argument, that writing alone is not enough to captivate the attention of the reader, students would argue against. For instance, he lists â€Å"Logos, billboards, banks of televisions, video monitors, camcorders, games downloadable to cellphones,† examples that have been mentioned already (p. 326). When using example after example, the reader is temporarily distracted and must figure out his point again. As Posner asks, â€Å"More examples? † he insults the reader suggesting that his audience cannot recognize and perceive his main purpose (p. 327). By insulting the reader Posner subtly suggests he knows better, separating himself from his audience. This separation causes the audience, students mainly, to not take him or his writing seriously.

Consequence of Artificial Light Essay examples -- Essays Papers

Consequence of Artificial Light Our world is an ever changing place, in the last 100 years we have seen more technological advances than ever in the preceding years of history. We have built computers, gone to the moon, developed x-rays, microwaves, telephones, and the incandescent light. A seemingly small invention, the light has forever placed its mark not only on the human race, but on the earth itself. In pictures taken from space, we can see that much of the world is lit 24 hours a day, which begs the question: is that much light good for us? It is not an easy question to answer, but in this essay, I hope to examine some of the history that has brought us to the situation that we are in as well as some of the possible solutions to try and cope with a world that has become addicted to never-ending light. As our knowledge of the world grows, so too does our understanding of the health hazards that excessive light during the night can bring to the human body, and this understanding has led to many interesting discoveries. The search for medical understanding that too much light in the dark hours is poor for health was begun by astronomers who were dismayed at the growing loss of darkness in the night sky, but has quickly grown to include, medical researchers, city planners as well as average people in the community that are unhappy with the excessive amount of light that is prevalent today. One of the major discoveries that have been made in recent history is the finding of a photo receptor that sets circadian rhythms1. Cryptochrome is a protein that is sensitive to blue light, and it is theorized that in the morning and evenings, when blue light is most prevalent, this protein helps humans adjust their internal... ...roduce into our lives and culture, the more problems begin to arise, it is time that some major steps need to be taken to help stop this problem, and I hope that some of the solutions outlined above will be a good start. References: 1:http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/1998-11/BU-TBSS-231198.php 2:http://www.peerless-lighting.com/p20_body.htm 3:http://library8.municode.com/gateway.dll/RI/rhode%20island/875? f=templates&fn=default.htm&npusername=11458&nppassword=MCC&npac_credentialspresent =true&vid=default 4:http://www.dep.state.pa.us/dep/deputate/pollprev/lighting/outdoor.htm 5:http://www.turtles.org/threats.htm 6:http://www.learner.org/jnorth/tm/NightLights.html 7:http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?holding=f1000&cmd=Retrieve&db=P ubMed&list_uids=12495746&dopt=Abstract 8:http://www.darksky.org/infoshts/is012.html

Moral Dilemma

Amy is a sweet six year old girl from our neighborhood and she had always played with my dog when she got home from preschool. I was friends with her mother and she was already familiar with me which meant that I did not have to establish rapport to interview her. I sought permission from the parents if I may use her responses to a moral dilemma in my course assignments and they gave their consent. Amy is a precocious child, she likes to play with the neighborhood kids and she can argue even with those older than her when she wants to prove a point. I was trying to devise a moral dilemma that was fitted for her age and reality and I thought of using my dog in it so she would be more able to relate. One afternoon, right after school, I asked Amy the following: Suppose you were playing in this yard, and you saw that Boo had been wandering in the neighbor’s lawn and you saw him made a mess in the lawn. You know that the neighbors might get angry with it but since you really love Boo and he might get in to trouble if you tell the neighbors that he made a mess in their lawn you do not say anything. Now that the neighbors had found out about it and they suspected that the other neighbor’s dog did it and they were actually going to have the dog arrested. What would you do? After some thought, Amy asked me whether the police would really arrest the dog after making a mess in the neighbor’s backyard and although I was actually trying hard not to laugh, I told her that in this city they do. Amy fell silent and thought for a while, and then she said, I  guess I have to tell because the police will find out and I might get arrested too. I then asked her, what if the police question you; will you tell then or not? Amy replied that she would not lie  because God would be angry with her. I also told her, what if the neighbor’s won’t be angry, will she still tell? Amy replied that she would not because no one had asked her and she would not want Boo to get into trouble. I also asked her whether what Boo did was bad and does she not think not telling I bad? Amy said that what Boo did was not wrong or bad because dogs are really like that and she did not think that not telling was bad either because no one asked her. I must admit that Amy’s responses had me confused and I was reading Kohlberg’s moral stages of development and I tried to determine at what stage Amy was, even if she was just 6 years old, she had some pretty logical responses like when she said that Boo was not bad because dogs really do mess on lawns and that she was not bad because she did not lie at all, it was that no one asked her. She made it clear that if someone asks her, then she would tell the truth because she would not want God to be angry with her. Using Kohlberg’s stages of moral development, I will try to examine Amy’s responses fully. According to Kohlberg, moral development proceeds in a successive pattern and each moral reasoning is distinct from the other, although some people may resort to an earlier moral reasoning stage to examine a moral dilemma (Boyd & Bee, 2006). For example, a child is said to be in the first stage of moral development which Kohlberg calls precoventional morality and wherein the child’s moral reasoning is determined by punishment and authority. An older child  may be oriented towards conventional morality where a certain amount of goodness is ascribed to actions that benefit family members or society would still use the authority and punishment orientation if the situation presents itself. With Amy’s responses it is clear that she was still in the first stage. She was not going to lie because God would be angry with her, this to her meant that God punishes all children who lie and since God is all knowing and sees her actions then God would be able to tell whether she was saying the truth or not. This clearly indicates the orientation to think in terms of authority and punishment. Amy was more likely to have been told numerous times that lying is bad and even if no one would know that one is lying, God is able to tell who is lying or not thus it does not make sense to lie at all. It is also noteworthy that Amy uses the word lie to not saying the truth but to refer to not saying anything as not telling. This implies that Amy is able to distinguish to a certain degree when a wrong is committed, lying is bad but not telling is not bad. An older child might argue that not telling is the same as lying but then it is probably an influence of Amy’s environment and the people she interact with. On the other hand, when Amy said that Boo was not wrong at all because he was a dog and dog naturally make messes in the lawn tells me that she actually has a fairly good idea about how man and animals are different and how dogs are not governed by the moral reasoning of man (Sandstrom, Martin & Fine, 2006). This is actually reflects the second stage in Kohlberg’s reasoning, although the subject is Boo, it still shows that Amy is able to discern that punishment is a risk that one has to avoid. For example, she said that she did not want Boo to get into to  trouble so she would not tell. This meant that she did not want Boo to be punished and she has a role in it, but if she was going to be the one punished or someone else’s dog then that would not be right and therefore she just have to say the truth so she won’t get punished. Amy also was probably in the outset of the third stage of moral development, she was trying to protect Boo and had given Boo a sense of identity and feelings by saying that Boo would be in trouble and arresting Boo would not be right. Amy was maintaining good interpersonal relationships, she thought that by protecting Boo she was being good to Boo and since she liked Boo she was obligated to protect Boo’s welfare. However, since she argued that if someone asked her about Boo’s crime, she would not lie is still in the obedience stage. The whole exercise had made me think that Kohlberg was probably right in saying that moral development proceeds in distinct patterns. But I would argue that it is not as strictly hierarchical as Kohlberg claim it to be. We know that stage theories presuppose that one stage leads to another and that a person cannot be able to proceed to the next stage if he/she does not go through the first one (Crain, 2005). This is actually true, but the stages are more fluid and a person can gravitate from one stage to another. It does not indicate moral maturity or highly ethical principles but it just shows how people progress in their moral thinking. Amy at 6 years old is quite adept at making her point about lying and not lying and about being punished and God being angry with her. But it also revealed that she is capable of higher thinking processes  that are actually rational even for a 6 year old like her. Kohlberg also said that the stages of moral development is influenced by the socialization process (Kohlberg, 1986), and in effect is merely a product of how a child is socialized into thinking about what is wrong and what is right. Amy comes from a very religious family and God is an ever present element in their house that it is no wonder that Amy think of God like that. It could also be that because Amy is still young, and her parents might think that she would be more obedient to God than to other authority figures and therefore has inculcated in her mind that God punishes liars. In the end, moral development is actually more a function of how a child is reared and trained, it is the parent’s role to instill moral values and train them into thinking morally right. References Boyd, D. & Bee, H. (2006). Lifespan Development 4th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson. Crain, W. (2005). Theories of Development: Concepts and Applications 5th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson. Kohlberg, L. (1986). The Philosophy of Moral Development. San Francisco: Harper and Row. Sandstrom, K., Martin, D. & Fine, G. A.   (2006). Symbols, Selves, and Social Reality 2nd ed. Los Angeles: Roxbury Press   

Sexual Assaults and Harassment in the Army - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 3 Words: 846 Downloads: 3 Date added: 2019/02/20 Category Law Essay Level High school Tags: Sexual Assault In The Military Essay Did you like this example? From the first major sexual assault scandal in the main stream media in 1996 at Aberdeen Proving grounds to today sexual assault and harassment has been a problem in the army. With all the efforts put in to the Sexual Harassment / Assault Response and Prevention (SHARP) Program why do the number of sexual assaults continue to raise? In recent years the army has consistently seen a growing number of sexual assaults. In the most recent report the number of assaults went up almost 10% (Gibbons-neff). Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Sexual Assaults and Harassment in the Army" essay for you Create order Are we really seeing more or is it the change in culture in society today? What is our leadership doing or not doing to help the problem out? Through the SHARP program helping to provided protection to victims of a sexual assault has allowed more people to feel safe about filing a report. Much of the old guard of the military had a very much this is how it is you deal with it and keep your mouth shut environment. During the Aberdeen case it was reviled that people who know about the sexual assaults were blackmailed and had their carriers ruined if they were to speak up about it (Anonymous). Nearly 60% of service members 40% of men and one third of women have said they regretted doing so (Jones). Even with the passing of Army Directive 2014-20 (Prohibition of Retaliation Against Soldiers for Reporting a Criminal Offense) and being able to file a report with a SHARP Professional confidentially. With commanders being the ones in charge of the courts-martial proceedings they tend to know both parties involved and are not a completely biased to make the judgment. This is why 70% of sexual assault cases for courts martial were simply never referred to proceedings by a commanding officer (Keller). This leaves solders with nothing but backlash from the unit after they file a report, no justice, no solutions, just regrets. With the repeal of the Don’t ask Don’t tell policy that had allowed lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer, and transsexuals serve in the military without being open has now brought a new group of people out that are adding to the number of sexual assaults. With the old policies in place if someone in the LGBQT community that was also a service member was trying to file a complaint they would face prosecution and discharge for the life choices they made. Studies have found that LGBQT are twice as likely to be sexually assaulted while on active duty, with 57.5% of lesbian or bisexual females and 16% of gay or bisexual men (Simkins). Those numbers are twice as high as a non-LGBQT service member. This is a new statistic to the number of sexual assaults as LGBQT numbers were not listed in the sexual assault report until fiscal year 2016. With today’s society and the â€Å"Me Too Movement† we are seeing more people coming out to report the problem and helping to build an environment that say this is not okay. The social trend is now moving in to the military and showing where the problem is really. The culture of the military. According to Defense Secretary James N. Mattis â€Å"Self-discipline, alert noncommissioned officers and attuned chains of command are essential in setting standards to strengthen military readiness to fight well and increase the ability to recruit and retain the best people. While casualties on the battlefield are understood to be consistent with our military duties, I accept no casualties due to sexual assault within our ranks,† he said. â€Å"Military leaders are to be zealous in carrying out in loco parentis responsibilities and ridding our ranks of such illegal, abhorrent behavior† (DOD). Changing of this culture starts at the very top but also at the bottom with the squad leaders and team leaders (Vergun). As the movement grew more and more information came to light to show the problem at all levels. Young officers who were coming out of West Point being caught up in sexual harassment rings (Cohen). These are the current and future leaders of the military and it is obvious that they are not ready to change the culture of sexual assaults in the military. As you can see the growing changes in our society have found the way in to the military life as well. The more we open our ranks to diversity with people of different sexual orientations the more chances of incidents happening. Even with the failure of leadership to act to help protect soldiers when they file a report the number of reports each year is still going up. We have now seen in all industries in the country this year people standing up and saying this is not right and we need a change. Now the military is seeing that same movement, the entire culture of the army on all fronts is going to have to change to fix this problem. While it takes time to adjust to these changes. It is easy to see why the Army is seeing a rise in the sexual assaults even with all the efforts put in to the SHARP programs.