Critique of Essay in Morality Unit
Goal for unit:
To develop ways to analyze texts, specifically, (1) to find patterns in the students' own observations and (2) to develop perspectives on a text by considering alternative ideas about morality in texts and in class discussion. To analyze one text closely, developing an thesis that integrates all the observations made through close reading.
Homework:
Read Brandt (191)and Didion (179) and write an elegant, inclusive
summary of each, that is, a summary that includes all the main points
and that does so in a way that is concise and powerful. To prepare for
this, do the part-whole exercise by
marking and labeling the parts in the book. Write a response (focused
freewrite) to main idea of each (combined, 1-2 pages). You may
wish to have students answer the "Previewing" questions in class before
doing the reading. (See page 5-6 in The Presence of Others.)
Other useful material for critical thinking may be found in The
Presence of Others, pp. 1-7 and 19-21, in
The Bedford Reader, pp. 478-491, and the
Critical Thinking website.
It will be critical for students to summarize their text in a way that is both inclusive and concise as a way of preparing them for writing the first part of their critique
Day 1.
Didion may best be approached as a mystery essay: first
identifying the most explicit statement of theme and using them as clue to
decipher how the other parts of the essay (various stories) connect with
or amplify those themes. Students' part-whole exercises can be
reviewed for how inclusive and elegant their summaries are. Then
students can make a list of things they like and dislike about the essay
they feel most engaged by and then search for patterns among those lists.
Homework: Read Gilligan (169) and Gomes (205). Before
reading the Gilligan, do a bit of
freewriting to think about whether you've noticed a difference in what
men and women value as morally correct. As you read Gomes, consider how
Didion might react to him. Write a summary, doing the part-whole
exercise in your book (or underlining and connecting key concepts, as we
did in class), and write a response (about 1 page each). In your
annotating, pay special attention to places you liked and disliked.
Didion is a great challenge to students' sense of categorical rights and wrongs, but it's often hard for them to see the implicit connections among the various parts of the text.
The questions about Didion and Gomes (and, later, Didion and King) are designed to lead to students' possibly using one author to analyze another in their critique.
Day 2.
Review their summaries of Gilligan and Gomes, possibly doing one as a
class and one in pairs or groups of three. Focus primarily on
Gilligan essay by using LCD projector to share provocative excerpts from
their responses to Gilligan in Blackboard. Use discussion to help
them think critically about where Gilligan's essay is strong or weak,
especially the role that interpretation of data plays. Homework:
Read the King essay (142). To get into it, I recommend that you first put
yourself in his position (in jail, South still segregated even 100 years
after the Emancipation Proclamation, himself a clergyman) and do a
freewrite about what you might be thinking about fellow clergyman who
criticized the demonstrations against unfair hiring practices in
Birmingham, Alabama, as "unwise and untimely." What do you think Didion
would say of King's call to conscience?
Day 3.
Discuss King, especially to consider various perspectives on his essay,
including the white ministers and Didion. Consider how bias in
language might vary depending on one's point of view. See
possible questions. End class by
strategizing how today's discussion could be used within a critical essay.
Homework: Choose one of the four essays we've read in the
"Moralities" section of The Presence of Others. Reread it. Note all
the places that you particularly like, dislike, or have some reaction to.
Revise your summary to create one that is truly elegant and inclusive,
that connects all the major parts in a way that "flows." Then select
and answer questions for analysis from the following sources and answer
them in relation to the text you are critiquing: The Presence of
Others, pp. 1-7 and 19-21, and The Bedford Reader, pp. 478-491.
Come to class prepared to discuss with a group of students who have also
read your essay what you can conclude about it.
Day 4.
Students meet in groups according to the essay read. Their task
is to share all their observations with the idea of coming up with a
description of the persona that arises from the text. They can be
very creative with this as long as they support their description by
referring to the text. The groups can share these persona
descriptions briefly with the whole class. Homework:
Revisit all the places you noted that you had a strong reaction in the
text and all the answers to critical questions (all from yesterday's
homework) and create a special double-entry
journal, in which the left column is composed of quotes or paraphrased
material from your text and the right column is your critical response to
it. Color code the right column entries according to patterns you
notice. In a sentence or two, identify each of these patterns.
Finally write a thesis statement that integrates all of these patterns and
the persona work from class.
Day 4 assigns the critical homework assignment in this unit because it helps them go beyond individual observation to arrive at a thesis: a judgement about what all the individual observations add up to. Students find the color-coding fun once they get what it's for.
This discussion about their thesis is critical because because many students will tend to write an essay that merely continues discussing their author's idea, not an essay that critiques the author's argument and its presentation.
Day 5.
Project one particularly generative double-entry journal on the board
and have the class problem-solve their way through the next steps:
critiquing the thesis and deciding upon the parts of the essay based upon
the two columns of the journal. Students might then work in pairs to
critique and organize each of their own essays. Discuss paraphrasing and
summarizing as it applies to the first draft. Have students write an
introduction in class. Homework: First draft of
Analytical Essay #2, including Work Cited and metatext. See
essay assignment.
Day 6.
Begin by reviewing some introductions and body paragraphs from a few
strong first drafts (if possible by previewing in Blackboard). The
class will use
key questions for peer response as
a partial guide to
respond to a peer’s draft.
Homework: Second draft of essay.
Day 7.
Have students do some editing work, teaching grammatical concepts where necessary. Homework: Final draft, submitting both in Blackboard and via hard copy.
