ACE Class Report: Analysis and Critique: How to engage and write about anything.
Begin: 12/12/2023
Finish: 12/17/2023
Title: Analysis and Critique: How to engage and write about anything. Part 1.
Instructor: Professor Dorsey Armstrong
Purdue University
Why I chose to take this class:
This class will help me improve my writing, reading, analytical and critical thinking skills. It will help me be a better writer.
What I learned from this class:
Explore several strategies that will help you learn to read and think critically by examining works from major genres of writing. Also learn to use the reading methods and critical thinking skills developed through the study of these genres to write more effectively. Writing is not just words on a page, good writing invites interaction.
How to be an effective reader:
Almost anything can be read or interpreted insightfully, from literature to directions to places. Precritical response after reading and analyzing a piece or writing. About how you feel about the writing from insightful reading you recognize powerful, clever nuanced moments in a variety of text as a reader. You’ll be able to work these into your own writing.
How literature can help:
It is possible that your audience has only the time to read your writing once, so you have to make that one time count. One basic of engaging writing is to understand the genre or the type of writing. It will help you pay attention to the expectation of your audience.
Shaping your voice:
As a writer, you will need to know for whom you’re writing and what it is that you’re trying to convey. Choosing a certain kind of diction or sentence style contribute to the voice of a piece of writing. How just a few words or a certain arrangement can create certain expectations in your reader.
Know your reader:
One of the most important factors in good writing is the writer’s understanding of what information to convey to your audience. You have to know what you want to say, how to say it and why you want to say it. The main lesson is when you write, you construct not only a persona, but you also construct an audience.
The art of essay – How to start:
You want to make your opening as effective and engaging as possible so that people will keep reading. Don’t start with a bland and vague, you got to persuade your reader early on that at the very least, it is worth to keep reading. Balance specific description of the situation with explanation of its importance. Avoid general or universal claims. Gauge the effectiveness of your opening by using the “What? / So What?” litmus test.
How to Organize an argument:
A perfectly acceptable way to organize an argument is the basic five- paragraph model. The first paragraph state you main claim: paragraph two, three and tour (or however many you need) offer supporting points for the ideal, and the final paragraph reiterates your main claim. establish your key terms of your argument as early as possible and then return to and expand on those ideas throughout the piece. A sequence or series, like all devices, has to be used with restrain. If you do it too many sequences, you might be writing a grocery list.
Supporting your argument:
It’s true that association, speculation, and the appearance of correlation can actually have a really persuasive effect on an audience. Nearly all forms of advertising and marketing rely in some way on the willingness of people to be persuaded by claims and arguments based on speculation and association. The key strategies are:
- Evidence does not explain itself. You have to show readers how and why your proof is relevant to your argument.
- Provide a direct link between your evidence and your conclusion.
- Use of concessions to support an argument, rather than undermining and argument, concession can actually strengthen it.
Finishing Strong:
An effective conclusion should include some sort of recapping of the main ideas that structure your argument. Stating something as an explanation of the ultimate consequences doesn’t put your reader in as defensive position. Conclusion can go beyond a basic summary and use: negative consequences, no viable alternatives , and positive consequences.
The Uses of Poetry:
Poetry help us recognize skillful treatment of language and making more dramatic choices in our style and diction.
Poetic Diction and Syntax:
Poetry can be a good teacher when it come to understanding syntax as well as word choices. Syntax or the grammatical ordering of a sentence so that it makes sense.
Drama – Writing Out Loud:
Know your audience. Make sure you’re not talking down to or over your audience, and try to be appropriate, but most important be sincere.
How will this class contribute to my success upon release:
This class helped me improved my reading, writing, analytical and critical thinking skills. I will apply the knowledge acquired into my daily journals. Upon my release, I will use the skills learnt to teach others how to improve their reading and writing when I volunteer my teaching, mentoring and tutoring services.
