Student Sample

Shared with permission from Gurvir Singh Winter 2023 in Professor Thavaratnam’s COMM 171 class

Critique Essay Outline Template

(10%)

Part 1
Using the source, you picked in Unit 2, identify the rhetorical context in point-form:
Author: The author has experience writing about this topic as she is a polio survivor.
Purpose: She wants people to know about the dangers of MAID
Genre: Opinion piece in a news paper
Language: General for the general public to understand
Timeliness: It is current and relates to the new bill that was passed.

Part 2:
What types of persuasive techniques has the writer used? Your author may have used one or all three.
Provide an example to support your response:

Ethos (appealing to authority): She uses people that have disabilities to share their experience. She also
talks about her experience as a polio survivor.

Pathos (appealing to the audience’s emotions): She uses captivating vocabulary and personal stories
from people to convince the reader.

Logos (using facts, evidence, logic) She uses a lot of facts and figures that are current.
Part 3:
Fill out the t-chart and evaluate the effectiveness of the article using the CRAAP TEST. Circle yes or no
and then explain and find an example from the text. Some instructors will do this with you in class if you
are part of a DLO or in person session.

Currency Relevance Authority Accuracy Purpose

Is it current: Yes or Is it relevant: Yes Does the author Is the article Does the author
No or No have experience accurate? You may achieve their
discussing the need to do a little purpose? Yes or
topic? Are there bit of fact No
authority figures checking. Yes or
used in the No
supports? Yes or
No

Yes in paragraph It is relevant Yes the author is a It's hard to fact I’m not too sure
one she discusses because many polio survivor and check because the with this one.
that the bill was people want to uses her author uses a lot
just passed and a know about this experience to of personal
judge allowed to bill. They may discuss this. stories. These I think so…? She
people to be able have loved ones personal stories uses different
to participate in going through the aren’t types of appeals to
medically assisted same situation. “googleable” convince the
death even though reader I guess.
their disability was
not terminal.

The author has

written many op-
eds for the same
newspaper.
Part 4: Outline
Write in complete sentences or bullet point form. Make sure that your ideas are
clear if you are using point form. Use ONE of the frameworks below in each of
your response sections: Currency, Relevance, Authority, Accuracy, Purpose,
Appeal to emotion, Bias, Generalizations. If there is a different framework you
would like to use, you must have it approved by your instructor.

Introduction

Hook: Is MAID a Hobson’s Choice in disguise?

Title, author, year, published in, context:

The article “Liberty or equality? Unrestricted access to medically assisted death

endangers vulnerable people” by Ruth Enns was published in the CBC on 12 th
October 2019. By the medium of this write-up, the author intends to familiarize
the audience with changes introduced to Bill C-14 back in 2019 and her concerns
regarding the same.
Create a thesis statement that indicates your evaluation of the source. In other
words, do you think the article you have read is effective or ineffective? Write ONE
sentence that responds to this question. Choose one side : effective or flawed:

This article is not well written because it lacks relevancy and accuracy.

Summary
Write a topic sentence that summarizes the main idea of the source article and
mention the main points of the source article.
The Article “Liberty or equality? Unrestricted access to medically assisted death
endangers vulnerable people”, written by Ruth Enns, was published in the CBC on
12th October 2019. In this essay, the author discusses the Quebec Superior Court
Ruling regarding MAID and the changes it introduced to the restrictions for
people with disabilities to access MAID. According to the author, this ruling does
not bring equality to the physically challenged and instead makes them more
exposed to social pressure to die with dignity. She also believes these changes
create a huge power imbalance between the medical professionals and the
person requesting death. She provides readers with examples of people, like
Roger Foley and Candice Lewis’s Mother, who were offered MAID involuntarily
and accused of being selfish upon refusal. The author concludes the essay by
saying unhindered

Response Segment 1
Write a topic sentence choosing another framework that evaluates the article. In
other words, is the article written well or are there gaps and flaws.
The author Ruth Enns reflects her viewpoint, but it lacks relevance to the question
of whether the new laws are for the better or worse of the physically challenged.

Use evidence (examples, quotations, and analysis) to support the topic sentence
and comment on the evidence.
Throughout the article, the author fails to mention any benefits that the
changes may have introduced which is not relevant to the topic.
For Example-
1. The author asserts that these changes create a power imbalance between the
medical professionals and the patients and does not touch upon the fact that it
reduces a patient’s suffering immensely.
2. The writer does not mention anything about those whose lives were changed
by the new laws.
Enns could have made the article much more fitting had she considered both
these schools of thoughts and then came up with her thesis.

Response Segment 2
Write a topic sentence choosing another framework that evaluates the article. In
other words, is the article written well or are there gaps and flaws.

The author uses plenty of examples and arguments to back her opinions and to
persuade the readers, but the pieces of evidence she uses are misinterpreted and
do not convey the same message as intended by the writer.

Use evidence (examples, quotations, and analysis) to support the topic sentence
and comment on the evidence
1. In Paragraph 3, the author gives an example of Candice Lewis’s mother who;
was ill-treated by the medical staff, except, according to the writer of the link
provided in the essay, the doctors only suggested that she had another option
too.
2. The writer’s suggestion that removing safeguards will make people with
disabilities more vulnerable to social pressure is just an opinion unsupported by
any statistics or facts.
3. The author only uses her personal experience to make claims for the future
which cannot produce a fruitful and fair result.
Had the author used any research or survey to prove her claims and presented
the examples given as they were supposed to be conceived, the article would
have been more accurate.

Conclusion

Restate the thesis statement :

In the article “Liberty or equality? Unrestricted access to medically assisted death
endangers vulnerable people”, Ruth Enns puts her vocabulary and authority to a
great use but lacks the relevance and accuracy to make her essay a worthwhile
read. She could have used more stats and facts to support her opinions and make
her essay meticulous

Restate the main points:

The author discusses the potential problems a physically challenged person may
come through due to the changes introduced by the Quebec Court Ruling and
how it will make them vulnerable to social pressure.

Add a memorable statement :

In conclusion, for a piece of writing to be engaging and have a mass appeal, the
writer must make clever use of vocabulary, shreds of evidence, facts, and
statistics. Deductive reasoning and cohesive essay formation make for a good
read and helps writers with good delivery. This also aids the writers to come up
with a clear and concise response that makes a deep impact on the readers.