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The First Draft of Article Analysis

For Assignment 2, you selected an article from the “Music Related Articles” folder. Additionally, you have read this article and have submitted your summary, outline, and annotations to Assignment 3. Finally, you have viewed fun and enjoyable videos about music outside of “pop” music. These experiences and activities have provided opportunities to broaden your perspective on music and will help you in writing your Article Analysis.

Now, write and submit your first draft of Article Analysis #1. Initially, focus on content and invention. Consider if your essay is complete, interesting, and complex.

• Begin your draft with an outline or by free writing.
  1. If so, sketch out a brief outline of the article and relate it to your initial annotations submitted to Writing Assignment 3. You may also free write your thoughts on the article.
  2. Find connections within the article from your annotations and create new connections within this first draft.
  3. Now you can begin your summary or continue free-writing with specific connections to your annotations.
     • You should have a robust draft with many ideas that can be reworked and pared down.
     • Include additional information and research that supports your view and opinion. If necessary, identify sections that will require additional research and information to support your view.
• Summarize the article. Consider the following points when writing your summary:
  1. Introduce the article’s title, name of the author, and the author’s thesis statement or the central point.
  2. Maintain a neutral tone and be objective.
  3. Use the third person perspective and use the present tense.
  4. Focus on the text. Limit your comments to presenting the text’s key points.
  5. Write all/most of your summary in your own words. If you borrow a phrase or sentence from the text, place the phrase or sentence in quotation marks and give the page number in parentheses.
  6. Do not state the author’s ideas as your own.
  7. Be concise.
• Analyze the article. Use your annotations to identify sections in the article that need clarification as well as significant or meaningful details. Consider the following questions when writing your analysis:
  1. What is the author’s thesis or central idea?
  2. What questions does the author address?
  3. Who is the audience (who is the author writing to)?
  4. How does the author relate key points to one another? How is the article structured?
  5. What strategies does the author use to generate interest in the argument and to persuade readers of its merit?
  6. What evidence does the author use to support the thesis? How persuasive is the evidence?
  7. Does the author anticipate objections and/or opposing views?
  8. Does the author use faulty reasoning?
• Use MLA format.
• Submit your first draft to this assignment.
  1. Use a separate document to save your draft.
  2. Copy your draft and paste it into this assignment, which will allow us to access your draft more easily and return it to you in a timely manner.
  3. Attach pictures of your annotations on the article, and any other related data if necessary.

You have one week to complete this task. Keep in mind that you will be continuing to write, review, and revise your analysis over the next several weeks, so, have fun and enjoy this process.

For further information, please review the “Music 9 Article Analysis” prompt in the “Course Documents” folder by clicking on this next link.  8-19-19 Article Analysis Prompt (5)-1.docx

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