Article Analysis: Bartleby the Scrivener

Context

Pages 49-53 and 62-65 in The Little Seagull Handbook discuss rhetorical and literary analyses, respectively. In both of these types of analysis, you, the writer, are engaging with a text and drawing out its implicit argument, or, in other words, you are uncovering the meaning within that text. This meaning is not always straightforward, like in works of fiction or poetry. On the other hand, there are situations where an author might tell you one meaning, but the text itself suggests something else, like in, say, a political speech or an advertising campaign.

Instructions

Engage in some kind of text during our snow day--this could be a book you're reading, a show you're watching, an advertisement you come across, a celebrity's tweet--anything. Then, use the skills in the sections of LSH mentioned above to conduct an analysis and write a one-page, double-spaced essay arguing your interpretation. Consider this a practice run for Essay #2! Submit your short essay here electronically.

Some Tips

Don't know where to start? Refer to the LSH. Our book offers helpful tips on conducting analyses.

Take a look at the list of analyses on our Modules page for inspiration: Critical Analysis in the World.

Grading

This will be graded out of 10 points based on the following criteria:

Objective