Writing Homework Help

What you are critiquing is not the “problem” itself (e.g. child welfare, racism, etc.), but the way in which that “problem” is represented in the media – is it represented accurately/sensitively or problematically or both. There is a slight difference and that is the nuance I am trying to get you to think through. Therefore part of this critique would also involve critiquing those who are representing the problem (e.g. mainstream Canadian media, Canadian television, researchers, or whoever else depending on which source material you choose).

Generally speaking, this is what I want your critique to look like:

1) Summary of the source material (don’t get into the analysis here but simply tell me what the material is about)

After summarizing, I want you to provide a short and clear thesis statement explaining what your critique/analysis hopes to convey to the reader. (e.g. will your critique show how {media) representations uphold stereotypes, will your critique show how (media) representations are implicated in ongoing process of settler-colonialism, will your critique show how (media) representations in fact challenge dominant narratives of settler-colonialism, etc.)

If you want, and this is strongly suggested, give me a “road map” of how you will provide evidence and analysis to support your thesis statement (e.g. In the following sections, I will do w, x, y and z to support this thesis statement

Word of advice, it is important not to rush into your analysis and tell me everything right away, reveal everything gradually – walk me through your thinking as a writer and analyst. This is why this assignment is this long. If you rush into what you want to say you will find yourself repeating things and you will get to page 2 of your assignment and have told me everything

2) This middle section is your analysis/critique of the source material

Identify 3-4 observations/interpretations of the source material that will become the main body of your critique and can be placed under 3-4 subheadings

You can select these 3-4 things by identifying certain language, literary devices, tropes, themes, scenes, etc. from your source material (so for example, in the media clip on Wet’suwet’en protests, Global News frames the land defenders, hereditary chiefs, and band council as being unable to work together, which perpetuates tropes/ideas that Indigenous peoples are unable to work together and require benevolent intervention by Canada…..then tell me more about why you say this, give me more details/evidence/interpretations/literature to support this idea). This then will be come 1 observation and this could be put under one subheading….continue on to the next observation and so on and so forth.

3) This is you final concluding section that brings everything together

You want to restate your thesis statement in the beginning and explain to the reader how it connects back to all the evidence/analysis you just showed me in the middle section.

You can discuss a few more reflections here about what you just analyzed in the previous section – however this should be very high-level reflections/conclusions and don’t start giving me more small details like you did previously, save that for the middle section

What I DO NOT want to see in this final section are solutions to the “problem”, this is not what is being asked of you. So for example, I do not want to see conclusions such as the Canadian government should do x, y and z, or such and such needs to be done in order to promote decolonization. Your objective in this assignment is to uncover the meaning and complexities on how the “problem” has been represented, what can be learned and understood about things such as settler-colonialism, Indigenous resistance, mainstream media, or whatever you thesis statement is trying to argue through your critique. Your job in this assignment is to be an analyst and interpreter. Your job is not to be a politician and activist that proposes solutions.