SMU – English 1301 – Tindall
Assignment Due Friday, Sept. 10, 2004: Analyze Cousins’s Essay
Write an analysis of Norman Cousins’s argument in his essay “How to Make People Smaller Than They Are” (Criteria, p. 76). It should be typed, double-spaced. It will probably be about 3 pages long.
A summary explains what the author is trying to tell the audience; an analysis contains a summary but goes further, explaining how the author supports the thesis.
Once you have analyzed an argument, then you can begin to criticize it and decide what you think about it.
An analysis should describe all of the following elements of the argument. Here is a list of the items and a brief explanation of each; later I will give more details about why certain elements are important and how to look for specific ones.
Author: The author’s name and a few words or phrases about the author’s profession or expertise relevant to the topic of the argument.
Title: The title of the text being analyzed.
Forum: The type of text being analyzed and where it first appeared – in a book, an academic journal, a general-circulation newspaper, etc.
Thesis: What is the author trying to convince the audience of? This should be expressed in one or more of the standard forms of a thesis (policy, definition, etc.), and should include a statement of any assumptions the author is making about the thesis.
(These first four elements can usually be given in the first sentence of the summary.)
Audience: For whom is the author writing? At whom is the argument aimed? Even if the text is accessible to the general public, there is often a more specific audience for whom the argument is more specifically designed.
Reasons and Evidence (“reasons,” for short): The specific reasons and pieces of evidence the author uses to support the thesis. For each one, tell what type of reason it is, explain why this reason fits into that category (if it’s “general principle,” tell what part of the reason is the general rule and what part is the specific case, for example), and tell what assumptions (if any) the author is making when using that reason.
Definitions: Explain any definitions the author gives for important words or phrases. If the author uses technical or ambiguous terms without defining them, note that the author has made an assumption that the audience will understand them.
Opposing arguments: List each opposing argument the author deals with, and explain what type of reason it is. (Sometimes the opposing argument won’t be a reason itself, but will be an attempt to point out a flaw in one of the author’s reasons.) Explain how the author counters the opposing argument – with a reason (what type?), with an attempt to point out a flaw in the opposing argument, with a concession, etc.
Concessions: Any time the author concedes or admits that a reason or part of the thesis could be wrong, note that, and explain why the concession does not destroy the author’s whole argument.
Citations: Every quotation from the text, and every reference to the text, must be cited. In this assignment, cite by paragraph number.
Here is some more detail on how to find and write about some of the elements of the analysis.
How to find assumptions about the thesis: Remember, an assumption is something the author asserts or relies on without attempting to prove it. In a policy thesis (“Do X in order to achieve result Y”), the author often assumes that the audience will agree that “Y” is a desireable result and will not bother trying to prove that it is. In a cause-and-effect thesis, the author will sometimes assume that the audience knows that the cause already exists, and will concentrate on proving what the effects are; or may assume that the audience knows that the effects are happening and will concentrate on proving what caused them. In a value thesis (“X is good/bad according to criterion Y”), the author often assumes that the audience will agree that “Y” is a valid criterion for judging X.
How to decide who the audience is: What’s the forum? If it is a journal with a narrowly-focused readership, then the intended audience is likely to be the group or profession that reads the journal (diplomats and policy-makers for Foreign Affairs, for example, or college administrators for The Chronicle of Higher Education). If the author uses technical terms without defining them, then the audience is likely to be people who use those terms in their own business (accountants and tax experts, for example, don’t need definitions of “depreciation,” “basis,” “long-term capital gain,” etc.). If the thesis is a policy thesis, then the audience is likely to be the people who are able to carry out the recommended policy or influence others to carry it out.
How to find assumptions about reasons and evidence: In a general principle reason (“All humans are mortal; Socrates is human; therefore Socrates is mortal”), the author often assumes that the audience will agree that the “major premise” (the universal rule, like “All humans are mortal”) is true. Sometimes the same assumption applies to the minor premise (“Socrates is human”). For cause-and-effect and value reasons, see the discussion of assumptions in cause-and-effect and value theses, above.
How to find opposing arguments: Sometimes the author introduces an opposing argument by naming the person who makes it, or by stating that “critics may say…” or “some may argue….” Sometimes an opposing argument is introduced with “If…,” “But what if…,” etc.
How to find concessions: Often, concessions contain key words or phrases such as “Admittedly,” “Could/might be true,” “But even if.”