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The final project for this course draws on all the skills you’ve worked on this semester, including observation, word precision, awareness of facts and inferences, understanding of opinion and assumptions, as well as skills we are working on now, such as: viewpoint and logical fallacies.
I would like you to analyze two opinion articles on a topic of your choice that take on different aspects of the issue (either proposing different solutions, focusing on different causes, or some other contrast). You will then analyze each article piece by piece and come to a final conclusion about the strengths and weaknesses of each argument. You do not have to pick a “winning” article; one may be stronger than the other, but it is just as likely that both will have weak points and positive aspects. You will need to describe those strengths and weaknesses you find. It’s perfectly fine and even helpful to choose articles that have weaknesses in them. Very strong articles are okay, too, but may be harder to analyze.
Here is a sample project that previously earned an “A”: Jenel’s Analysis for ENG 2 Sample
Here is the rubric that will be used to grade these analyses: Final Analysis Project ENG 2 rubric.pdf
Make sure the articles are: Arguments, not news reports
Relatively recent (published in the last 5 years). Long enough to be a complete argument, but not too long for you to analyze in depth (roughly between 6-15 pars). Shorter is actually often better for this project! Then there will be more problems and missing items for you to discuss in your analysis. It is often easier to analyze weaker articles!
They should be on the same topic, but the opinions MUST contrast with each other in some way
Keep in mind, unlike with your regular research, you don’t have to find the two strongest articles out there. In fact, it can be interesting to analyze a weak or incomplete article and point out the holes you find. I would like you to format this into 4 sections for your analysis, as outlined below. That means it won’t look like a traditional essay. Here’s how it should look instead: Final Analysis Project for English 2
Your Name: Part 1: Analysis of Article 1
A. THE ARTICLE: Provide a PDF or working link to the article
B. Viewpoint: Describe the viewpoint of the author, publisher, and/or organization. What political, economic, or social point of view is this argument starting from? Whose viewpoints are included and whose might be left out that are relevant to this topic? Does the author or publisher have any likely blind-spots on this issue? (Note: this is not the place to put the conclusion or message of the article, that should go in part C).
C. Overall message: State the argument’s overall message (AKA conclusion) using your own words or short quotes. (Note: this should be the article’s overall opinion, the message they are trying to persuade readers to believe or at least take seriously. It isn’t just whatever they end the article with). D. Reasons: List all the reasons given in the argument to support the conclusion (do this in your words or with short quotes. Bullet points are fine).
E. Author’s expertise: Describe the author’s qualifications and how they may or may not apply to this topic. What might be missing from his/her knowledge or background? How qualified do you find him/her to weigh in on this topic knowledgeably?
F. Evidence: Describe the author’s use of evidence in this argument. Identify what is used and evaluate to what extent it effectively supports the reasons provided for the conclusion of the essay. Things to consider: What types of evidence does the author provide (facts, statistics, personal experience, quotes and insights from experts, examples)? Is there a variety of types of evidence? How much evidence is provided? Are the sources of the evidence clear? Are they credible, recent, relevant? Is any of the information contradictory or false?
G. Wording: Are any central words in the argument ambiguous, misleading, or manipulative? Are key terms defined? (Provide and discuss specific examples to show keywords are or are not accurate and appropriate. Note: this isn’t asking how hard or easy this is to read. Instead, it is asking how accurately the writer describes their ideas. Are they vague? Are they specific? Where?). H. Fallacies: Does the argument contain any fallacies? If so, identify each fallacy and discuss each one with specific examples. If not, discuss how some of the reasoning is logical or avoids possible fallacies. I. Assumptions: What must the author believe in order for their argument to make sense? Does the author bring up those assumptions in any way? Do those assumption seem reasonable or questionable? J. Missing information: Is any essential or relevant information missing? (Checklist for you to use: missing definitions for key terms? missing reasons or conclusions? missing facts or citations for sources? missing perspectives, such as opposing views?) Part 2: Analysis of Article 2
A. THE ARTICLE: Provide a PDF or working link to the article
B. Viewpoint: Describe the viewpoint of the author, publisher, and/or organization. What political, economic, or social point of view is this argument starting from? Whose viewpoints are included and whose might be left out that are relevant to this topic? Does the author or publisher have any likely blind-spots on this issue? (Note: this is not the place to put the conclusion or message of the article, that should go in part C).
C. Overall message: State the argument’s overall message (AKA conclusion) using your own words or short quotes. (Note: this should be the article’s overall opinion, the message they are trying to persuade readers to believe or at least take seriously. It isn’t just whatever they end the article with). D. Reasons: List all the reasons given in the argument to support the conclusion (do this in your words or with short quotes. Bullet points are fine).
E. Author’s expertise: Describe the author’s qualifications and how they may or may not apply to this topic. What might be missing from his/her knowledge or background? How qualified do you find him/her to weigh in on this topic knowledgeably?
F. Evidence: Describe the author’s use of evidence in this argument. Identify what is used and evaluate to what extent it effectively supports the reasons provided for the conclusion of the essay. Things to consider: What types of evidence does the author provide (facts, statistics, personal experience, quotes and insights from experts, examples)? Is there a variety of types of evidence? How much evidence is provided? Are the sources of the evidence clear? Are they credible, recent, relevant? Is any of the information contradictory or false?
G. Wording: Are any central words in the argument ambiguous, misleading, or manipulative? Are key terms defined? (Provide and discuss specific examples to show keywords are or are not accurate and appropriate. Note: this isn’t asking how hard or easy this is to read. Instead, it is asking how accurately the writer describes their ideas. Are they vague? Are they specific? Where?). H. Fallacies: Does the argument contain any fallacies? If so, identify each fallacy and discuss each one with specific examples. If not, discuss how some of the reasoning is logical or avoids possible fallacies. I. Assumptions: What must the author believe in order for their argument to make sense? Does the author bring up those assumptions in any way? Do those assumption seem reasonable or questionable? J. Missing information: Is any essential or relevant information missing? (Checklist for you to use: missing definitions for key terms? missing reasons or conclusions? missing facts or citations for sources? missing perspectives, such as opposing views?) Part 3: Assessment of Arguments
Write an evaluation of the two arguments. How “strong” is each one? Be sure to define what a “strong” argument is in your assessment. What are their strengths and weaknesses? Is one stronger than the other, and if so, in what ways?
In this section, I would like you to try to judge the quality of the argument, not whether you find it personally persuasive. Let your analysis show that you are well-informed on this issue. This may require some research outside of reading just the two articles you are analyzing. This analysis should be at least 300 words and make use of specific details from the articles. Part 4: Reflection
What is your personal stance on this issue? After considering both of them, do you think they are right in part, or wholly, or wrong in part, wrong wholly? Are they overlooking or missing something important? Is there a way these two articles actually could work together or complement one another’s ideas, or are they too opposed? Finally , please reflect on the experience of trying to remain neutral while analyzing these two contrasting articles about it. To what extent do you think you were successful? What will “stick” with you from completing this project overall? Aim for 300 words. the two articles are right here 1 https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/columnist/2024/03/30/alabama-dei-bill-republican-ignore-american-history/73098502007/
2 https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/columnist/2024/04/08/dei-ban-texas-colleges-workplace-focus-merit/73221580007/