Writing and research

A critical (or rhetorical) analysis essay evaluates another piece of writing. It uses critical thinking to assess
the strengths and/or weaknesses of a text and tells the readers how well or how poorly the original writer
communicated their points. Whether you agree with the piece or not is irrelevant. For this type of essay,
just focus on evaluating the writer’s style and effectiveness.
When you write an analysis essay, you evaluate the writing not the original topic. If the original essay was
about black holes, then your paper is not about black holes. Instead, your paper is about how well the
author discusses the topic of black holes. To reiterate, you are writing about a piece of writing, not the
topic that it addressed.
Guidelines for the first draft
1 Choose a text to analyze from the options below. PDFs are available on Blackboard.
Amenabar, T., & Steckelberg, A. (2022, September 21). Have you been taking pills wrong?
Here’s what science says.
Oremus, W., & Zakrzewski, C. (2022, September 21). Florida brings battle over social media
regulation to the Supreme Court.
Writing and Research
Dr. Kate Myers
2 Type a 1,000-1,500-word analysis essay according to these guidelines:
a. Introduction: a four-sentence Rhetorical Précis (summary) that includes the following
i. Sentence one:
1. the name of author,
2. a phrase about the author to establish credibility & authority,
3. the genre (argument, explanation, etc.),
4. title of text you are analyzing,
5. a rhetorically accurate verb (such as “asserts,” “argues,” “suggests,”
“implies,” “claims,” etc.), and
6. a THAT clause leading to the major assertion (thesis) of the work.
ii. Sentence two:
1. an explanation of how the author develops and/or supports the thesis,
usually in chronological order.
iii. Sentence three:
1. a statement of the author’s apparent purpose followed by and “in order”
phrase.
iv. Sentence four:
1. a description of the intended audience and the relationship the author
establishes with the audience.
b. Body Paragraph #1:
i. Topic sentence/transition:
1. (author’s last name) begins with/by… and makes your claim about what
strategy you see working address the purpose/prompt (see strategies
table below).
ii. Specific example to support your idea:
1. provide EXPLICIT textual support woven into your comments to support
your claim,
2. thoroughly discuss all strategies used in the beginning section,
supporting with text,
3. discuss how examples supports your claim, and
4. connect the strategy back to your main claim/thesis/the purpose.
c. Body Paragraph #2:
i. Topic sentence/transition:
1. for example: “After… the author moves to…” “Building off the strategy
he/she used to begin, he/she …”
Writing and Research
Dr. Kate Myers
2. connect an idea from the last sentence of the previous paragraph to the
first sentence of this paragraph, showing how the strategies build upon
each other.
ii. Provide EXPLICIT textual support woven into your comments to support this
paragraph’s main claim.
iii. Thoroughly discuss all strategies used, supporting with text,
1. discuss how example supports your main idea, and
2. connect the strategy back to your main claim/thesis/ the purpose.
d. Body Paragraph 3:
i. Topic sentence/transition:
1. for example, “to close the essay, (author)…” “Concluding the argument
he/she …”
2. connect an idea from the last sentence of the previous paragraph to the
first sentence of this paragraph showing how the strategies build upon
each other
ii. Provide EXPLICIT textual support woven into your comments to support your
claim.
iii. Thoroughly discuss all strategies used, supporting with text
1. discuss how example supports your main idea, and
2. connect the strategy back to your main claim/thesis/ the purpose.
e. Conclusion
i. Assert your thesis in a way that digs deeper into the overall intended meaning of
the text than the one in the introductory paragraph (see tips for theses below).
ii. Don’t begin your conclusion paragraph with “In conclusion.”
iii. Include a closing thought related to the main purpose of the text being analyzed.