Critical Analysis of Public Historical Documents

Prepared by Dr. Amani Wazwaz

Draft of Critical Analysis of Public Document

(Revised Draft will contain between 600 to 900 Minimum Words)

Directions :

Now that you have gathered the notes, please read and reread them carefully. Think of ways you can best create a (practice) essay so you can address the following questions in the best way possible.

Are there gaps in the public histories?

Do the public histories ignore or dismiss important emotions and lived experiences?

Are there glaring gaps in the historical retelling?

How would the families affected tell their own stories?

Thinking of an Organizational Plan :

How do you plan to structure your essay?

Perhaps you can begin by thinking about how you can draw your reader to the humanity and humans involved in the historical event. The more you stress the human suffering, the more you capture your readers’ attentions. The human must be present in the story. If you have another plan, please feel free to follow your individual writing preference.

Maybe you can then bridge into declaring if the public historical retelling has been fair or not.

Then, you may consider bringing up evidence to support your argument.

For example, you can concentrate on one specific point in the public document that is especially unfair. You can compare and contrast it to (what you perceive to be a more objective) retelling. You may take into consideration how family members or anyone involved would react to such historical retelling.

In your next paragraph, you can talk about another possible glaring gap in the public document. Once again, you can compare and contrast it to (what you perceive to be a more objective) retelling. You may take into consideration how family members or anyone involved would react to such historical retelling.

Keep adding paragraphs until you feel you have made your point.

If the public history is fair, please follow the same format where you point to several examples showing the fairness of the report.

Strong Argument, Writer’s Voice, Transitions, and MLA Works Cited Page and In Text Citations

At all times, make sure your reader hears your voice and knows exactly your point of view.

Please, by all means, avoid the very predictable and overused three point, five body paragraph. Feel free to split paragraphs when they run too long, but make sure each has a central focus.

All paragraphs must be transitioned well.

Make sure you accurately document your sources using correct MLA citation. The essay must have an accurate works cited page and in text citations must be accurately used at all times.

Please note: Even if this is a draft, aim to do your best on it.

Materials in this class are subject to copyright law and are for class purposes and personal study and should not be distributed or displayed outside of class.