Critical AnalysisCritical Analysis
Key ideas to rememberKey ideas to remember
What's the Point?What's the Point?
•Here are some questions you can askyourself to help you analyze:
•So what?
•How is this significant?
•Why is this important?
•What do you see beyond the text?
AssumptionsAssumptions
•. In order to figure out what your audience mayneed, you have to make assumptions about whothey are and what they need.
For example, if you are arguing for the creationof laws against texting while driving, you mightmake the following assumptions about yourreader:
•The reader knows what texting is.
•The audience can see that it might be dangerous.
•Sometimes, however, it is dangerousto make an assumption
Ask yourself the following questions to helpuncover some of your assumptions.Ask yourself the following questions to helpuncover some of your assumptions.
•Think about whether these assumptions might beinappropriate ones about gender, race, class, or age.
•How might these relate to your topic?
•Would the outcome be different if you had a differentperspective, such as the opposite gender?
•Does society have a different assumption of thesecategories? How might that impact your paper?
•It is not just important to think about the assumptions youmake based on audience. You also want to think aboutwhy you have assumptions about certain topics.
•Why do you feel as you do about the topic you are writingon?
•Is there a reason why you do not accept the facts orstatistics someone else may present on this topic?
•Do any stereotypes or beliefs shape your feelings on thesubject?
Pulling the Pieces ApartPulling the Pieces Apart
•Remember that each piece of information is part of the puzzle. Itis important to carefully revisit each piece because there might besomething you did not see at first glance.
•Here are some questions to ask yourself when revising yourinformation:
•Do you notice any trends or similarities between an event thatyou are looking at and another in history?
•Do you notice any similarities or differences between your beliefand someone else’s?
•How does this trend positively or negatively affect our society?
•Do you notice any differences that might be significant orimportant?
Caution! Things to WatchOut forCaution! Things to WatchOut for
•Getting off topic
•Sometimes when we write, we can get offtopic. You want to avoid this by checking thatwhat you are saying applies to your main point.
•Not being credible
•When venturing outside of our comfort zone,sometimes we fail to do the proper amount ofresearch necessary to be crediblewriters. Always make sure that you explore asmany views and ideas as possible and collect asmuch relevant research on your subject as youcan.
•Generalizing
•Generalizations or stereotypes make broad categorizingstatements that cannot be applied to all individuals.
•Jumping to conclusions
•Sometimes we make connections between subjects andideas that are not there or do not add up. Make sure youare always giving the reader the information that he or shewill need to reach a specific conclusion.
•Skimming the surface
•It is easy to forget to look deeper into a topic or idea. Wecan even forget to analyze our research. When you write,you always want to ask yourself, “What’s the point?” andtry to pull apart the pieces of what you’ve read. Youwant to make connections and bring in new views to thetopic you are writing about.
•Asking too many questions
•Asking too many questions can lead to not enough answers. You do notwant to ask a question that is irrelevant to your topic, or one that issimply taking up space because you answer it in the next sentence of yourpaper.
•Emotional Appeals
•Emotional appeals are usually inappropriate in an argument. While it istempting to appeal to the emotions of your reader, this is not a logical wayto approach a topic. If you find yourself including statements that aredesigned to cause the reader to feel sympathy or anger, or any otheremotion, you may be leading them away from the main point you want toprove.
•Attacking others
•This usually applies to an argument. Sometimes writers make the mistakeof attacking an individual or his or her reputation instead of looking at theargument. When you are writing about another person’s beliefs and/orideology, always make sure you focus on the points, not the individual.