“Why Do We Keep Buying New Stuff?” by Archana Ram
Write a four-page objective critique of this article.
The central question of a critique is not whether you like or agree with a piece. Aim at a more objective critique: What is it about the piece that would look strong or weak, well-said or foolish to someone else? (Even if you personally love what the author said, was there anything that could have been done differently and better? Even if you personally hate the author’s central claim, was there something valuable in the article? Was it well-structured? Appropriate to its time?)
Very early, identify the piece you are writing about, using both the title of the piece and the author’s name. The titles of pieces like this go in quotation marks. Do not use italics, boldface, or any other device to show they are titles.
The first time you refer to an author, use first and last name. After that, refer to the author by LAST NAME. Do not pretend that you and Archana Ram are close enough buddies that you can call her by her first name. Even if you are lunch buddies (which I doubt), treat her with respect.
You will probably need to quote from the article, but do not pad out your article with line after line of quotation. If you are making the point that Ram’s language is too stiff, laid-back, or whatever, giving us half a page of her stuff is weak because you are not helping us to focus on the language you are discussing. We won’t figure out what you mean. Point out the words and phrases that make your point.
A quotation by itself cannot make your point. You need to tell us what point you are making and how the quotation supports it.
You should probably have an extremely good reason to quote more than two lines! If you quote four lines or more, follow the MLA formatting standard and indent them as a separate paragraph.
This kind of assignment threatens you with several traps. You should take special care to avoid them.
All of these traps have the same thing in common: they are all attempts to make this paper about you. That’s the problem: You are not the topic. Not your feelings, not your experiences, not your politics. You are not the focus here.
The views and opinions expressed in this page are strictly those of the page author.
The contents of this page have not been reviewed or approved by Ashland University.
Revised 1/4/24 • Page author: Curtis Allen • e-mail: callen@ashland.edu.