Part 1:

After reading the assignment instructions for Essay 2, Analyzing a Written Text Essay, answer the following questions:

• What is the goal of this essay?  In a brief sentence or two, explain what you understand to be the main purpose of this essay.  Note: your response here should be on the goals of the essay assignment you will write, not on the essay you have chosen as your subject.
• What questions or concerns do you have about this type of essay or this essay assignment?  What questions can we answer to help clarify the assignment’s purpose and goals? 

Part 2:

Critical thinking is similar to detective work. It relies on you to analyze ideas and reflect on them. This means you must go beyond your initial impression of a text to uncover deeper meanings. 

FIRST, choose a text from the Essay 2 options (“Recovery Season,” or “The Globalization of Eating Disorders”). This will be the text you write your paper on, so choose one that is powerful to you and that you feel you can spend three weeks writing about it.

NEXT, summarize your text in four to six sentences. In your summary, be sure to capture the most important elements of the text in your own words.

FINALLY, answer these questions to begin understanding and analyzing your text:

• What is the text’s goal or purpose?
• What message, if any, is the text trying to convey?
• Does the text appeal to your emotions? How? (use details from the text to explain)
• Does the text appeal to your logic? How? (use details from the text to explain)
• Do you think the text is credible? Why or why not?  (use details from the text to explain)
• Who is the text’s intended audience? How do you know?
• What elements of the text—such as imagery, symbolism, tone, word choice, characterization/narration, etc.—are most striking here? Why do these catch your attention?

IMPORTANT NOTE: Please use the following document to organize your responses: ASSIGNMENT TEMPLATE.