On “The Danger of a Single Story” by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Assignments in many disciplines ask you to analyze texts. In a statistics course, you may analyze a set of data to find the standard deviation from the mean. In a psychology course, you may analyze case studies. In this course, you will first summarize, then analyze a non-fiction text. In critical analysis essays, we closely examine texts to understand their messages, interpret their meanings, and make connections to the world around us.
Your final essay should be 3 pages in length and include the following:
-an introduction: introduce the author, the text/ TEDTalk, the theme
-a summary of the text, in your own words, including the main ideas and examples (1 paragraph)
-a quote from the text + your paraphrase of the quote + your explanation of what it means
-a thesis statement based on the quote
-your additional support for your thesis, with supporting evidence from the text (1-2 paragraphs)
-a conclusion (so what? Why does it matter? Possible personal connection?)
Your essay should also follow MLA guidelines:
- essays should be written in 12-point font, preferably Times New Roman
- essays should be double-spaced
- include a descriptive title
- include name and page numbers on every page
- include a works cited page (this is in addition to the 3 pages)
We will have a peer review session in class. Please bring two copies of your draft to class.
Submit the final draft in Brightspace + as a hard copy by Tues, Sept 24th.
Begin your essay/ first body paragraph by quoting a brief passage (1 or several sentences) from the text. The paragraph should then go on to explain its context and to describe what it means. Why is it significant? How is the passage contributing to the development of a larger theme from the text? What questions does it raise? The idea is to begin with close reading and to root your essay in the text itself (not in your ideas about the text). Ideally this will bring you towards a bigger argument – a position or thesis that you want to defend with additional evidence from the text. But the important thing is to go from the specific (Adichie’s words) to the general. That is why you have to start with a quotation, and then let your reader know what it means and why you selected it.
