Critique Essay
Write a Critique of your selected article following the directions in Chapter 2 and in our class notes for determining the author’s purpose in writing the piece and for assessing the author’s success in achieving that purpose. The Critique should be no less than 3 full pages.
Particulars:
I. Select ONE of the following articles in Part II of our book:
a. “For Gay Marriage” Andrew Sullivan (pages 404-406)
b. “Against Gay Marriage” William J. Bennet (pages 409-411)
For a somewhat more challenging assignment, try writing a critique of one of the following articles:
c. “Disobedience as a Psychological and Moral Problem,” Erich Fromm (pages 683-687)
d. “‘Cinderella’: A Story of Sibling Rivalry and Oedipal Conflicts,” Bruno Bettelheim (pages 651-658)
II. Before writing your critique, consider our earlier readings of evaluating writing in Chapter 2 (Pay close attention to the green boxes in Chapter 2 and lecture notes etc.)
a. Examine the author’s use of information and persuasive strategies.
b. Review the logical fallacies and identify any of those in the selection you’ve chosen to critique.
c. Determine the effectiveness (or ineffectiveness) of the author’s use of tone, title, evidence,
logic, etc. (see notes)
III. Work out your ideas informally, perhaps producing a working outline. Then write a rough draft of your critique and move through the usual writing process of revision, editing and proofreading. (I have added a workshop worksheet to help touch on all aspects of the Critique in your self workshop.)
A suggested organization for your Critique:
I. Introduction (1 paragraph)
II. Summary (1-2 paragraphs)
III. Critique (the meat of the paper—at least 4-7 paragraphs) Remember that this section is focused on how well the author presented his/her argument, NOT on your opinion about the topic itself—review logos, ethos, and pathos, use of evidence, tone, title, etc.
IV. Conclusion/Response (1-2 paragraphs) Here you can add your opinions regarding the topic (how you feel about the author’s opinion etc.).
Remember, again: Make sure to summarize the article objectively first, then analyze the articles purpose, logic, use of evidence, tone, etc., and lastly, respond to the subject. The analysis of the effectiveness or ineffectiveness/strengths and weaknesses of the article should be the meat of the paper (the response can act as a conclusion here). As usual, please use MLA for formatting and doc
write about:
c. “Disobedience as a Psychological and Moral Problem,” Erich Fromm (pages 683-687) The name of our book is Writing and Reading Across the Curriculum (ELEVENTH EDITION) By Laurence Behrens and Leonard J. Rosen