Guideline on How to Write the 501 Article Analysis

-Basically, you are analysing (commenting/evaluating) a given article.

-It can be a positive or negative analysis, or a combination of both.

The most important is students can analyse based on what they have
learnt/been taught on the critical elements and use that to analyse a
reading material. (eg-how well authors present their main ideas, how
strong the evidence are, how much the sources can be trusted, how
clear the points are delivered, how the author feels about the
topic/issue, how strong the arguments are presented/supported,
etc.)

-Each analysis must be supported with evidence from the given

article.(evidence in a form of types of supports used, words/phrases
used)

-Length of the analysis-About 600-800 words.

-Cover page for the analysis (Refer to the last page of this file)

-Font and spacing-Arial 11, 1.5 spacing

Suggested Format/Organisation and Sample Content of Analysis:

Example 1:

1st Para: State the issue discussed and the author’s argument

- The topic of the article

- The issue/s discussed-Words/expressions that can be used: “The issue
is…”, ”The issue discussed/put forward by the author is…”
- The author’s arguments/s-“The author’s argument/stand/position/view
on this topic is…”,
- ”The author thinks/believes/feels that…”

Then state the author’s purpose for writing the article,

 -Overall tone of the article-give examples of words/phrases used by the
author to indicate/reflect the author’s overall tone

-And intended -target audience-who should read this article?

e.g: The issue discussed by the author is whether organic food is better than
conventional food. This can be seen when the author’s main ideas focused
on the goodness of organic food, especially amidst the need for a healthier
lifestyle change. He mentioned benefits such as….The argument can be seen
stated clearly in the title of the article “......”. Therefore, the author’s stand
is that organic food has more …...than ….because of its….. The reason he
wrote this article is to convince readers to…..based on the benefits
mentioned in each paragraph. The article has a concerned and critical tone
when the authors listed health problems and risks due to years of
consuming conventionally grown food covered in chemical pesticides based
on extensive evidence from research done by….He used words such
as….”...”, “...”,”...” and “...” to express concern on….Thus, he is biased
against…..

2nd para: - Then, evaluate/analyse/comment on the main reasons given by the

author to support the argument (whether acceptable/logical/…) and why

- Reasons/main ideas given by the author

-mention the reason given,
-e.g: (Based on “More than half of Americans…article)

- After that, comment on/analyse the supporting points/reasoning/evidence

used by the author to support his/her reason

Words/expressions that can be used:

-“The author supports his argument by saying/mentioning that…”

-“His first reason is….”then comment on the reason-“His first reason helps to
explain why….

-“His other reason is…”

-“His explanation is….”

e.g: His first reason is that exercising helps to boost metabolism. This reason
helps to explain the author’s argument on why exercising is so important. He
supports his reason by referring to strong evidence like research that can verify
the benefit of exercising. One is by WHO that found aerobic exercises helped
increase metabolism up to 50 percent. He also refers to statistics by The
Malaysian Wellness Society where metabolic rate goes up to 70 percent when
performing even brief and simple exercises like cycling and skipping rope. He
then gave another reason why exercising is important, which is helping to
reduce stress. For this, he managed to find strong proof on how exercising
makes people feel better. He mentions research done by a well known and
trusted organization, which is The National Fitness Organisation.

-“His/her next reason is…”

-“He begins explaining by saying/referring/mentioning…”

-“He used/managed to use strong/hard evidence to support….”/He was

successful in explaining by using strong…”/”Strong/hard evidence are used
to…”

-“However, he did not use strong hard evidence to…”/”he failed to use
strong…”/”His evidence are weak/questionable

-“He did not elaborate/provide enough/any evidence on…/to support…

-“He did not offer any alternatives/suggestions/ideas to…”

-“The author simply/only…”

-“The author presents his/her argument by providing…”

-“The author presents his/her counter argument by saying/stating that…”/”The

author counter argues by…/refutes by….

-“The author presents the argument/argues by using an inductive/deductive

reasoning/approach”.

- Also comment on the type/s of reasoning used (inductive/deductive/a

combination/more inductive than…in organizing the paragraphs
-explain why it is inductive/deductive-give examples from the article

e.g: The author uses more inductive reasoning than deductive. This can be seen
when he started his article with many specific reasons/points/information in
each paragraph and ended it with possible conclusions/statements.

3rd para.: Next, analyse (evaluate) the author’s overall argument-valid or not?
complete or not?

Words/expressions that can be used:

-“The author’s argument is…This is because the evidence are…”/”The author’s

argument is…because/as he/she uses/referred to….”

-e.g: Overall, the author’s argument is valid as he has used many strong
evidence that can be verified to support his argument. He referred to many
researches that helped to show the strength of argument. His argument is also
complete. He has a counter argument that shows he was looking at a possible
problem and managed to refute the critics……

More expressions/words that can be used to analyse/comment on the

elaborations/evidence used to support an author’s argument in terms of
objectivity,validity,credibility and completeness

1) Positive evaluation
- Strong (for supporting points/evidence)
- Valid (for argument)
- Sound (for argument)
- verifiable/can be verified (for evidence)
- hard (for evidence)
- enough/adequate (for evidence)
- successful in/managed to…(for evidence)
- plausible (for evidence)
- trusted organization/body/website
- reliable organization/body/website
- well known organization/body/website
 - well established organization/body/website
- well supported/explained (for evidence)

2) Negative evaluation
- ….., there is a gap in the evidence
- (i.e:
- Questionable (can be used to analyse/comment on the evidence
used)
- did not mention clearly (lack of explanations on the evidence. Only
the name of the evidence is provided)
-
- “…failed/unsuccessful in using…”(using strong and hard evidence)
- Weak (for evidence)
- Clear explanation/strong evidence is missing
 UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MARA

ELC 501
ENGLISH FOR CRITICAL ACADEMIC
READING

ARTICLE ANALYSIS: (Title of the article)

PREPARED BY:
NAME: (STUDENT ID)

PREPARED FOR:
NAME:

DATE OF SUBMISSION: