Critical Analysis: The Art of Argument

CRITICAL ANALYSIS: The Art of Argument
Critical Analysis of _______________________________________________________
ELEME
NT
DESCRIPTION CRITICAL ANALYSIS (Provide
supporting quotes and evidence
whenever possible)
Reliabili
ty
(CRAAP)
C – stands for currency, which
means that the subject matter
which is needed to be rhetorically
analyzed is talking about, or
dealing with, any current
situation or contemporary/
modern issue or not and how
does the current situation being
incorporated in the literary piece.
R – stands for relevance, which
means that what is the relevance
of the topic or subject matter that
has been discussed and analyzed.
Relevance means how the
respective issue is applicable to
the recent times.
A – Stands for authority. Under
the authority wing of CRAAP
analysis, the educators who
would be conducting the analysis
would look for the author,
publisher, or sponsor before they
can trust the information. The
education level of the author
should also be analyzed in order
to help the analyzer know
Identify the reliability of the authors
and the article.
C – The author is talking about the
current situation of the sports
industry that has become more
neo-liberalized and started
commercially marketing sports in
the backdrop of globalization and
consumerism.
R – The respective topic that is
critically analyzed is relevant with
the current and contemporary
situation of trade and commerce
and how the new, modernized
world is shaping the
advertisement market through
sports sponsorship.
A – The article “Is there room for
sports to get even more
commercialized?” is written by Joe
Pinsker in the news journal “The
Atlantic”. Joe Pinsker is a staff
writer of “The Atlantic” and he
covers families and education.
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whether the author is eligible to
write such piece or not. The
source of the written material will
help the analyzer know that
information can be used and
trusted in proper manner or not.
A – stands for Accuracy. Accuracy
gives importance on the
trustworthiness of the sources,
accuracy of the contents and how
the source connects to the origin
of the piece. Evidence must
include observations, research
findings and notes taken down
during field work. Accuracy also
checks whether the literary piece
is reviewed or verified from other
source of common knowledge
(such as peer reviewed journals)
P – stands for Purpose. The
purpose shows the intention of
the author and what does he/she
try to convey through the literary
piece. The purpose can be a
“propaganda” , “an opinion”, or a
biased or unprejudiced
observation depending upon the
topic and the occasion of the
writing.
A – The article has been written
after a deep introspection about
market studies, consumerism,
sports sponsorship and sports
marketing. The author has also
taken excerpts from interviews of
sports media personalities and
houses.
P – The purpose of the article is to
put an idea of the heights of
consumerism and marketing
psychology that plays in sports
marketing and sports sponsorship.
It also talks about the pros and
cons of massive corporate sports
sponsorships and advertisements.
Argume
nt
Styles
Aristotle:Rhetoric strategies used to
persuade an audience
1. Ethos : when an argument is
constructed on the basis of ethics
and credibility
2. Pathos : when an argument is
constructed with appealing
emotions
3. Logos : when an argument is
constructed on logic or reason
What type of rhetoric strategies is the
author using to persuade the reader?
The rhetoric strategy used in the
article is “ethos” as the argument that
is constructed in the respective article
has been presented based on the
values of ethics and credibility. For
instance, in an area, the article has
highlighted the promotion of sports
through sponsorships that is strictly
aligned to ethics of athleticism and not
monetary gain.
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Claims
in
Argume
nt
Claims in Argument:
1. value claim –
2. policy claim –
3. Arguable claim –
4. Specific claim –
5. Realistic claim –
What claims/assertions does the
author use in attempt to prove logic
and evidence?
The claim the author uses in attempt
to prove the logic, evidence or ethics
behind his article is “arguable claim”
where he argues about the ultimate
credibility and long –term humanistic
utility of sports marketing or sports
sponsorship by media, business houses
and corporations. The author argues
about the effects such marketing has
on public, audience, athletes, followers
and market.
Purpose Purposes for Arguing:
• State or defend a viewpoint
• Change a situation
• Critique a viewpoint, position, or
text
• Expose a problem/raise awareness
• Solidify an opinion
• Reach a compromise
What purpose does the author have for
the argument?
The author has been arguing by
criticizing a viewpoint, which is sports
marketing/ sponsorship, its effects,
pros and cons and the reactions of
such sponsorship on players,
businessmen and general public.
Tone &
Langua
ge
Language and tone: reveal author’s
underlying attitude toward the subject
matter
•
Strong emotional words show bias
•
Denotation: Non-symbolic
, literal,
dictionarydefinition of a word
•
Connotation: Refers to
suggested, implied, or
symbolic
meaning
• Tone is
implied through
connotation.
What is the author’s underlying
attitude or emotion to the argument?
What adjectives and language does
the author use to convey tone? What
strong emotional words does the
author use which show bias?
The author utilizes the language of
connotation and tone to convey his
ideas and analysis in the article. The
author has given examples as
implications about sports sponsorship
in certain companies and sports teams
by depicting how difficult or easy the
commercialization of sports was for
corporate firms and leagues at the
same time in different paradigm.
Strong emotional words are present in
the article that shows “bias” such as “I
would be surprised, from what I know
about Capitalism” and “I can’t help but
wonder”. Such phrases have made it
clear that the author is biased to a
particular ideology and is questioning
anything different from what he
believes is right.
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