Constructing Your Writing Plan Draft
To finish assignment, first actively re-read your selected article using the analysis techniques mentioned in Module Two. Write new notes (and revise old ones) to help you uncover the deeper meaning of your selected article (do not assume that your initial reading was the correct reading until you compare your notes from Module One with your notes in this Module). After you have finished re-reading the article and writing down new (or revised) notes, you will then build onto your Writing Notes assignment from Module One and determine your strategy for writing your critical analysis essay.
This process will allow you to develop a potential structure for effectively communicating and supporting your claim in the critical analysis essay. Your claim will have three components-1) it will clearly state the author's goal in his/her article, 2) it will identify your reaction to this goal (e.g., do you agree or disagree); and 3) it will explain why you had that reaction to the article (does the author meet his/her goal with the evidence that is presented, does the author ignore counterarguments to try to make his/her article stronger, etc.). The Writing Plan will also be helpful in keeping your thought process on track when you begin writing and revising your essay.
Keep in mind that you do not need to answer the questions in any specific order. Each response should be one fully developed paragraph in length (5-8 sentences).
1.Re-read your selected article and take careful notes, using analysis techniques described in Module Two as guidance. Then, revisit your original interpretation of the author's goal and re-state the claim to be addressed in your analysis essay. Has the author's goal changed with this analytical reading of the text? If so, how? If not, why not?
2. Have you identified new key points that the author uses to try to achieve his or her goal in the selected article? If so, include them here. If not, explain why the key points from your Writing Notes have remained the same, even after conducting an active reading of the article.
3. Re-state the audience who will be reading your essay. What potential challenges will you have supporting your argument with this demographic?
4. Your goal is the end result that you wish to achieve in writing the critical analysis essay. What goal do you hope to accomplish with this essay? For example, you may disagree with the author and demonstrate why they are incorrect, or you may agree but want to further substantiate their claim.
5. Evidence is the material that supports your argument. Based on your claim, determine potential places where evidence would be most effective. Defend your choices. For example, if you disagree with an author's point, you would want to use evidence to support your view.
6. You will be receiving feedback on this draft. Feedback is helpful information or criticism that explains what can be done to improve your essay. How can your own writing improve from receiving feedback from an outside party? How can that feedback be integrated in the final project?
7. During the revision process, a writer rereads the essay and makes significant changes in content, organization, etc. to build the argument in a stronger, more logical manner. You will learn more about revision strategies in Module 7, but some of the most common revision techniques are peer evaluation (where you have a classmate review your essay and provide you with feedback), read aloud (where you print out a hard copy of your essay and read it aloud slowly), and read backwards (where you read the essay backwards word by word or paragraph by paragraph). Identify a revision strategy that would be most effective in informing you while writing this essay. Why would this strategy be effective?