Critical response #1 – what should colleges teach?
Critical response #1 – what should colleges teach?
The Reading you will be using:
Name of article you will be using: “what should colleges teach part 3”
you will write a 850 – 1,000 word (heading and works cited page do not count as part of the word count) critical response to at least one of the texts we read in class.
This first essay ask you to practice skills you will need to use for the rest of the quarter. Imagine that one of your goals as a student is to read widely and to think critically about the arguments you encounter in books, on-line articles, opinion pieces, etc.. You may have read essays, plays, poems, stories, letters, and other genres before, but now you want to take the next steps toward a college level experience with critical approaches to ideas and issues in writing. Remember that everything is an argument, even the fiction, poems, and opinions we read in class.
This assignment asks you to read rhetorically and develop a strong response to ideas you identify in a text selected from the several we have read thus far. You’ll then use that response to draft a closed-form, thesis-based essay. You’ll support that essay with points that develop your argument (your argument for this essay is how you feel about the writing: is it good? Why or why not? Is the point of the story a good one? Etc) so readers understand how you arrived at your thesis. You will also present particulars from your selected essay that either support or contradict your thesis. Throughout the essay, you will document (use MLA formatted source citations) all information that originates from these outside sources. You will also produce a works-cited page that lists the text you chose to use in addition to one other text. Please try to use proper MLA format for this page. I want you to write this essay so that you can show your critical understanding of the readings, and your ability to show your thinking to readers.
Directions: Write a critical response essay that includes: (a) a short summary of an identified and selected text; (b) a strong response to the text (either in support or in opposition to its ideas) in which you respond with your own critical thinking, personal experience, other texts, and values. As you formulate your response, consider both the author’s rhetorical strategies and the author’s ideas. Think of your response as your analysis of how the text tries to influence its readers rhetorically and how your wrestling with the text has expanded and deepened your thinking. Additionally, if you feel it fruitful, you can use one of the other readings we did in class or one that you picked in order to elucidate your views on the primary text.
Your essay should (in other words, use the following as a checklist of things your essay should. Be doing):
–Summarize at least one of the texts we have read so far
–Analyze that text and Respond to it critically
–Provide a thesis statement (what do you think of the text?)
–Provide support for your thesis using personal experience
–Provide support for your thesis USING the primary text
–Organize paragraphs coherently
–Show awareness of rhetorical situation and rhetorically strategies
–Cite all sources using proper MLA citation style
–Format paper in proper MLA format
–Provide a properly cited works cited page.
Be sure that all documents:
- are typed;
- use 12 point font size;
- use Times New Roman font;
- are double-spaced;
- follow MLA style requirements for all other formatting issues (see the Purdue OWL for guidelines);
- have been spell-checked and edited for grammar and syntax problems;
- are properly uploaded as a WORD .doc or .docx or .pdf file (you can download Microsoft word for free by using your Bellevue College sign in at the Microsoft webpageLinks to an external site.).
(Assignments not uploaded as a WORD DOC or DOCX or PDF file will receive a zero and be ignored. In other words, absolutely no txt, zip, .pages, or other files are acceptable. If you need help formatting, come see me during office hours).
Your grade for this essay will depend on how well you addressed each issue above.
Resources for success:
Quoting, Paraphrasing, Summarizing sources:
- SummaryLinks to an external site. (See also: ParaphraseLinks to an external site. and Examples of summariesLinks to an external site.)
Help for analysis:
Thesis help: Thesis statement helpLinks to an external site.
MLA help:
This VideoLinks to an external site.walks you through MLA formatting
Writing Center information can be found hereLinks to an external site.
Some advice: When you write a response essay that uses a single source, you must be careful to balance the writer’s ideas with your own. Imagine yourself in partnership with the author, using his/her ideas and arguments as a base from which to launch your own. Overall, though, it is your voice that should dominate your draft. Your thesis and the points that support it should be based on your own opinions and written in your own words.
These were the comments I recieved on my rough draft. Please optimize the essay based on the advice on the comments.
“I appreciate the effort you put into writing your essay, but I wanted to provide some feedback on your summary and critical response. While your summary provides a basic overview of the primary text, it lacks detail and cohesion, which makes it difficult to follow your thought process. Additionally, your essay fails to really engage with the text in a critical manner, and the analysis presented lacks depth and insight. I encourage you to take a closer look at the primary text and think more critically about its themes, arguments, and implications. By doing so, you can strengthen your analysis and present a more cohesive and insightful essay.”
**Please try to base your opinions on the article from a student point of view. Although I don’t mind mixing your point of view to create a stronger argument. Also Try to include atleast 3 sources that backup your claims in this essay**.
**I left my rough draft for you to see. Although I want you to completely rewrite the essay. you can use the roughdraft as reference but the essay you write can use completely different points of view and arguments. It is perferable that way. Thankyou 🙂
