WMST2500 Reading Strategy Sheet (10% of your final mark)

Due October 12^th (2500B) or Oct. 13^th (2500A)

Your name: Your tutorial group:

Goal of this assignment: to sharpen your reading skills and strengthen your ability to analyze

1. Title: ____________________

What kinds of associations are triggered in your mind by this title? Do you have any guesses or predictions as to what the article might be about?

2. Author's Name:

Have you read any other pieces by this author? What background information (Marxist? Canadian? Vegetarian? Poet?) or context do you have that might indicate particular content matter or characteristic

style?

3. Copyright Date and place of publication :

What do you know about the time period when and/or culture where this article was written?

4. Assumed audience. Given your answers to 1, 2 & 3 above, what kind of audience do you think the author is trying to reach?

5. Opening paragraph: What are your impressions of the article's introductory paragraph?

What have you learned so far, and what do you think will be the main point of the article? Any clues as to *how* the author's main points will be argued?

6. Political point of view:

Does the author identify herself as speaking from a particular feminist perspective? What do you know about this perspective and how might it affect the kind of subject matter this author writes about and the kind of argument being made?

If the author doesn't identify herself in a particular way, can you make an identification based on evidence from the article? For example, if you think the text is written from a liberal feminist perspective, cite a relevant passage from the text to support your view.

7.Argument Checklist:

What kind of evidence is the author using to support her views (other scholarly research? Interviews? Scientific studies? Something else?)

How credible are the sources? (How) can you tell?

Are there points which are simply assumed to be true (and not argued)?

Is the argument internally cohesive?

8. The Conclusion:

Do the conclusions follow from the evidence presented?

Are the 'facts' open to more than one interpretation? Could a person arrive at a different conclusion using the same information? If so, give an example.

9. Overall Impressions and Course Context:

A. What does this article contribute to your knowledge of women's studies (both subject matter & style of presentation)

B. How does this author's view and/or treatment of feminism/women's experiences compare to other works on the course or other texts you've read?

C. What assumptions of your own were challenged by this topic or argument?

10. Write a short summary giving your overall impressions of this article. Choose a short passage (a paragraph or so) that you think is crucial to your overall interpretation of the text. Type it out. Do a brief analysis of the passage. Please use the back of this sheet or attach a separate piece of paper.

Now, what is an analysis? Every one of your university courses asks for analysis, but students are rarely given instruction on what an analysis involves. So here's a helpful beginning (tape it to your computer!):

An extended *analysis* of a critical piece would involve thinking about (at least!) all of the questions you've just answered and analyzing relationships among all of these variables. Analysis, in other words = description (what the piece is 'about') + your response (loved it/hated it/rang true or didn't...) + form (ethnography, interviews, theorizing from experience, meta-theory etc.) + theory (techniques? purposes? Social criticism? Emerges from a particular type of feminist theory?) + relationship to course materials + historical and cultural context (when written?? Why? What else was going on at this time? What were other writers saying? What were activists saying? What was no one saying?) + author's intentions (sometimes this is obvious...to change public policy? get better funding for scientific study? To keep girls out of hockey? Maybe the intention of the author is less important than the piece's effect upon the reader?) + _____

If you can apply this reading strategy (or some variation) to all your academic reading, you are well on your way to *analyzing* material. You will need this skill for all of your assignments - including the annotated bibliography due next month.