ELEMENTS OF CRITICISM

0DESCRIPTION

0 INTERPRETATION/ANALYSIS

0EVALUATION

INVENTION

0 Close reading/ repeated observation

0 Inquiry

0 Stasis questions

0 Journalistic questions

0 Research & reporting

0 Formal analysis

0 Interpretation

0Evaluation

Discovering the available means of persuasion.

Close reading/repeated observation

Look at, examine, engage with the subject (object of criticism)--

multiple times, if possible

Inquiry

0 Investigation beyond the primary source (subject), guided by carefully posed research questions--

0 Stasis

0 Journalistic

0 Theory, interpretative lens

0 Evaluation criteria (discourse community or disciplinary values)

Stasis Questions

0 Possibly--Definition: What should it be called? How should it be categorized? How do we define the act/thing? What kind is it? What are the parts and how are they related. To what class does it belong?

0Definitely--Quality: How serious/important is the act/thing? Is it good or bad (how so)? Is it right or wrong (how so)? Is it honorable or dishonorable (how so)?

Journalistic Questions

0Who?

0What ?

0When?

0Where?

0Why?

0How?

Research & Reporting

0 Research

0 Databases

0 Target forum

0 Other forums

0 Reference sources

0 News sources

0 Primary sources: Organization, institution, publisher, author, etc.

0 Course lectures & materials

0Reporting

0 Attend event

0 Interview

Formal Analysis

What are its parts or features? Genre conventions adhered to (or not)?

Theoretical or Interpretive Lens

0 Biographical0 Historical0 Psychological0 Feminist0 Marxist0 Structural0 Post-structural0 Postmodernist0 Ethical0 Rhetorical0 Others?

Evaluation Criteria

What does the community or discipline value?

What standards of judgment are typically used to decide what is “good”?

Sources

0 Cline, Andrew. A Rhetoric Primer. Rhetorica. 2006. Web. Rhetorica.net

0 Longaker, Mark Garrett and Jeffrey Walker. Rhetorical Analysis. New York: Longman, 2011.