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Hi. I'm Sid Dobrin. In this video I'll be talking about the Essay assignment that asks
students to analyze a text. Now, at first glance, this assignment seems
fairly basic: identify a text, read it, analyze it. In fact, this assignment seems pretty
typical of the kinds of assignments we often give first-year students in order to provide
lots of flexibility. But, part of the problem with an assignment like this is that the flexibility
we think we're providing actually hampers students' ability to respond to the assignment
because students need more direction than this.
Thus, I like to think of this assignment as an assignment for the teacher first and the
student second. What I mean is that in order to assign this prompt, we need to fill in
some of the gaps for students and to suit the needs of our individual curricula. So,
let's take a look at the assignment and think about where those gaps are.
First, the assignment asks students to select a text. Consider setting some parameters for
this selection. This is a good opportunity to use the assignment to support other specific
classroom objectives. . 1. For example, if the class takes a themed
approach, I would limit the text students can select to fit within that theme.
2. Sometimes I limit the text selection to readings I require students to read for class
discussion. Doing so helps students prepare for those discussions by providing them with
the opportunity to engage the text in greater depth than a cursory reading might provide.
3. It's also convenient to simply limit the possibility of readings to those selections
found in the anthology chapters of Writing Situations.
4. And, of course, it can be useful to limit by other course objectives like genre types,
topics, sources, etc. Once students understand the parameters for
selecting texts to analyze, I spend time focusing on the second part of the assignment: the
analysis. Now, the assignment specifically says students should conduct content AND rhetorical
analysis. I decided to design this assignment this way so that students would get some practice
using both of the primary analytical approaches they en- counter in Chapter 12. Thus, it makes
sense to spend some time talking with students about how they might conduct both types of
analysis and, importantly, how they can then synthesize those approaches in their response
to the assignment. That is, encourage students to avoid writing responses that take the form
of two parts: one part providing content analysis and one part providing rhetorical analysis.
I like to help students see how these two forms of analysis can inform one another and
how that synthesis can lead to a more cohesive response.
Of course, the third part of this assignment asks students to write a response. Yet, the
assignment provides absolutely no context in which they should situate this essay. Again,
I have done this intentionally to allow you to frame the situation of the assignment as
best serves your pedagogical needs. So, be sure to provide students with some situational
framework. To that end, as well, work with students to first understand the situation
in which they are to write their responses. This is a great opportunity to use the Map
your Situation feature in the chapter to guide students through the process of understanding
their writing situations. Once students understand the importance of
the situation in which they are responding, I sug- gest addressing how students will develop
strong theses for their writing. Students may have a difficult time connecting the need
for a thesis with the idea of analysis. That is, they are likely to provide the analysis
for the sake of providing analysis (as the assignment might be interpreted) rather than
in support of any claim they choose to make about the texts they analyze. That being the
case, I'd recommend talking with students about the importance of using their situational
analysis and their analysis of the text to develop a strong thesis. This is also a great
opportunity to look at the Road to a Strong Thesis feature in Chapter 12.
Once students have a handle on the situation, the analysis, and the thesis as they think
through this assignment, talk with them about their writing strategies ranging from drafting
to revision to circulation. That is, I don't want to just tell my students to go write
a response to the assignment; I want to help them initiate their invention processes and
remind them of key things they'll want to think about as they write and revise—just
as I've done in this video with the notes to help you remember key points.
Finally, it's important to talk with students about how you will assess their responses.
Make sure that they understand not only the value of the response in the overall course
grading scheme, but that they understand specifically what you'll be looking for when reading their
responses. Let's take a moment to think about some key points from the grading rubric.
Given the focus of the assignment on providing analytical information, the rubric section
regarding Critical Thinking, Reading, and Writing is an area I like to focus on with
students. This part of the rubric focuses on how students conduct analysis and how they
articulate that analysis. It's also a good idea, in fact, to talk about the situational
understanding segment of the rubric in order to emphasize the use of terms, framing questions,
synthesis, degree of summary, focus, and organization in the students' analysis.
So, that's a little bit more about the narrative Essay project. Thanks for using Writing Situations
and thanks for watching.