Textual Analysis

Your Text analysis assignment is an analysis of a current philosophy of education issue . The selected text must have been constructed within the past year. The assignment requires that you make links between your chosen text, concepts, videos, and readings from the course. The purpose of the exercise is to help you to critically examine the way how text inscribe meanings that influence how we conduct education in this country. You may do this paper with a partner.

GUIDELINES

All papers must be typed and should be between 3 to 5 pages long.

Use the handout on Text Analysis while working to make sure all criteria are met. If you work with a partner, only one paper is required. The grade the paper achieves will be assigned to both students.

The format for the paper should be analytic, interpretive, and normative – do not mix up the order of the three perspectives. These perspectives must be clearly delineated in your paper in order to ensure full credit.

It is essential that you remember that this is an analysis and not a report. As such, your goal is to analyze the text not “re-describe” it. Remember ! This is not a book report or a “text” description.

Restrict your analysis to a few themes of the text (preferably the main theme), focus on how the argument was constructed and how the text informs education in contemporary society. Utilize course concepts, videos, written texts, quotes, paraphrases, readings, discussion, etc. to help ground your ideas. Failure to do so will result in a weak , one-sided paper.

If you work with a partner, note where you disagree (on what and why). Not everyone shares the same position.

Refer to the "Worksheet on Reading Texts" handout below for explicit questions to guide you in the text analysis.

Worksheet For Reading Text

To really “read” a text, as opposed to just decoding it, requires the reader to construct meaning from the text. To help you in this process, you should attempt to answer at least the following questions for each text?

ANALYTIC READING

1. What is the major argument (conclusions) presented in the text?

a. What is the author/speaker trying to convince you?

2. What is the evidence presented to support that claim (Premise)?

3. Is the argument implicit or explicit ?

4. Is it an empirical (facts, statistics, etc.), analytical (concepts and definitions) or normative (making a moral claim) argument?

5. What type of reasoning does the author employ (inductive or deductive)?

6. How is the argument presented, i.e. what rhetorical devices are used to make the argument (narrative, metaphors, visual imagery, imagery, ideographs, euphemisms, rhetorical questions, labels, etc.)?

7. Are you able to detect any fallacies in the argument?

INTERPRETIVE READING

1. When was the text made?

2. What was going on around that time that might have influenced the writing of this text or the way audiences interpreted it?

3. What might those who read this text when it was first written or released understood the text to have meant?

4. Or for the case of a recent text, how might this text have been interpreted had it been written 10 or twenty years ago? (You can select whatever time frame you like).

5. What cultural, social, political events might have influenced the production and the reading of this text?

6. What important information was not mentioned/included in this text?

7. Can you place this text within a discourse? Which one ?

8. What concepts from this course are used in the text?

9. How can you use concepts from this course to bring meaning to this text ?

10. What popular myths are drawn upon to bring meaning to this text?

NORMATIVE READING

1. What values (moral, political, etc. ) does the author raise in this text?

2. What values do you bring to the text as the reader?

3. What can you say about the values of the author ?

4. What can you say about the ideology of the author?

5. Whose interests are served by this text?

6. Does it serve the status quo or t ransformation ?

7. Who is being empowered by this text?

8. Can this be read as a hegemonic or a counter-hegemonic text ?