Analytic Transitions

• Explain: make sense of something described just above.
• Build on: introduce the next step in a logical argument.
• Question: raise a doubt or even wholly undercut the prior argument.
• Note an unexpected consequence: this combines elements of the prior two: it builds on, but in a way that causes a tonal shift somewhat like calling into question.
• New angle: for example, you might consider sound after focusing on visuals.
• Zoom in: look at an instance of a trend or pattern noted just above.
• Zoom out: name the pattern which the prior ¶’s topic is an example of.
• Intensify: double down on a claim made just above, with (for example) more telling evidence.
• Give another example: keep this to a minimum. It means that the ¶ fails to take us somewhere new. See if you can’t present this new example as intensifying your argument, or offering a new angle on the topic.

Narrative Transitions

• Result: what happened next.
• Cause: what led to the events of the prior ¶
• Lateral shift in space: Meanwhile. back at the ranch…”
• Temporal shift: “Two weeks later, …”

• Plagiarism is a very serious offense in this course, at CGS, and in the wider BU community.
• Be respectful of me and of your fellow students in lecture and section. Focus on what other people are saying, and join in the discussion with insights or questions of your own.
• Bring your laptop to class so you can access your writing and other course materials as needed.
• Keep your laptop closed at all other times. Keep your phone in your bag, not your lap. Stand up to the power of your devices; don’t let them take charge of your attention.

1. YouTube #Education
2. the Rhetoric of Advertising
3. the Eloquence of Photographs
4. Data-Driven Campaign Ad Proposal

An Analytic ¶ Defined

• Open with a non-obvious claim about the topic. Perhaps:
  • … a claim that characterizes the topic.
  • … a claim that identifies its most salient quality.
  • … a claim that explains one quality by reference to another.
• Follow up with evidence: descriptive details that that prove your opening claim.

Read James Howard Kunstler, “The Public Realm and the Common Good,” a chapter in his 1996 book, Home from Nowhere: Remaking Our Everyday World for the 21st Century. Kunstler is a severe critic of the American landscape, particularly suburban sprawl, but more than his criticism I’m interested in his method of analysis, in his assertion that buildings “impart very clear messages to individuals” (39). What implicit message does your campus location impart to students—or perhaps to professors or general public?

Read Jane Jacobs, excerpts from two chapters in her groundbreaking 1961 book, The Death and Life of Great American Cities: “The Uses of Sidewalks” and “The Uses of Neighborhood Parks.”

• You may never have heard of her, but (as detailed in this NYTimers article) Jane Jacobs played a crucial role in preserving New York City in the sixties, an era in which the common wisdom saw cities not simply as dangerous but as outdated relics.

As you read, think about how well her argument jibes with your own experience. Can you think of places here at BU or in Boston which fit a pattern of use described by Jacobs?

At the same time, I want you to think about what Jacobs is doing, as a writer, to argue her thesis. So mark moments where Jacobs presents evidence of one kind or another. How many different sorts of evidence can you identify?

2 x 1 sentence writeup for each chapter: restate Jacobs’ thesis in your own words.

Come to class prepared to talk about Jacobs’ use of evidence. How does vivid description differ from statistics as a means of persuasion?

Read Erving Goffman, “Status, Territory and the Self,” a chapter from a 1971 book examining how people interact in public spaces. I expect this reading will be very helpful to anyone whose project is less interested in architecture than in human interactions.
collection of keyterms and ideas Make a collection of 6-10 keyterms and ideas from Goffman which strike you as relevant for the sorts of projects we’re working on. We’ll discuss your collection in class.

• Good writing is based on evidence, not merely opinion.
  • Interesting evidence does more than just confirm prior understanding — it complicates, teaches something new.
  • Vivid description makes readers experience evidence for themselves.
• Passionate argument makes readers care about the issue being argued.
• Stepwise structure helps readers follow your logic.
• A topic is not a thesis. But you need both a topic and a thesis.
• Almost all writing aims either to inform or to persuade — or both.
• So, besides knowing what you want to argue about your topic (your thesis), you need to know what the reader already understands or believes about your topic — what your essay takes as its starting point, its preliminary understanding.
  • Journalism tends to take as its starting point the understanding of a typical reader.
  • Academic writing tends to take as its starting point the understanding of experts in the field.