How to Ace Argument Analysis — Transcript

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1. 0:00Argument analysis is pretty central to
2. 0:02the VCAA. A lot of students are focusing
3. 0:05on it in class at the moment, but even
4. 0:07if that's not you, it's a brilliant idea
5. 0:09to keep revising your argument analysis
6. 0:11skills throughout the year in
7. 0:13preparation for your exams. We all know
8. 0:15that practice makes perfect, but it's
9. 0:17important to be practicing the right
10. 0:18skills. So, let me walk you through our
11. 0:21tips and tricks for argument analysis.
12. 0:23Okay, let's jump right into it. You've
13. 0:25got your article.
14. 0:26As you read through it for the first
15. 0:28time, you will, of course, want to take
16. 0:30note of any interesting language that
17. 0:31jumps out at you. But before you get too
18. 0:33ahead of yourself, I want you to start
19. 0:35by carving out some time to identify the
20. 0:38author's purpose, contention, and
21. 0:40audience. Now, this may seem
22. 0:42self-explanatory, but a lot of students
23. 0:44get contention and purpose confused. So,
24. 0:47let's briefly recap the difference.
25. 0:49The contention is the author's argument.
26. 0:52What are they trying to convince you of?
27. 0:54That's their contention. Their purpose
28. 0:56is the thing that they want to happen or
29. 0:58the thing that they want you to do. For
30. 1:00example, an author might be trying to
31. 1:02persuade you that farming chickens in
32. 1:04cages is evil. That's their contention
33. 1:07because they want you to sign a petition
34. 1:09that they're promoting. That's their
35. 1:10purpose. Now, the background information
36. 1:13section on the exam should give you an
37. 1:15indication of the author's intended
38. 1:17audience. If you're still unsure though,
39. 1:19pay close attention to the phrasing used
40. 1:21by the author throughout their article.
41. 1:24For example, you might be reading an
42. 1:25article about a local school, and the
43. 1:28author signs off by asking the students
44. 1:30to tell their parents about the article.
45. 1:34Here, even if the author wants the
46. 1:36information relayed to the parents, we
47. 1:38can see that it's actually students that
48. 1:39are the intended readers of this article
49. 1:41and not their parents.
50. 1:43Keep an eye out for phrasing like this.
51. 1:45Next, I like to try and map out the
52. 1:47three key arguments being used by the
53. 1:50author in support of their contention.
54. 1:52When you write an essay or a persuasive
55. 1:54speech, you typically start by mapping
56. 1:56out the arguments that you'll use in
57. 1:58support of your contention. So, try and
58. 2:00figure out and then take note of those
59. 2:02various arguments being used in your
60. 2:03article. Now, my suggestion is to start
61. 2:06by carving out a solid amount of time to
62. 2:09figure out the author's contention,
63. 2:10purpose, key arguments, etc. Because
64. 2:13your written response will be so much
65. 2:16clearer and so much more structured if
66. 2:18you get a good grasp of the author's
67. 2:19arguments before you rush into finding
68. 2:22quotes. Naturally, as you read through
69. 2:24the article to figure these things out,
70. 2:26there will be bits and pieces of the
71. 2:28author's writing that jumps out to you.
72. 2:30Once you've got an outline, now it's
73. 2:31time to turn your attention fully to the
74. 2:33language being used in the article. The
75. 2:36key component of argument analysis is to
76. 2:38analyze how the author uses language to
77. 2:41make their argument seem persuasive. So,
78. 2:44what persuasive language techniques do
79. 2:46they use to make us feel convinced of
80. 2:48what they're saying?
81. 2:49Circle, underline, or jot down any
82. 2:51language techniques you notice. Think
83. 2:53about things like similes, rhetorical
84. 2:56questions, visual imagery, metaphors,
85. 2:59inclusive language, hyperbole, etc. But
86. 3:02also think more broadly about persuasive
87. 3:04devices like statistics or personal
88. 3:07anecdotes, things of that nature. Once
89. 3:09you've identified the technique being
90. 3:11used, ask yourself, why is this
91. 3:13persuasive? Why did they choose to use
92. 3:16this technique and what's the intended
93. 3:17effect on their audience? That is what
94. 3:20your written response should aim to
95. 3:21convey first and foremost. Also, pay
96. 3:24attention to the author's tone and the
97. 3:26style of arguments they're making. Are
98. 3:28they serious, reasonable, making
99. 3:30arguments that are logically persuasive
100. 3:32or supported by hard evidence? Are they
101. 3:34relying on emotional appeals to the
102. 3:36audience's sense of morality, trying to
103. 3:38convince them that their perspective is
104. 3:40ethically or morally correct? Are they
105. 3:43trying to convince the audience that
106. 3:44they're a reliable source of
107. 3:46information? Or are they maybe using a
108. 3:48range of these argument types? A lot of
109. 3:50students really struggle with
110. 3:51identifying techniques in their
111. 3:53articles. So, to prepare for your exam,
112. 3:56my advice is to create a big long list
113. 3:58of all of the techniques you know, along
114. 4:00with explanations of those techniques
115. 4:02and examples.
116. 4:04If you keep adding to that list as you
117. 4:05go, then by the time your exam rolls
118. 4:07around, you will have a solid technique
119. 4:10glossary to help you ace argument
120. 4:12analysis. Okay, once you've done all
121. 4:14that, it's time to write a response.
122. 4:16For your introduction, you'll want to
123. 4:18include some brief background context,
124. 4:21the author's contention, their purpose,
125. 4:23their audience. You can mention the tone
126. 4:25they take in their article, and you can
127. 4:27give a brief summary of their arguments
128. 4:29if you like.
129. 4:30So, what does that look like? Well, for
130. 4:32example,
131. 4:33in a response to the imminent threat of
132. 4:35Topdale Cinema's closure, Ava, the
133. 4:38cinema's marketing manager, posted an
134. 4:40urgent appeal on the Topdale Community
135. 4:43Voice social media page.
136. 4:45She asserts that the cinema still holds
137. 4:47significant value to the community, and
138. 4:49she implores the residents of Topdale to
139. 4:51take action and save the town's small
140. 4:53business.
141. 4:54Ava argues that despite advances in
142. 4:57technology and the rise of streaming
143. 4:58services, the cinema remains an
144. 5:00important social meeting place, and the
145. 5:02establishment is an iconic and historic
146. 5:04landmark for the town.
147. 5:06Then, you'll use your body paragraphs to
148. 5:08break down the key arguments presented
149. 5:10by the author and how they use language
150. 5:13to make those arguments persuasive.
151. 5:15It's pretty self-explanatory, but that
152. 5:17means your body paragraphs should
153. 5:18include a topic sentence that
154. 5:20articulates the argument being made by
155. 5:22the author,
156. 5:23a quote that demonstrates their
157. 5:25argument,
158. 5:26an analysis of the language techniques
159. 5:28they use in that quote, and an
160. 5:30explanation as to why those language
161. 5:33techniques are persuasive or what the
162. 5:34intended impact is on the reader. If
163. 5:37you're given multiple texts, keep in
164. 5:39mind that you do not need to compare
165. 5:42them. You can, of course, use linking
166. 5:44statements that briefly highlight some
167. 5:46similarities and differences. For
168. 5:48example, the first author argues this,
169. 5:51whereas the second author takes a
170. 5:52different tone.
171. 5:54However, you do not need to draw direct
172. 5:56comparisons between your texts. You
173. 5:59could very well be asked to listen to or
174. 6:02watch an audio or audio-visual text as
175. 6:04well.
176. 6:05It's really important to practice taking
177. 6:07notes quickly under timed conditions
178. 6:09because these audio or audio-visual
179. 6:11texts will only play twice in your exam,
180. 6:14and you'll need to jot down anything you
181. 6:15notice. You might be given a transcript
182. 6:18to annotate as well.
183. 6:19For audio and audio-visual texts, you'd
184. 6:22be expected to analyze things like
185. 6:24intonation, stress, volume, etc. So,
186. 6:28make sure that you add some of those
187. 6:29techniques into your technique glossary.
188. 6:32And that's how to ace argument analysis.
189. 6:35Drop me a comment if you have any other
190. 6:36questions, but otherwise, check out our
191. 6:38study guides or blog posts for a range
192. 6:41of resources on language analysis or
193. 6:43persuasive writing.