Dr. Melczarek
Reading/note-taking guidesheet
(also annotate your actual copy of the text—see Manual p.xii #4) to help with eventual reading reactions . You may even print extra copies of this sheet, or save the .docx file, to type or hand-write notes on (tweaking the spacing as needed) as you read each essay/article assigned. (Such notes will also help ease the work of annotated bibliography later, when you research sources on your own.)
For each article/essay you read for class, note the following:
Article/essay full title:
Author:
Author qualifications[1]:
Year of article/essay[2]:
What seems the central idea, claim, or argument here (the thesis)? This will be one sentence that clearly states the writer’s point for the whole essay/article. (If this is only an excerpt, depending on the size/extent of the excerpt, this may simply be the topic sentence [3]for the excerpted paragraphs.) Quote it here, cite the page number, and indicate which paragraph it appears in (if possible).
Consult the 103 Manual pp.1-6 for help with the following:
Does the essay/article deploy ethos? If so, what/how?
“ ” logos? If so, what/how? (You may need more room for this)
“ ” pathos? If so, what/how?
Does the essay/article evince an unstated warrant?
What kind(s) of evidence/illustration does the writer use to make her/his point?
Any unfamiliar/new vocabulary, terminology, or jargon you needed to consult a dictionary for? Record them here, and make these notes correspond to those in the text itself (include page/paragraph number).
What seems the writer’s purpose/goal in this essay/article/excerpt? To argue and convince? To suggest action? To change opinion? Simply to inform?
Who seems the writer’s target audience for this essay/article/excerpt? If you can figure this out, do you think the writer addressed that audience effectively?
As far as content and thought, do you agree or disagree with the pints the writer makes here? Thoughts?
[1] If indicated within the essay/article itself, or in any introductory blurb from an editor, make note of not just the writer’s name but who this writer is – what qualifies her/him to speak at all on the subject at hand. If this information isn’t available, look it up on the internet; double check between multiple online sources, and look for professional credentials or titles, and the person’s intellectual or professional history, and not just somebody else’s opinion of this person. Note also whether the writer deliberately appeals to her/his own ethos as a strategy, whether by directly mentioning her/his own qualifications, or through use of titles (“Dr.”, “Ph.D.”, “Director of Blahdiddy Blah Blah”, etc).
[2] For additional context – the publication year influences the language, examples, and logic used in an essay or article, as well as the writer’s Aristotelian ethos and discernible Toulmin warrant (see the Manual pp.1-6). Publication information, including publication year, for essays/articles in From Inquiry to Academic Writing appears in the Acknowledgments section pp.894-897. If I give you an essay/article as a PDF, that information will appear on the cover page or first page.
[3] See Everyday Writer pp.52-53, 250.