Book Report – Analysis and Critique: How to engage and write about anything.
Begin: 12/12/2023
Finish: 12/16/2023
Title: Analysis and Critique: How to engage and write about anything.
Author: Professor Dorsey Armstrong
Purdue University
Why I chose to read this book:
Self help book to improve my writing, reading and critical thinking skills. It will help me become a better writer.
What I learned from this book:
Writing is a powerful way for us to share our thoughts and ideas. Even in the computer age, we still express ourselves in writing almost everyday. But all writing – whether it’s an essay, a personal letter, or a business report, is at its most effective and memorable when it’s built on the fundamental critical and analytical skills that transform our words from good to great.
Regardless of your subject, your goal, or the occasion. The purpose of this course is to be more engaging and effective writing. One of the keys to effective writing is understanding literary genres and ways their unique styles and characteristics can shape and inform your own voice. This course guides you through five major literary genres: fiction, essay, poetry, drama, and autobiography.
It will then shift the focus to the art of rhetoric and the ways it can help to adapt your writing to a variety of different situations. Some of the most applicable rhetorical concepts include: deductive reasoning, commonplaces, and pathos. Your increase awareness of classical rhetoric will go a long way to help you become a stronger writer, by calling your attention to the basic of compelling analytical writing.
Writing – the course is a step-by-step guide through the writing process that provides answer to frequently asked questions about each of the writing’s four major stages: researching, writing a first draft, editing and rewriting. The ultimate is to be able to write about practically anything. The book guide you through the following topics:
- How to write about anything.
- How to be an effective reader.
- How literature can help.
- Shaping your voice.
- Knowing your reader.
- The art of essay – how to start.
- How to organize an argument.
- Supporting your argument.
- Finishing strong.
- The use of poetry.
- Poetic diction and syntax.
- Drama – writing out loud.
- What you can learn about autobiography.
- Writing and leadership.
- The rules of rhetoric.
- Invention and arrangement.
- Ethos and pathos.
- Finding what you need.
- Using what you find.
- Getting started – writing the first drafts.
- Editing – finding what’s wrong.
- Rewriting – fixing the wrong.
- Avoiding common errors in grammar and usage.
- The power of words.
How will this book contribute to my success upon release:
This book will help me improve my writing, analytical skills, critical thinking skills and awareness. These are important skills for integration into the communities. These skill will also be taught to those communities where I volunteer my services.
