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Text Analysis Assignment Description

Background: As members of a consumer culture, we perform analysis every day – we consider the messages directed toward us, and we evaluate how well or how poorly those messages achieve their purposes. We are especially adept at analyzing advertisements, and it’s no wonder: people are often trying to sell us something, and that process is a type of argument we’re very comfortable analyzing. We are skilled at determining an ad’s target audience and whether it works well or fails to interest us.

For some reason, though, we often find the analysis of text-based arguments intimidating. The important thing to remember is that an argument is fundamentally an advertisement: the author, like a company, is trying to sell you something by employing a variety of methods he thinks you, his audience, will find appealing and convincing. The company is trying to sell you a product or a service; the author is trying to sell you an idea.

When you write a text analysis, you’re making an argument about how well an author achieves his or her purpose, how well the author “sells” an idea to a target audience. The techniques authors of written texts use may be different from those employed by advertisers, but the principles are the same: authors are trying to achieve a purpose and transmit a message to a particular audience by employing a range of rhetorical techniques or tactics. The ability to understand and analyze the success of an author’s techniques is a key skill not only in college classrooms but also in everyday life.

The Task:

Find yet another piece that relates to media-related controversies in our culture, then craft a three- to four-page analytical essay that evaluates the effectiveness of your chosen author. Ultimately, to form your thesis statement, answer this question: Is this a successful piece of writing? Why or why not? To brainstorm, think about the three components of analysis:

1. What’s this author trying to do? What is his or her goal or purpose?

2. What techniques does the author try to use to achieve that goal?

3. Do these techniques work or not, given the author’s rhetorical situation?

You’ll quote, cite, and explain specific evidence from the article to support your analysis.

IN ADDITION, you must incorporate material from at least one outside source – a reliable, academic one – to confirm or refute a claim, fact, or suggestion made by the original author.

Hot tip: An editorial would work best for this assignment. Unless you really love statistics and picking apart someone else’s scientific method, data-based academic research can be a challenge to analyze.

Stick with MLA formatting for both your essay and your citations.

Text Analysis Grading Rubric

These criteria are not necessarily equal in weight, and the overall assessment is not the sum of the individual marks.

Criteria	Stage of Development
Text Analysis should…	Early	Middle	Late
introduce and summarize the text being analyzed
provide an effective overall beginning
present a clear, specific analysis of the text’s overall success (thesis statement)
effectively and accurately incorporate evidence from the text to support the thesis
incorporate evidence from at least one reliable, academic outside source to confirm or refute
demonstrate logical reasoning
be clear and easy to understand
be logically organized
reflect mastery of standard English
flow well from one point to the next
exhibit writer’s awareness of text’s rhetorical situation
exhibit your awareness of your own rhetorical situation
Your audience is clearly addressed
Your tone and style are appropriate
Your purpose is clear
conclude in a satisfactory way
accurately apply MLA standards to in-text and end-of-work citations as well as overall document formatting

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