Critical Analysis of Vicious: Wolves and Men in America by
Jon Coleman
Technical Requirements:
Your critical analysis must be 4 to 5 pages long
(1200 to 1500 words), double-spaced, 1” margins all around, include page
numbers, and use 12pt. Times New Roman font.
Your critical analysis must include a title and
list your name, NetID, date, and course information in the top left-hand corner
on the first page of your paper.
Your critical analysis must have a clear introduction
and a thoughtful conclusion.
Your critical analysis must be organized into
paragraphs. Each paragraph must have a topic sentence.
Your critical analysis should be generally free
of mechanical errors such as run-on sentences, incorrect pronoun references,
misplaced modifiers, and other grammatical errors. Write in strong, directive
active sentences that contain a clear subject and clear action.
Your critical analysis may include direct
quotations. However, do not use them as fillers. Avoid all block quotations and
quotations that are longer than two lines. Make sure that if you use a direct
quote you explain its significance and that you cite it correctly.
Your critical analysis must be submitted as a
Word document and be saved as a .docx file. Save your file as your first name,
last name, with no spaces in the name of the file. For example, your file name
should look like this: FirstnameLastname.docx
The best papers will engage the reader — make
them want to turn to the next page. Use a writing style that avoids needless
repetition and redundancy and respect words and their meaning. (That means if
you use the thesaurus on your computer, make sure you know the meaning of the
word that you chose.)
Please note that all submissions will be checked
by TurnItIn. All students suspected of plagiarizing parts of their assignment
or otherwise violating the honor code will be reported to the Honor Code
office. If you plagiarize or otherwise violate the honor code, you will receive
a “0” for the assignment and may face additional sanctions.
Keys
These are listed in no particular order. Each
paper should fulfill each of these criteria. Ask yourself as you finish your
paper, have I done these things?
Analyze don’t summarize. Tell how the book looks
at the past and what that perspective reveals. Explore the implications of the
author’s view of the world. Ask yourself what the author hopes to achieve by
writing the book. Think about what you learned from the book. Does the author
succeed in proving his or her argument? How does the author go about convincing
you, or not convincing you? Again, analyze don’t summarize.
Organization: Papers need to have a focused
thesis that presents an argument—your argument about the book—which is
introduced early-on and developed throughout the essay, sentences that follow
logically, coherent paragraphs with clear topic sentences, easy to follow
transitions between paragraphs, and a conclusion.
Evidence: A good paper backs up its thesis with
solid evidence. It avoids overblown generalizations that it cannot support and
demonstrates a sense of detail for the topic — e.g. proper dates, the right
people in the right places, and a command of the relevant literature.