1) Discussion Leading Assignment – 4 pages
You are required to do all of the following and you will be graded upon each of these items,
as demonstrated in your preparation notes and from observation by your instructor:
Part 1) Provide an analysis of the assigned reading, addressing the following questions:
● What is the purpose of this essay? What does the author hope to achieve?
● Where was the reading originally published? What is the target demographic of that
publication? (Don’t not guess… Find out more about the publication with a web search.)
● What appeals does the author use to support the main point—emotional (descriptions,
anecdotes) and/or logical (statistics, facts and figures)?
● Does the author have expertise in the subject? How is that expertise demonstrated or
conveyed in the essay (or in the introduction to the essay)? Does the author’s background color
your interpretation of the essay (ex: make it more believable or perhaps show bias)?
● What genre-specific elements do you see in the reading? Describe 3-4 and give examples from
the reading.
2) Summary-Response- Analysis Assignment – 600 words
(1) In the first paragraph, write a summary of the article. Follow the expectations discussed in
the handout ‘Important Tips for Writing Summaries’. Remember to include an opening
sentence with author’s name, article title, publication information, and overall topic of
essay. The summary should be at least 15 sentences.
(2) The second paragraph should provide an informed, thoughtful response to the article. In
this paragraph, your response can be more personal— your “gut reaction” to the reading.
In what ways did the article challenge your beliefs and assumptions? Also, in this paragraph,
feel free to write about your own prior experiences with or knowledge of the topic and how
those experiences/that knowledge impacted your perspective on the reading. You can also
write about whether you agree or disagree with the author’s claims based on your own
perspectives/moral grounding.
