1. English B1A
The Critique

2. The Critique When critiquing, you are evaluating someone’s argument.
You must ask yourself two broad questions:
To what extent does the author succeed in his or her purpose?
To what extent to you agree with the author?
The Critique

3. When preparing to critique the success of an argument, look at the following areas:
How did the author make use of persuasive strategies like ethos, logos, and pathos?
Did the author use sufficient evidence, and is that evidence accurate and up to date?
Was the argument logical (did it avoid logical fallacies)?
Preparing to Write

4. When preparing to evaluate the extent of your agreement, as the following questions:
What are the major points? Which do you agree with? Which do you disagree with?
Keep in mind that you need to be able to provide evidence to support your own reasoning for or against the author’s points.
What are the author’s assumptions (warrants)? Do you share them? If not, are they flawed? How so?
Preparing to Write

5. Structure When structuring your critique, follow these guidelines:
In your introductory paragraph, first introduce Milgram and his experiments. Then, introduce Baumrind and give a brief summary of her argument. Finally, provide a thesis statement which explains your assessment of her argument—keep in mind that you don’t need to agree or disagree with her 100%, but we should get a feel of your overall assessment from your thesis statement.
Example: “While Baumrind does have a valid point regarding the parallels Milgram draws between his experiment and the Holocaust, the rest of her argument is weak due to a lack of evidence.”
Structure

6. In your body paragraphs, you should address her argument and either explain its validity or weakness by citing from her article, Milgram’s experiment, and Burger’s replication. You should cite from at least 2 of the 3 articles in each body paragraph. Remember to provide in-text citations with paragraph numbers for each source reference
Each body paragraph should focus on a specific part of Baumrind’s argument.
Structure

7. Finally, you should conclude by stating your feelings about the piece as a whole and your assessment of the author’s success at achieving his or her aims and your reactions to the author’s views. Remind the reader of the weaknesses and strengths of the passage.
Structure

8. I will keep in mind that this is a timed writing assignment, which means it will most likely be first draft writing. However, our extensive in- class discussions of the readings and pre-writing should prepare you. In addition, you should leave some time to proofread at the end of class to catch and correct any small mistakes
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