Analytical Essay
First draft due Monday, June 5
Final draft before revisions due Monday, June 12
5-7 pages, typed, double-spaced, and stapled
For this assignment you will write an analytical essay about a YouTube video. The video should have at least 5,000 views, and ideally the video addresses a subject that you are interested in. The video should either be in English or have English subtitles. Aim for a video that is five minutes in duration or shorter.
The specific type of analysis that you will do is critical evaluation of a how-to video. You will not analyze the video as a fan. Instead, you will analyze a video as an expert who draws on experience to evaluate techniques that are presented in the video. Imagine that you are writing for someone who is considering using the video to learn or refine his or her own techniques.
Try to limit the level of difficulty of this essay by using a video about a topic with a readily identifiable audience. Avoid videos that attempt to provide instructions to perform a task that depends heavily on the specific contexts, experiences, and physiologies of individual viewers. For example, writing about getting to sleep or being able to manage time will be extraordinarily difficult topics because of the immense variation of possible audiences. Aim instead for videos with audience members that have a lot in common and that have relatively clear standards for success or failure. Language Use note: use the term audience members, not audiences, when you are referring to more than one person in a specific audience.
Examples of successful essays evaluated videos on making particular dishes, car maintenance, the application of make-up, or the basics of playing a guitar. Note that you will need to try to do what your video teaches. For example, if your video is about making a dish then you will need to try using the video to make the dish. Make sure that you follow the directions in the video as closely as possible so that you can convincingly evaluate the instructions in the video.
Research Question
The basic question you need to answer is whether you would recommend the video that you select to a particular audience. Your thesis statement should mention the video and identify the audience, and ideally your thesis statement will hint at criticisms that you will discuss in the essay.
Outline
Roughly the first half of your essay should consist of a scene-by-scene summary of the video. The summary should be in chronological order. It is important for you to understand the difference between a set of instructions and a summary. You should write a summary, not a set of instructions.
In the second half of your essay you will evaluate the video. You should devote several paragraphs to the reception of the video given in the comments. In one paragraph you should give a general description of the reception of the video that accounts for exceptions from the most common kind of response. In the following paragraphs you should consider at least three different kinds of comments: the responses of people who have used the video; questions; and other comments that are relevant to your evaluation. Most likely you will write about at least one of the top three comments, and you should scan at least the 100 most recent comments and the 20 top comments.
Your evaluation of the video should be based on the experiences of others who have tried to use the video and on your own experience. You should write a personal narrative about how you have tried to use the video to learn how to do what the video teaches. Before the conclusion you should have at least one paragraph about your evaluation of the video. In addition to accounting for the experiences of others who have tried the video and your own experience, your evaluation should include advice for improving the video and/or advice about who would be more or less appropriate audience members for the video.
Process
You are required to post a journal entry with the title and channel name of your video and your research question. You are required to receive feedback on an initial outline. Before you turn in a complete draft of the essay you are required to do a workshop in which you evaluate a classmate's essay and a classmate evaluates your essay.
The expectations for your essay are very high, and it is important for you to develop a writing process for producing polished and well-informed essays. You should expect to do multiple drafts of this essay. After you receive feedback on the first draft you should revise the essay, and you should continue to receive feedback and revise the essay until either the end of the quarter or the essay is an A-quality essay.
The essay will be graded according to the essay-grading rubric for EWRT1A. If you use outside sources then you will need to include MLA-style citations and a works cited page with your essay.