“America Needs its Nerds”
Common Errors
What is the prompt asking you to do?
• Not just analyze rhetorical devices but how he
develops his argument.
• Identify his argument and remember he is
arguing for a specific purpose
Argument VS Analysis
• Argument: You analyze the effectiveness of the
author’s ideas; in essence, you defend or refute
what he/she is saying; this deals strictly with the
ideas conveyed by the author
• Analysis: You don’t offer any insight into whether
or not you agree/disagree with the author;
instead, you merely analyze HOW he made his
argument (tone, comparisons, juxtapositions,
rhetorical questions, shifts in diction, sentence
structure, etc.) and why he chose to make it that
way
Content Errors
• Don’t slip into summary. Your job is to analyze how
Fridman develops his argument – not to evaluate,
make a judgment, or agree/disagree with the topic and
not to tell the reader what the essay was about
• Be careful that you are not summarizing the complexity
of an author’s ideas and assuming this is analysis; you
must address specific devices and techniques.
• Avoid talking about “effects on the reader;” instead
think about the audience, specifically the intended
audience
Content Errors
• You are always looking at rhetorical devices.
Don’t state that he uses rhetorical devices to
create his argument; just go right to analyzing:
Fridman begins his essay by…
• Discuss Rhetorical Strategies (NOT Literary
Devices)
– Some Rhetorical Strategies in this essay:
Comparison, Definition, Cause/Effect, Rhetorical Questions,
Exemplification
– Reminder: Literary devices are used to analyze
literature; rhetorical strategies are used to analyze
informational text
Content Errors: Rhetorical Devices
• Cause /effect – his argument of the US staying
a world power
• A call to action…Where would we be without
our nerds and how we should restore them to
their rightful position in society?
• What is his tone? Maybe urgent at times
(think: call to action)
• He develops an argument through description
and examples.
Content Errors
• Don’t refer to rhetorical strategies without giving
specific text evidence. Here is a student example of this
error:
In the first paragraph, the author makes a claim that the
terms “nerd” and “geek” are derogatory. He supports this
claim in the second paragraph when he defines the word
“geek.” In the third paragraph Leonid gives an example of
students being ashamed of learning and calls out athletes
as the “enemy.” The fourth paragraph shows a cause and
effect system between what kids do when they are young
and how they are perceived when they grow older.
Common Errors
• Don’t list specific devices in your thesis
statement; instead, generalize his overall
techniques and leave the specifics for the
body paragraphs.
Content Errors: List of Don’ts
• Don’t put in your opinion of the topic or what
he has written (DON’T EVER DO THIS!)
• Don’t repeat the entire definition he gave for
geeks. Instead, refer to it, but more
importantly, explain WHY is he using this
definition – what is he trying to do?
• Don’t just list examples; explain how they
develop his argument and in reverse, don’t
just tell without citing evidence
Content Errors: The WHYs
• Starts out with a definition of geek which
exemplifies his opening statement for
discrimination again intellectuals. WHY?
• Uses Harvard, our most prestigious institution,
as an example of anti-intellectualism. WHY?
• Shows that America’s values as backward to
other developing nations including Asia. WHY?
• Expands to the social ostracizing of
intellectuals from childhood. WHY?
Content Errors
• Explain quotes. Do not end a paragraph with a
quote as you have not provided sufficient
explanation.
Stylistic Errors
• Refer to authors by last name:
– In his essay, Fridman states…
– <NOT> In his essay, Leonid states…
Stylistic Errors
• Explicit references should cite line numbers,
not just the author’s last name
Stylistic Errors: Pronouns
• Provide clear pronoun references:
– The text states that…
– <NOT> In the text, it states that…
• Avoid the use of first and second person
pronouns in academic writing. First person
pronouns are acceptable only when using
them anecdotally.
– Sample from a student paper: “When you read
this, I picture a nerd.”
Stylistic Errors
• Don’t tell us what he means or what he is
trying to do. This is summary.
– Avoid these:
• He means that…
• He is trying to tell readers that…
Stylistic Errors
• Thesis must be a statement – never a
question.
• Make sure that you get the punctuation for
the title of the piece correct, especially if it is
already punctuated for you in the prompt!
Stylistic Errors
• If you use a semicolon, you MUST have a
complete sentence in front of it and a
complete sentence after it.
• Punctuation ALWAYS goes inside the
quotation marks unless you have an in-text
citation.
• Its is the possessive form of the word; It’s can
be broken down to it is.
DIRECTIONS
• With the group feedback and common errors in mind, analyze
your own essay for EVERY error included in this document.
• HIGHLIGHT all errors you find. Highlight CONTENT ERRORS in
ORANGE and highlight STYLISTIC ERRORS in YELLOW.
• For EVERY ERROR, provide a correction in the margin or, if
more room is required, on another sheet of paper. If you
choose to write on a new sheet of paper, clearly label exactly
what you are correcting.
• TIME: You have the rest of today and the entire hour
tomorrow to work on these corrections.
• You must also complete the final twelve words on your
TERMS CHART by Friday. Charts will be collected Friday. If you
completed yours on Evernote, email the file to
lisa.monte@husd.org before your class period on Friday.