The Context of Critical Analysis

In which she attempts to discuss various interpretations. Read only the text of the essay, ignoring for the moment the words in the margins.

Now take note of what is written in the margins. In the left-hand margin we describe what the student is doing: is she summarizing of the interpretations? comparing and contrasting one with another? pointing out strengths and weaknesses of particular interpretations? making a judgement about the relative worth of different interpretations?

In the right-hand margin we select those key words from the essay a which identify what the student is doing at each stage. They are s ignposts to guide the reader through the text - a kind of code that reveals the pattern of the student's thinking. Thus phrases like ‘She notes that ...', ‘she attributes ...', ‘He believes ...' tell us that the student is summarizing another writer's On the other hand, ‘differences may be due to . . .' suggests a tentative judgement by the student in which she tries to explain why the interpretations are different.

Go back now and read the text again, including what is written in the margins. Notice particularly where the writer is summarizing and where she is making judgements

What did you notice? That most of the marginal comments and the key words had to do with summarizing different writers' views? That, apart from the last paragraph, there was almost no question­ing or judgement from the student?