analytical paper and critical analysis on Jamie Susskind’s book Future Politics: Living in a World Transformed by Tech)

Essay 1 

Critical Analysis of purpose, methods of persuasion, and arguments

Due Friday, June 9th at 11:59pm to CANVAS. 

·       Your paper should be 4-6 pages long, in MLA format, with a heading, title, and page numbers. You must have at least four FULL pages of text to meet the minimum requirements for this assignment. 

·       This is an analytical, persuasive essay. Use academic present tense, no first person, and support all of your claims with evidence, using adequate warrants (sentences that connect your claim to your evidence). Pay careful attention to thesis statement, organization, and topic sentences. 

·       Be sure to argue at the level of the text(s), using specific examples to support your position. 

·       Try not to summarize the article(s) beyond what you need to provide in order to make your arguments. Your essay’s focus should be its argument. Your audience is a diverse group of readers, of your education level or higher, who may or may not have read these texts. * Remember, summary is an art form. 

·       Remember: Writing is revision. Try to write several drafts of your essay. 

In this essay, you will use one journal article provided in CANVAS ( introduction to Jamie Susskind’s book Future Politics: Living in a World Transformed by Tech) and you will locate one other article/text to evaluate alongside the class text. This additional text may also be one that you plan to use in your presentation and/or research paper. 

You may CHOOSE either text as the focus of your essay or split the essay evenly. How you organize the essay is up to you. You do need an introductory paragraph with a thesis statement at the end, one that states your position on both articles. For example, While Susskind relies on subtle wording and slanted claims to argue his position, Foster Wallace uses a binary structure that, while compelling, creates a false choice for readers. 

In this essay, you will evaluate the article(s) to determine not just their stated or explicit arguments, but their implied purpose. To prepare for the essay, spend time evaluating the strength of the arguments (looking for fallacies/bias/assumptions/use of evidence to support claims). This essay is your opinion, but your goal is to persuade your audience of your position. 

Consider how the author’s rhetorical appeals (ethos, pathos, and logos) serve the purpose of the text. How is data presented? How is evidence used? How well do you believe these authors tailored their appeals to their intended audiences? You can infer audience based on the elements discussed in class (venue, tone, rhetorical appeals, and key arguments). Specifically, how did the use of rhetorical appeals fail or succeed? Your argument might be that the success of the appeals was split. Remember to convey your point-of-view in third person. 

This is an analytical/persuasive essay. Formulate a thesis based on your analysis of the texts (analytical) and frame your thesis as a claim (persuasive) for which you will provide concrete evidence.

Each body paragraph should attempt a clear, concise topic sentence that is also phrased as a claim, not an observation. 

Remember: In order to argue whether or not the message/key thesis of the piece was delivered effectively, you MUST argue WHAT you believe the MESSAGE IS!