've included two files. The article I am to be analyzing is by Author Anastasia Toufexis called "Love: The Right Chemistry" Note this assignment is supposed to be the rough draft. Needs to be 750-850 words plus a works cited page. Here is a link to Toufexis' article: http://rvannoy.asp.radford.edu/rvn/306/lovechemistry.pdf
Thesis and forecast statement for an essay about an article The thesis is the driver of the essay. Consider the thesis as your conclusion – you have read and thought about your topic and have come to some understanding about it. The thesis shapes your conclusion and then you have to develop and support it to demonstrate to your readers how and why you came to that conclusion. The forecast statement of key supporting ideas and reasons provides the map for you and your reader to follow. Since your reader has not read the article, you have to be discriminating about not only what information and comments you choose but also what you choose to share from the article to support your points. The source must be accurately represented -- their ideas, reasons, and evidence -- so that your readers can follow you to the conclusion – both the author’s and yours. The thesis will never be the first sentence of the essay. The introduction must set the stage for your thesis/conclusion. Show your topic in action, demonstrate that this vivid example represents a wide swath of the population by using statistics. Then tell your reader what to think about these examples by building to the thesis. Note how the articles introduce their topics. A thesis is not just a topic. Introversion is a topic. Your point about it offers a thesis: Introversion provides surprising characteristics that enable individuals to thrive. A forecast statement would include key supporting points that continue the sentence: Introversion provides surprising and valuable characteristics that enable individuals to thrive as students, as employees, and as leaders. Paragraphs (and essays) must start with your comments about the topic (topic sentence) and its key supporting ideas. Avoid even referring to the author or article in the first sentences (or last sentence in a paragraph) to stay focused on your points about the topics. For the above example, the first body paragraph would provide a topic sentence indicating how introversion enables students to thrive. An essay’s title must forecast the thesis about the topic. English 101 English 101: Composition Essay #1: A Rhetorical Analysis 750-850 words plus a works cited page Throughout your college career, you will sometimes be asked to analyze published texts. Analyzing a text is rather like opening up a machine to see how it works. If we were to look inside a clock, for example, we’d see how the gears and mechanisms fit together in order to make a functioning whole. Analyzing texts uses a similar process. When analyzing a text, we figure out how authors use language, sometimes sentence by sentence, in order to understand the overall impact of their piece of writing, their arguments, reasons, and supporting evidence. For this assignment, you will choose an article from our text St Martin’s Guide to Writing 11th edition. It does not have to be an article that I assigned; cruise the table of contents and choose one that speaks to you. Chapters 2 through 9 each have a section labeled Readings, which lists the articles. Do not choose a short story from chapter 10. The type of analysis you’ll be writing is called a “rhetorical analysis.” Simply stated, a rhetorical analysis makes a claim about the overall argument, the article’s topic, based on the author’s use of language, reasons, evidence, etc. Choose an article that you find interesting and informative. Do not use the assignment to vent against an author’s position. Do not fault an article for what it did not include, as that reflects your expectations rather than the article’s scope. The Close Reading Rubric has helped prepare you to look at an article closely. Complete a rubric for your chosen article and post with the draft. Essentially, you will explain WHAT the article examines, WHY (reasons and evidence), and HOW the author builds the case for the discussion (writing strategies), providing your comments along the way about all three factors and observing how the topics play out in your world. Most of you did this in the Reading Responses. After you write the draft, highlight all comments, quotes, and such from the article. What you highlighted should not be more than half the essay. The point is to discuss the topics and strategies you read. Afterall, it is your essay. The essay will include five parts: 1. Introduction: Begin by dramatizing the issue (see sample). Note how the articles do this. And then include a 2-3 sentence summary of the main ideas of the author’s argument, a one-sentence summary. Identify the author and title. Make sure to identify the author’s target audience. The editor’s introduction offers a clue. 2. Thesis: Include a thesis statement in your introductory paragraph. The thesis will make a claim about the author’s argument (do not pick an article that you think is ineffective or that you disagree with), given the topic and audience, rhetorical strategies, scope of development and organization, use of sources, and diction. Whether you liked the article or not is not a thesis. The thesis needs to include a forecast statement of the key points that will be examined in the essay. 3. Body: In your body paragraphs, start with a topic sentence addressing the next key point. Then examine the author’s scope of development and organization, use of sources (as applicable), and diction and how they contributed to the overall impact of the article’s argument. Cite the article for supporting evidence for your claims. Consider the essay as having a conversation with the author about the topic, the author’s perspectives, evidence, reasons, and strategies. Provide your own observations as well. Review handout on writing effective paragraphs, especially topic sentences. See text page 146-7 for addressing the author’s comments. Always begin and end a paragraph with your comments. 4. Conclusion: In your conclusion, discuss whether or not you’re a member of the author’s target audience and how your role within or outside of it affected your reading of the work. An effective closing tends to echo something from the opening paragraph. 5. MLA Citations: Finally, every quote, summary, or paraphrase from the text must be followed by an in-text citation. The in-text citation will be the page number in parenthesis, followed by a period (if at the end of a sentence). For example, if I were to use a quote that appeared on page 84, after the quote, I would use the in-text citation (84). At the end of the essay, you will include a Work Cited entry. Here is the format: Author’s last name, First name. “Title of Essay.” Title of Book, edition. Editor First name Last name. City of publication: Publisher, year published. Pages the essay appeared on. Cain, Susan. “Shyness: Evolutionary Tactic?” St. Martin’s Guide to Writing 11th ed. Eds. Rise B. Axelrod and Charles R. Cooper. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2016. 141-144. Print. Rhetorical strategies 1. The issueWhat is the dispute? Problem? Concern? 2. The claimIs the claim stated or implied? Is it a claim of fact, value, or policy? Does the author give reasons for making the claim? 3. The supportWhat facts, statistics, expert opinions, examples, and personal experiences are presented? Are appeals made to needs, values, or both? 4. The writer’s purposeWhy does the author want to convince readers to accept the claim? What if anything does the author stand to gain if the claim is accepted? 5. The intended audienceWhere is the essay published? To whom do the reasons, evidence, emotional appeals, examples, and comparisons seem targeted? 6. Definitions of key termsAre any key terms/concepts in the claim clearly defined, especially terms that have ambiguous meanings? 7. The writer’s credibilityIs the author qualified, fair, and knowledgeable? Does the author establish common ground with readers? 8. The strength of the argument: (reasons and evidence)Does the author supply several reasons to back up the claim? Is the evidence relevant, accurate, current, and typical? Are the authorities cited reliable experts? Are fallacies or unfair emotional appeals used? 9. Opposing viewpointsDoes the author address opposing viewpoints clearly and completely, without using fallacies? Does the author acknowledge, accommodate, or refute opposing viewpoints with logic and relevant evidence? Writing Effective Paragraphs A paragraph should be unified, coherent, and well developed. Paragraphs are unified around a main point, and all sentences in the paragraph should clearly relate to that point in some way. The paragraph's main idea should be supported with specific information that develops or discusses the main idea in greater detail. Creating a Topic Sentence The topic sentence expresses the main point in a paragraph. You may create your topic sentence by considering the details or examples you will discuss. What unifies these examples? What do your examples have in common? Reach a conclusion and write that "conclusion" first. If it helps, think of writing backwards--from generalization to support instead of from examples to a conclusion. If you know what you main point will be, write it as clearly as possible. Then, focus on key words in your topic sentence and try to explain them more fully. Keep asking yourself "How?" or "Why?" or "What examples can I provide to convince a reader?". After you have added your supporting information, review the topic sentence to see if it still indicates the direction of your writing. Purposes of Topic Sentences · To state the main point of a paragraph · To give the reader a sense of direction (indicate what information will follow) · To summarize the paragraph's main point Placement of Topic Sentences · Often appear as the first or second sentences of a paragraph · Rarely appear at the end of the paragraph Supporting a Topic Sentence with Details: To support a topic sentence, consider some of the possible ways that provide details. To develop a paragraph, use one or more of these: · Add examples · Tell a story that illustrates the point you're making · Discuss a process · Compare and contrast · Use analogies (eg., "X is similar to Y because. . . ") · Discuss cause and effect · Define your terms Reasons for beginning a new paragraph · To show you're switching to a new idea · To highlight an important point by putting it at the beginning or end of your paragraph · To show a change in time or place · To emphasize a contrast · To indicate changing speakers in a dialogue · To give readers an opportunity to pause · To break up a dense text Ways of Arranging Information Within or Between Paragraphs · Order of time (chronology) ·