Analytical Paragraphs

Question 1

Claim

Answer 1

What the paragraph aims to prove

-Implied or directly revealed in the text
-Not stated outright

Question 2

Evidence

Answer 2

The material you use to support your claim

Question 3

Analysis

Answer 3

Close-Read the evidence to show hwo it supports the claims

Question 4

X reveals Y (what is X and Y)

Answer 4

X=Something specific in the text that everyone agrees with

Y= Interpretation you aim to prove

Question 5

Too Factual

Answer 5

Doesn’t give you enough to do

-Fact posing to be a claim
-Interpretation that without being stated outright could be clearly indicated by the text that most everyone agrees

Question 6

Too Vague

Answer 6

Doesn’t clearly state enough you’re trying to demonstrate

-not thought carefully enough about what the text is saying
-Poems rhythm gives insight on the natural world (what about the natural world, what type of rhythm)

Question 7

Too Broad

Answer 7

Cannot be proven in a single paragraph of reasonable length

Taylor Swift’s “All Too Well” presents a series of recollected moments to expose the speaker’s feeling of loss. (Maybe just one moment is enough for a single paragraph: do more with less.)

Question 8

Too Complex

Answer 8

A claim should state a single idea not more

Swift’s “All Too Well” presents the speaker’s feeling of loss, showing how recurring memories prevent the speaker from moving on by keeping the pain alive, because the recollection of past happiness intensifies the experience of
present pain. (I count at least four ideas—which is the paragraph trying to prove?)

Question 9

Unprovable

Answer 9

A claim must be non-obvious statement that can be supported by evidence

-Value Judgements (personal preference) cannot be proved
-Evidence you need, as to exist in the text

• Swift’s “All Too Well” shows that the speaker has a harder time moving on from this relationship because
  memories of past happiness keep renewing her pain. (The song says nothing about previous breakups, so
  how do we know this one is different? “Harder time” is a comparison, but we have nothing to compare to.)
• “All Too Well” reveals that breakups are invariably due to cruelty on the part of the man and excessive
  innocence on the part of the woman. (Illegitimate use of evidence: this may be true of the breakup portrayed in this song, but it’s not reasonable to generalize to all breakups. llegitimate generalization from a small sample of evidence is stereotyping, which can often be hurtful and is always a fallacy.)