Examples Of Critical Analysis Essay

A critical analysis essay is an overall assessment of the author’s effectiveness in conveying his or her purpose. (Wilhoit 95) There are several different aspects of critique writing: analysis, evaluation, and explanation. The analysis requires you to break down the reading into essential parts, evaluation requires you to assess the quality of those various parts, and the explanation should link your judgments to specific aspects of the readings and make those connections clear and convincing to your reader. (97) Such writing requires you to know the criteria or certain expected aspects of a reading (such as thesis, support, genre, or style), and to use standards which are the basis for evaluating. (95) To do so, use your textbooks, especially Dialogues to remind you of what a good argument must include (Ch 1-2).

Assignment:

You will be required to write a one to two page paper critical analysis on an argumentative article. You will be able to choose any article from the thematic readings in Dialogues. You will need to: identify a principle or definition relating to argument (See Ch. 1 & 2 of Writing Arguments), ask a question

Effective Arguments are based on logical facts rather than mere emotion.

Question: Does the emotional appeal presented in this article invalidate its argument?

Answer: If effective arguments are based on logical facts rather than mere emotion, the article must use facts to support its emotive claims.

You will go into specifics by identify the claim or argument, stance the author is taking (pro or con), and support the author provides. You will need to establish a principle or standard of what is an effective argument. You will then evaluate each part as to whether or not it effectively conveys the argument. Lastly you will need to make an overall assessment of the writing. Is the author successful in creating a strong, logic based argument? This is the main question you must answer to be successful in this assignment.