ENGL 1101 Comp I MITCHELL: Analyze Your Source

Currency: When was the information published or last updated?

Relevance: What is the depth/coverage of info? Who is the intended audience? How well does the source answer your questions?

Authority: Who wrote the information? What are their credentials? Are they affiliated with a company? A non-profit? A university? **Look for a Contact Us or About Us page.**

Accuracy: Are there any citations? Do the links work? Where are the links going? Can you verify the information elsewhere?

Purpose: Does the website aim to teach? Inform? Sell? Entertain? Persuade? Is it .gov? .edu? .com?

• Does the author successfully support the thesis or claim?  Is the point held consistently throughout the text, or does it wander at any point?
• Is the evidence the author used effective for the intended audience? How might the intended audience respond to the types of evidence that the author used to support the thesis/claim?
• What rhetorical moves do you see the author making to help achieve his or her purpose? Are there word choices or content choices that seem to you to be clearly related to the author’s agenda for the text?
• Describe the tone in the piece. Is it friendly? Authoritative? Does it lecture? Is it biting or sarcastic? Does the author use simple language, or is it full of jargon? Does the language feel positive or negative? Point to aspects of the text that create the tone; spend some time examining these and considering how and why they work. (Learn more about tone in Section 4.5 “Tone, Voice, and Point of View.”)
• Is the author objective, or does he or she try to convince you to have a certain opinion? Why does the author try to persuade you to adopt this viewpoint? If the author is biased, does this interfere with the way you read and understand the text?
• Do you feel like the author knows who you are? Does the text seem to be aimed at readers like you or at a different audience? What assumptions does the author make about their audience? Would most people find these reasonable, acceptable, or accurate?
• Does the text’s flow make sense? Is the line of reasoning logical? Are there any gaps? Are there any spots where you feel the reasoning is flawed in some way?
• Does the author try to appeal to your emotions? Does the author use any controversial words in the headline or the article? Do these affect your reading or your interest?
• Do you believe the author? Do you accept their thoughts and ideas? Why or why not?

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