For this assignment, you will be writing a critical analysis of Naomi Klein’s essay, “Let Them
Drown.” Your goal is to present a synthesis of Klein’s essay—a distillation of what it says that gives
the reader a robust sense of what the essay is like. There are no “rules” about what goes into a
critical analysis of this sort, but there are a few things that they tend to do.
• Summarize. Summary is an under-appreciated skill. A good critical analysis should help any
reader understand the argument that a writer is making, and do so in a relatively economical
fashion. Think of your task here as saving your reader time but without sacrificing the most
interesting or important details.
• Analyze. Analysis shows your reader not just what the text says but offers a critical
reflection on how it does it, or why it might matter. In other words, analysis moves beyond
summary to give the reader a sense of the stakes of the essay, and what makes the text
effective/ineffective. This might mean considering the intended audience of the text, the
examples the author uses, the language he/she employs, etc.
• Citation. In order to let the reader feel as if they have themselves read the text, you need to
cite the most important passages for them—the ones where the author states their argument
or most forcefully illustrates it. Think of citation as part of how you summarize and analyze.
• Detail. Like citation, details help reader see what the article is like. Without recapping the
entire article, you want to be able to show the reader how the text works—what kinds of
things it uses to make its argument or point.
• Other things. There are any number of other kinds of things you might include in a critical
analysis. (These could include a consideration of the publication venue, whether or not the
article is persuasive, the author’s intended or potential audience, etc.) Most importantly, you
want to highlight for your reader the questions that the article raises for you but does not
answer. In other words, what large questions does it raise beyond its specific focus? In short,
why does this essay matter?
• Publication information: A full bibliographic citation of the essay in MLA format.
Like any writing assignment, this will benefit from a clear, deliberate organization that helps the
reader understand your source. You are not required to do an outline for this assignment, but you
may find that it helps you organize your analysis and allows you to identify the most salient
information in Klein’s essay.

Writing Article

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