8
Readings: the Ways We Explain, the Examples We Choose
Introduction
In this module we discussed how to explain our positions with examples. Before you begin writing your own example paper, it will be useful to examine some essays that use examples to make a point. Thus, in the following sections you will find both a professional essay and a student essay that are kinds of critiques , judgments based on standards. This is the kind of example essay you will write for this module, so seeing how such an essay works will likely help you imagine how to proceed.
Professional Essay
It’s important to remember that professional essays don’t always look like the kinds of essays you are asked to produce in college. However, they share many of the same traits, even if they aren’t necessarily organized in as straightforward a manner as student pieces. Moreover, because professional writers are talented communicators, we can learn lessons from their work.
The first essay we are going to examine is a critique of a book. Remember, a critique is basically a review; its purpose is to be critical of a subject and to ultimately persuade the reader of its value. In some cases, critiques warn readers to avoid something entirely. In other cases, critiques urge readers to experience something because of its excellence. In some other cases, especially in professional reviews, critiques point out both the successes and the flaws of something and have an ambivalent message; in other words, they may not definitively rule for or against their subjects but instead seek to provide a better understanding of their strengths and weaknesses, and it is up to each reader to decide whether the “thing” under discussion is worth encountering.
As you read, ask yourself the following active reading questions to make sure you are engaging thoughtfully with the essay:
- Does the essay have a thesis statement ? If so, where is it?
- Does the essay provide a summary of the book it is discussing? If so, where is it?
- What points does the author make about the book to support her main idea?
- Is the article ambivalent? In other words, does it have mixed emotions about its subject matter? If it is, where does it present those mixed emotions?
- How does the essay’s conclusion reinforce its main idea?
Select and read this essay, “Review: The Fishermen by Chigozie Obioma ”
Now that you’ve read it over, let’s return to the active reading questions we asked at the beginning in order to get a better sense of how this essay works.
Question 1. Does the essay have a thesis statement ? If so, where is it?
Although some professional essays lack an overt thesis and make their case by articulating many excellent examples and implying a main point, this one makes a fairly direct central claim.
Directions: Select the topic below to reveal more information.
The first sentence compares the first impression the book The Fisherman makes on readers to “a car spluttering on starting up.” The rest of the first paragraph continues lamenting aspects of the novel, saying that its first chapters are “descriptive to the point of fastidiousness” (which means they are overdone) and that the “ordinary” characters and incidents in the book “are presented almost with affectation.” Affectation means a kind of pretentious artificiality; in other words, the author of the essay is saying that the writer of The Fishermen overdoes his descriptions to the point that his art seems forced and unnatural.
Then, in the second paragraph the book is presented in a slightly better light, as the essay writer calls the book’s plot “ingenious” and says that reading the book becomes “engaging” as it goes on. However, the last sentence of the second paragraph says that “it’s difficult to shed that first impression” of the novel (that it is like “a car spluttering on starting up”). Thus, this last sentence, taken with the rest of the essay’s introduction, acts as the essay’s thesis: Morosetti (the essay’s writer) is saying that the book never completely recovers from its shortcomings.
This essay’s third paragraph provides an overall summary of the book it is discussing. Summaries are very important when you write a critique of a narrative, be it a novel, a TV show, a movie, or even a story-driven video game like a role playing game, because they help readers understand the basic gist of what is being discussed. Notice, however, that the summary here is short and to the point; most of the essay is comprised of specific points the author is making about the novel she is discussing that explain why it succeeds or fails.
Question 3. What points does the author make about the book to support her main idea?
Paragraphs four through ten all make points that contribute to the author’s main idea. Briefly speaking, we could break them down like this:
Directions: Select the topic below to reveal more information.
Question 4. Is the article ambivalent? In other words, does it have mixed emotions about its subject matter? If it is, where does it present those mixed emotions?
As we have seen, most of the essay is a negative review of The Fishermen . However, paragraph five has nice things to say about the book, and the second paragraph says that over time it becomes “engaging” for the reader. Also, the concluding paragraph says that it is “highly ambitious and makes for interesting reading” and that it has “some of the ingredients of a remarkable work.” Thus, even though it leans to the negative, the review also suggests that the book has its positive points, so we could make a case that it is an ambivalent critique.
Question 5 . How does the essay’s conclusion reinforce its main idea?
The last paragraph of the essay says that though the book is “remarkable” in some ways, it “suffers, heavily, from its very own cleverness.” That “cleverness” is what Morosetti alluded to early in the first paragraph when she said the book was “presented almost with affectation;” she thinks it overreaches and can be too artificial or hung up on its clever wordplay and intellectual ideas when it needs to be believable and relatable. This all hearkens back to the last sentence of the second paragraph, which argues that “it’s difficult to shed that first impression” of the book, the negative impression she discusses at the very beginning of the whole essay. Thus, the conclusion ties everything together.
Now let’s take a look at a student critique. As you read, notice the annotations that we’ve provided pointing out the essay’s important parts, like its thesis statement and topic sentences. You’ll notice that this essay isn’t ambivalent; it provides a glowing review of an ex-pro football player, Lester Hayes. It proceeds in a clear and logical way, providing a hook at the beginning, a thesis statement at the end of the introduction, several body paragraphs full of examples and details to help prove its various points, and a conclusion that urges readers to appreciate the player in question.
Select and read this essay, “ Lester Hayes: My Favorite Raider ” by Fletcher Krause.
” Review: The Fishermen by Chigozie Obioma ” by Tiziana Morosetti is licensed under CC BY-ND 4.0 .
” Lester Hayes: My Favorite Raider ” by Fletcher Krause, Florida State College at Jacksonville is licensed under CC BY 4.0 .
