: Text Analysis Assessment

Subject

For this assignment, you will write a text analysis of the article “What Community College Students Say Impedes Their Progress.” Imagine you are researching for a paper on the topic of student success in community colleges, and this is one of the articles you are considering using in your research project.

Objectives

Demonstrate critical reading skills by summarizing, analyzing, and evaluating an article.

Requirements
You need to bring your annotated copy of the article to the exam.  Your annotated copy of the article can only use note form with no complete sentences. You will hand in your annotated article along with a printed copy of your essay. This is a timed exam that you write in a Word document on a computer in the Testing Center. You have 90 minutes to complete it. 

Introduction: Begin your two page (approximately 500-600 word), five-paragraph essay with a compelling introductory paragraph. Introduce the topic of your paper, the title/author of the article you will summarize, and a thesis statement that previews your response. Your thesis statement should be a concise statement of your evaluation of the article.

Summary: In the first body paragraph of your essay, open with a topic sentence that states the purpose of the summarized article. Identify the main points made by the author using your own words. Do not quote from the article. Avoid evaluating the article and injecting your own opinion into the summary paragraph as this should go in the analysis and evaluation paragraphs.

Analysis: In the second body paragraph, provide an analysis of the article. This could focus on the article’s use (or non-use) of evidence. For example, is the evidence relevant, specific, detailed, adequate, and suitable for the audience? You could discuss whether the author primarily use reasons, examples, facts, statistics, quotations, their own personal opinions, the opinions of experts, or a mixture of these. Provide specific examples of evidence and sources of evidence.

Evaluation: In the third body paragraph, write an evaluation of the article and your response to the topic. You can support your evaluation with reasons and examples from personal experience. If you chose, you may reference specific points within the article to offer praise or criticism, but be sure to keep the focus on your ideas and avoid additional summary.

Conclusion: Make sure you have a conclusion that brings your essay to a satisfying end. Remember that you are not only concluding your response but also the summarized article. Feel free to remind the reader about the purpose of the article and articulate your unique position in relationship to it.

Make sure that you proofread for errors in spelling, grammar and mechanics.