Awareness of language

In this assignment you’ll analyze an essay from the textbook, and challenge yourself to critique the author’s arguments and primary points of support. MLA FORMAT PLEASE

Read: Two Ways to Belong in America, by Bharati Mukherjee (pages 174-177)

ESSAY REQUIREMENTS
Summarize the article in one paragraph. You cannot assume your audience has read the article you are critiquing. Therefore, you should provide a summary of the article. Be sure to state what the author’s main argument is and mention his or her main points of support and evidence. Do not quote the article in your summary. Make sure to include the name of the article and the name of the author in your summary. Remember, when you refer to the author again in your essay, use either his or her full name OR last name.

Thinking critically about the article

Consider the following questions for helping you critique the article:
1. What are the author’s beliefs?
2. Do you agree or disagree with the author’s points (remember, you can agree with some points, but disagree with others) and why?
3. How has the author convinced you—or why hasn’t he or she convinced you of his or her argument? Just as you want the author to provide examples and evidence to support his or her argument, you must provide support for your critique. Consider quoting or paraphrasing passages that are particularly poignant to your critique. Consider using outside examples or personal examples that demonstrate either the validity or questionability of the author’s arguments.
4. Does your personal experience contradict the author’s argument? How timely is the author’s argument? Is it current, or out of date? Is it still relevant?
5. Answer questions 2, 3, 4, and 5 that are at the end of the article.

Tone (Describe in a separate paragraph in one or two sentences.)

What about the writer’s tone or style? Is it humorous? sarcastic? academic? descriptive? etc?

Document your source according to MLA guidelines.

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/

GRADING CRITERIA

A strong essay will…
• Contain an introductory summary of the article.
• Contain a clear, well-supported argument supporting or not supporting the author’s points. • Include an engaging and thoughtful introduction and conclusion.
• Progress logically and smoothly with appropriate transitional words or phrases indicating

connections between ideas.
• Make appropriate use of sentence structure, word choice, grammar, spelling, and punctuation

that enables rather than hinders clear and effective communication. • Meet the minimum page requirement of 3-4 double-spaced pages.