Text analysis Letter from Birmingham Jail Martin Luther King, Jr.

Text Analysis Your Task: Rely on your reading and analysis of paragraphs 1–21 of “Letter from Birmingham Jail” to write a well-developed response to the following prompt:  Determine King’s purpose in paragraphs 1-21 of “Letter from Birmingham Jail” and analyze how he uses rhetoric and specific word choices to advance that purpose.  Your writing will be assessed using the Text Analysis Rubric Guidelines   Closely read the prompt   Address all elements of the prompt in your response   Paraphrase, quote, and reference relevant evidence to support your claim   Organize your ideas in a cohesive and coherent manner   Maintain a formal style of writing   Follow the conventions of standard written English 

Text Analysis Argument: The composition of precise claims about a topic, including relevant and sufficient evidence, and valid reasoning. Central Claim: An author or speaker’s main point about an issue in an argument. Supporting Claim: Smaller, related points that reinforce or advance the central claim. Evidence: The topical and textual facts, events, and ideas from which the claims of an argument arise, and which are cited to support those claims. Reasoning: The logical relationships among ideas, including relationships among claims and relationships across evidence.

Rhetoric Rhetoric refers to the specific techniques that writers or speakers use to create meaning in a text, enhance a text or a speech, and in particular, persuade readers or listeners. We use rhetoric in everyday speech to persuade others to agree with a particular point of view. Several rhetorical techniques that you may be familiar with are, figurative language, rhetorical questions, and alliteration.  

Rhetorical devices found in THIS TEXT Rhetorical Questions: Questions that a speaker or writer asks but does not necessarily expect the reader or listener to answer directly. Rather, rhetorical questions are meant to cause the reader or listener to think.  Figurative language: language that differs from the literal meaning of words and phrases.  Alliteration: the repetition of sounds at the beginning of words or in stressed syllables.  Appeal to ethos: an appeal to a listener or reader’s conscience or sense of what is right or ethical. Repetition: the act of saying or writing something again. Contrast: comparison that shows the differences. Parallel structure: using the same pattern of words to show that two or more ideas are equally important.   Logos: appeal to logic or reason 

Argument Delineation Tool This will help you create logical arguments in your text analysis

Central Claim:   Supporting Claim:   Evidence: Explain how the evidence is relevant: Explain whether the evidence is sufficient: Reasoning: Explain whether the reasoning is valid: Evidence: Explain how the evidence is relevant: Explain whether the evidence is sufficient:   Reasoning: Explain whether the reasoning is valid:

Text Analysis Outline INTRODUCTION Topic Sentence Attention-Getter Necessary Information Author’s full name Analysis of Quote Title of the story Brief plot summary or introduction to the story  BODY PARAGRAPH 3 Thesis statement  BODY PARAGRAPH 1 Topic Sentence- Introduce Quote Quote CONCLUSION Analysis of Quote  Restate your thesis  Connection to central idea Restate your reasons/examples BODY PARAGRAPH 2 Wrap it up with your final thoughts and/or clincher

Introduction A = Attention-Getter: The first sentence or two should be an attention-getter. There are many ways to write an attention- getter: Ask a question Use a relevant quote from the story itself or from somewhere else Use a fact or statistic Use an anecdote (a short story that illustrates a point) N = Necessary Information: Necessary information for a literary analysis includes: Author's full name Title of the story Brief plot summary or introduction to the story (no more than a few sentences) T = Thesis: The last sentence of your introduction should be your thesis.  The thesis is what you are trying to "prove" in your essay.  It is the guiding statement for the rest of the paragraphs and should focus on some specific aspect of the story such as a trait of one of the characters, the theme, the setting, or a literary element like irony, foreshadowing, or repetition. Example of Thesis: In her poem, “Barbie Doll,” Marge Piercy uses imagery to portray a young woman’s struggle with self-image. Piercy suggests that society’s emphasis on beauty is detrimental to young women.

Body Paragraphs T = Topic sentence: write a topic sentence for the paragraph.  A topic sentence needs a focus or limiting idea.  In a rhetorical analysis your topic is an argument that supports your thesis and your focus is the rhetorical device used:      Topic Sentence: In the second stanza, Piercy again uses imagery, this time to describe the girl’s failure to meet societal standards. = Introduce quote: Before you write the quote that provides evidence to support your topic sentence, you need to introduce it.  You need to give some context or setting to the quote.  If someone is speaking the quoted words, you should tell your reader who is talking. The quote cannot "exist" on its own--it must be attached to this introduction sentence  Q = Quote: provide a quote from the text that supports the topic sentence.  A quote can be actual words spoken by a character, or it can be other non-spoken words that appear in the text.  A = Analysis: explain to the reader (in 2-3 sentences) how the quote supports your topic, or how it proves your thesis to be true.  DO NOT just restate the quote in your own words.  You have to analyze it, which means you have to explain how it proves the point you are trying to make.  For example, in a character analysis, you are showing how the quote proves that the character has the trait you identified.

Conclusion To write a successful conclusion, remember the 3 R's Conclusion To write a successful conclusion, remember the 3 R's! R = Restate your thesis R = Restate your reasons  R = Wrap it up 3 step process: Restate your thesis in different words.  Remind the reader what the focus of your paper was and what you have "proven." Restate your reasons or examples that you used in the topic sentences of the body paragraphs.  Summarize and show how all of your reasons fit together. Wrap it up with your final thoughts and/or a clincher. Final thoughts: Show the importance of the analysis that you have been making in the paper.  What is the last thing you want to say about this topic? Clincher: This is a statement that leaves the reader thinking "Wow!"  It often goes back to your attention-getter in the introduction and mirrors it in some way, or you can make a statement about the future of the subject you've been writing about.