Guidelines
for Reading Analysis Presentations (Non-fiction)
You must sign-up for at least five presentations this
semester. Make a note of the article titles and presentation dates that you
sign up for below.
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You will be presenting your analysis in class along
with two to five of your classmates. The class will be counting on you to be on
top of the article you are covering, so please be prepared!
To receive credit for this assignment, you must
participate in the presentation of your analysis. You will be graded primarily
on your written analysis (breakdown of scoring below), but outstanding
presentations will be rewarded.
Read the article you will be analyzing carefully. If
possible, read it twice. On your first reading, just try to identify the main
idea(s) and get a feel for the writer’s approach and the flow of the piece. On
your second reading, go over the text more carefully; notice how the writer
constructs his or her argument. You will probably want to mark up your text
and/or take notes.
To
prepare your written analysis:
Identify the author’s name and the title of the
article. Answer the following questions. Put your answers in outline form (see
sample analysis on the reverse side of this sheet).
1. What is the central
claim (or thesis) of the selection? Your answer should be a complete
sentence in your own words (not a quote!). Be as specific as possible, but
remember that your claim should cover the whole article.
2. Is the central claim
expressed explicitly or implicitly? The claim is
explicit if the writer spells out what it is. The claim is implicit if the
writer only implies the claim but does not state it outright.
3. What reasons link
the evidence to the claim? In other words, why does the evidence support the
claim? Reasons may be presented explicitly or implied.
4. What evidence does
the writer present to support his or her claim? Specify and categorize the
evidence (e.g. examples, personal experiences, analogy, authoritative opinion,
facts, statistical data, cause-effect reasoning, results of scientific
experiments, comparison, interviews, etc. – see sample on back). Do not answer
this question with detailed quotes or paraphrases from the article!
5. Comment briefly
on the persuasiveness of the article by answering one or more of the following
questions.
· Is the
argument convincing? Does it rely on emotional, ethical, and/or logical
appeals?
· Are there
flaws in the reasoning of the argument? Does it rely on questionable
sources?
· Does
understanding the argument require knowledge of the historical or cultural
context in which it was written?
· How do the
style, organization, and/or tone contribute or detract from the persuasiveness
of the argument?
· What is
your personal reaction to the article?
6. Write a discussion
question to ask the class about the article. The best questions will
stimulate interesting discussion about the issues raised in the article. You
may also ask questions that “test” your classmates’ recall and understanding of
the article.
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