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ENG3220
American Literature
Academic Analysis Worksheet
Name: ___________________________________
Complete this worksheet using the scholarly text you have chosen for the academic
analysis essay.
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Introduce and summarize your academic text in an objective manner. Include
in your summary the text’s shared context, problem, and the occasion for
writing, i.e., what’s motivating the writing of this essay now.

Identify significant parts of the academic text and identify pairings, patterns,
anomalies or tensions, metaphors, and motifs. Use what you discover to
make explicit what is only implied, working to identify hidden meaning
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Describe the text’s logical structure. In other words, how is the argument
constructed and organized in the text? Think Does versus Says—indicate how
different sections of the text are functioning in the text, not simply what they
are saying.

Explain what is at stake in the piece.
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Based on the information you have gathered above, begin drafting an
interpretative context that offers deeper insight about your academic text.
Surface an interpretation that is not readily apparent to other readers.