Subject What was it about? Occasion What happened? Intended/target audience Who was this written for? Authors purpose What does he/she want you the reader to do? Speaker Who wrote this? What qualifies them to write this? Summary all the main points and nothing more Critique all the main points and your opinion how good or bad a job the writer did Fallacies unsupported claims made to persuade people, usually by manipulating their emotions by causing things like fear, pity, anger, guilt, etc. Bias showing favor toward one side of an issue or argument while being against the other Cultural views the way a group of people traditionally feel about a topic/issue Logical evidence evidence based on argument facts, statistics Empirical Evidence evidence based on observation Anecdotal evidence evidence based on what happened to you Cause and Effect One event causes another to happen Problem Solution the text cites problems and suggests solutions Compare/contrast the text discusses how two or more things are alike and different Chronological order the text is in time order Description/spatial the text describes how things look, feel, smell, taste, sound Procedural the text is organized in a how-to, step- by-step order Syntax the organization, pattern, and/or placement of sentences to achieve a desired purpose Diction deliberately choosing words that the author knows will affect the reader, usually emotionally
1. What is the subject of this text? 2. What is the occasion? What happened that made the writer write this work? 3. What is the intended audience? How do you know? 4. What is the authors purpose in this selection? 5. Who is the speaker? What do we know about him/her? 6. What was the writers tone? Was it appropriate or inappropriate for his attended audience? 7. What type of support does the writer use? logical, empirical, anecdotal? 8. Does the writer use any bias or fallacies or attempt to appeal to or manipulate the readers emotions in any way? Explain what the writer has done? 9. Does the text/media represent a cultural view on the topic? If so what is it? 10. How is the essay mostly organized? Cause and effect? Problem-solution? Compare-Contrast? Chronological/Sequential order? Description? Narrative A combination of two or three? If so which? 11. Based on the authors tone in the text, how, can we infer he feels about the topic? Support your inference with one example of support. Answer this question in Short Answer format. 12. Which quotation from the text best summarizes the authors view on the essays topic? 13. What is the main/controlling idea in the passage? 14. Write a summary of the text. 15. Include a one-paragraph critique of at least 3 of the following: the authors quality of word choice, usage of figurative language, tone to manipulate the readers emotions, ability to connect with his intended audience, usage of support.