Analysis of Argument

[ally1784]

Hi guys, I'm in year 10 and for analysis of argument, I've been looking at 2 texts. However, sometimes I struggle to identify the issue, contention, and purpose, I'm afraid that if I misinterpret the given texts and identify the wrong issue, it'll affect my entire essay. How do I work on this to improve?

[Owlbird83]

Hi guys, I'm in year 10 and for analysis of argument, I've been looking at 2 texts. However, sometimes I struggle to identify the issue, contention, and purpose, I'm afraid that if I misinterpret the given texts and identify the wrong issue, it'll affect my entire essay. How do I work on this to improve?

Hey, I think that practice is the main way you'll be able to improve at this. The title sometimes gives a good hint on the direction of the article. Look at the first or second paragraphs for the key info, but if you can't find the contention/purpose at the beginning of an article, maybe try looking at the concluding sentences to see if the author has left any final suggestions to readers. My year 10 English teacher told me to start reading the newspaper, and I think this would be really helpful in exposing yourself to a few articles in the wild every so often, even if it's just ones you may find interesting, I think it'll help you get quicker and more used to identifying the issues/contention/purpose. Hope that helps a bit

[TSEtuition]

Hi guys, I'm in year 10 and for analysis of argument, I've been looking at 2 texts. However, sometimes I struggle to identify the issue, contention, and purpose, I'm afraid that if I misinterpret the given texts and identify the wrong issue, it'll affect my entire essay. How do I work on this to improve?

I second Owlbird83's advice about practice! But I would also point out that you said you've only looked at 2 texts, so I wouldn't stress too much about the fact that it feels hard and confusing! Just take it slowly and look at the piece calmly - what's the problem as identified by the author? Are they suggesting anything should be done about it? What's the author's main point if they could only write a sentence instead of a whole article? It helps if you have a set question you can ask yourself for each thing you're supposed to find

If you're interested, I've got a playlist of videos here about the Argument Analysis essay - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4r1rwa5lec0&list=PLKOm-s25Y8DaRNJtWYkXzxuDAiLoE5vzJ