Reflective writing

For your first major essay, you are being asked to write a critical analysis of one of the texts listed below. A critical analysis is a common college level assignment; it is a defined as “a summary and rhetorical analysis of a linguistic or visual text. The analysis should offer an evaluation of the text’s argument and evidence in light of the text’s specific rhetorical situation.”  The purpose of this essay is to give you practice summarizing, paraphrasing, quoting and analyzing a single text while also exploring further the course’s theme- how we use, acknowledge, and convey our awareness of what it means to be American, what defines Americans culturally, socially, and historically, along with its many complexities and dimensions, and how we identify ourselves within these borders.  This class will deal with several contemporary issues from racial identity & awareness, hatred, sexual identity, educational expectations, and how we challenge cultural myths and stereotypes in this country.

First, you need to select (1) texts from list below. These can be found online and/or linked to via our class’s blackboard site:

“In the Kitchen” by Henry Louis Gates

“Black Men & Public Space” by Brent Staples

“The Myth of the Latin Woman” by Judith Ortiz Cofer

“I Just Wanna Be Average” by Mike Rose

“Mother Tongue” by Amy Tan
Then, take the text through a vigorous analysis. Read it several times over and over until it reveals an implicit or explicit theme. Take active notes, annotate, journal, create a dialogue between you and the text. Ask your chosen text questions, such as:

• What is the nature of the work (type, purpose, intended audience)?
• What is its significance? How does it compare to other material on the same subject? By the same author?
• Who is the author, and what are his/her qualifications? What is the author’s thesis?
• What is the organizational plan or method? Is it well conceived? Does it achieve the author’s objectives?
• What are the underlying assumptions? Are they stated or do they lurk behind a stance of neutrality and objectivity?

How do assumptions and biases affect the validity