Writing Task : Analyze one of the texts’ argument
The Texts
The text will be an episode of an opinionated news commentary show. Pick one of these episodes to analyze:
- Tucker Carlson: “Tucker: Liberal Activists Now Want to ‘Defund the Police’” Jun 4, 2020
- John Oliver: “Police: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver” Jun 7, 2020
These are the same two episodes that were briefly summarized in the “Practice Analyzing Arguments” assignment. Keep in mind that in a future assignment, you will also evaluate the argument you analyze, so pick an episode that you would like to use for that assignment as well.
The analysis should be accurate, adequate, objective and organized.
Accurate means the summary doesn’t misrepresent the argument.
Adequate means the representation is thorough enough that it includes all the major parts of the argument The major parts of the argument are its main claim and the major pieces of evidence and reasoning that support that main claim. Minor parts of the argument may be left out of your analysis.
Objectivity: This analysis needs to be as objective as possible. I should not be able to tell if it agrees or disagrees with the argument. The goal is to merely describe the argument. If agreement or disagreement is expressed, the analysis will not pass and will need to be fixed and resubmitted. Even though absolute objectivity is a myth, it is possible to achieve an acceptable degree of objectivity.
Organization: This is not a formal essay, so it does not need to follow standard essay structure (no need for an intro and conclusion paragraph). Instead, begin this writing assignment by first stating the text’s main claim and identifying what type of claim it is. Next, briefly summarize all the major supporting parts of the argument. It is a good idea to give each major part of the argument its own paragraph so that I can easily recognize the different parts of the argument. Avoid writing one giant paragraph.
Requirements
- Due date: Sunday, Feb. 11 by 11:59pm
- Page requirement: two full-pages minimum
- Focus: Analyze one of the arguments
- Source requirement: One of the two arguments about defunding the police
- Objectivity: just describe the argument; don’t express any judgement/evaluation of the argument
- Informal Essay Organization: This is not a formal essay, so it does not need to follow standard essay structure. Instead, just launch right into the analysis. No need for a hook or introduction.