Start by going to a major news website (for example the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, etc.) and choose an opinion article that is current—meaning, at least within the last year. These are normally located in the Opinions or Op-Ed section of the newspaper.
Once you have selected a persuasive article from a reputable source, you will use your critical reading skills to examine the article thoroughly.
Throughout your examination, be aware of which critical reading skills you utilize and find the most helpful.
Before reading your selected article, look over the questions below and keep them in mind as you read through the article. While you do not have to specifically respond to these questions, it might also be helpful to highlight, annotate, or take notes when you come across information in the article that pertains to these questions:
What is the main argument or purpose of the article? What is the topic, problem or issue?
What are the central ideas of the article?
What is the author’s point of view on the topic or issue?
What specific claims does the author make?
What evidence does the author use to support their claims or argument?
How does the author structure their article?
After you have used your critical reading skills to fully read and digest the article, you will compose a written reflection that explores the required questions below and examines your entire critical reading experience.
You may organize your reflection in whatever way you feel will best allow you to analyze and evaluate the article and answer the following questions. You may submit an essay or numbered responses. However you choose to format your response, be sure to answer the questions below.
What is the primary argument or purpose of the article?
What is the author's motivation, stance, or position and how does this effect the validity of the article?
What is the author suggesting or trying to convince the reader of? Evaluate how clear this point of view is for the reader.
What specific evidence does the author use to support their argument/claim? How relevant and sufficient is the evidence the author uses?
Identify one place where evidence is used well and one area where you think it could be developed further.
What reasoning does the author use to support their claim/argument? How valid is this reasoning?
How does the author structure their article?
How effective is the structure?
Does the structure help make the author’s points clear, convincing, and engaging?
Does the article seem organized to you? Why or why not?
Did the author succeed in convincing you of their point or prompting you to take action? Why or why not?
What critical reading strategies did you use to help you explore and examine this article more thoroughly? What strategy did you find the most helpful?
If you were asked to edit this article, what changes or edits would you suggest?
Whatever format you choose to share the above information and write your analytical reflection, make sure that your responses are thorough, and the entire reflection is well-organized.
Please also be sure to copy the link to your article and include it with your finished activity.
I'm sorry, but I am an AI language model and I cannot browse the internet or provide real-time information.
As an AI text-based bot, I am unable to browse the internet or access specific current articles. However, I can guide you through the process of analyzing an opinion article step by step. You can follow the instructions provided below using an actual opinion article you find on a major news website.
1. Start by visiting a major news website, such as the New York Times, the Washington Post, or the Los Angeles Times. Locate the Opinions or Op-Ed section of the website.
2. Choose a recent opinion article that catches your interest. Ensure that it was published within the last year.
3. Before reading the article, familiarize yourself with the questions you need to keep in mind while reading:
a. What is the main argument or purpose of the article? What is the topic, problem, or issue?
b. What are the central ideas of the article?
c. What is the author's point of view on the topic or issue?
d. What specific claims does the author make?
e. What evidence does the author use to support their claims or argument?
f. How does the author structure their article?
4. Proceed to read the selected opinion article, actively engaging with its content. While reading, look for information that addresses the questions outlined above.
5. Take notes, highlight key points, or annotate the article as you find relevant information.
6. After you finish reading, reflect on your critical reading experience and compose a written reflection that addresses the following questions:
a. What is the primary argument or purpose of the article?
b. What is the author's motivation, stance, or position, and how does this affect the validity of the article?
c. What is the author suggesting or trying to convince the reader of? Evaluate the clarity of this point of view.
d. What specific evidence does the author use to support their argument/claim? Assess the relevance and sufficiency of the evidence presented.
e. Identify one area where evidence is used effectively and another area where it could be developed further.
f. What reasoning does the author employ to support their claim/argument? Evaluate the validity of this reasoning.
g. Assess the structure of the article. How effective is it in conveying the author's points?
h. Determine if the article seems organized to you, and provide reasons for your assessment.
i. Evaluate whether the author successfully convinced you of their point or prompted you to take action. Explain your reasoning.
j. Reflect on the critical reading strategies you employed during the analysis. Identify the most helpful strategy.
k. If asked to edit the article, suggest changes or edits based on your evaluation.
Remember to use a well-organized format to present your reflection, ensuring that your responses are thorough. Additionally, provide the link to your selected article along with your finished activity.
I'm sorry, but as an AI text-based bot, I cannot browse the internet or provide links to specific articles. However, I can still help you understand the process of analyzing an opinion article and provide guidance on how to answer the questions outlined.
1. Start by going to a major news website: Choose a reputable news source such as the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, or another established newspaper.
2. Find an opinion article: Look for the Opinions or Op-Ed section on the website. Select an article that is current, preferably within the last year.
3. Read the article critically: As you read through the article, keep the following questions in mind and take notes or highlight relevant information:
- What is the main argument or purpose of the article? What is the topic, problem, or issue being discussed?
- What are the central ideas presented in the article?
- What is the author's point of view on the topic or issue?
- What specific claims does the author make?
- What evidence does the author use to support their claims or argument?
- How is the article structured?
Once you have thoroughly examined the article, you can compose a written reflection that addresses the provided questions. Here is a breakdown of the questions and how you can approach them:
1. Primary argument or purpose: Summarize the main argument or purpose of the article in your own words.
2. Author's motivation, stance, or position: Analyze the author's perspective and how it may influence the validity or credibility of the article.
3. Author's suggestion or persuasion: Evaluate how clear the author's point of view is and how effectively they try to convince the reader.
4. Specific evidence: Identify and assess the relevance and sufficiency of the evidence used by the author to support their argument.
5. Effective use of evidence: Discuss one instance where evidence is presented well and another area where it could be further developed.
6. Reasoning: Evaluate the reasoning the author employs to support their claim and assess its validity.
7. Article structure: Describe how the article is structured and consider its effectiveness in presenting the argument.
8. Organization: Share your thoughts about whether the article seems well-organized or not and explain why.
9. Persuasiveness: Reflect on whether the author successfully convinced you of their point or motivated you to take action, and explain why.
10. Critical reading strategies: Discuss the strategies you used to explore and examine the article more thoroughly and indicate the most helpful strategy.
11. Article edits: If you were asked to edit the article, provide specific changes or edits you would suggest to improve it.
Please note that you will need to refer to the specific article you have chosen to answer these questions effectively.