Textual Analysis
Write a textual analysis of one of the readings starting on pg. 656-669 ( Chpt. 58, Norton Field Guide to Writing)
Discuss the strategies used, referring to Chpt. 8 about analyzing texts (particularly pp.69-81)
Include a brief summary; rhetorical context; some judgment about the piece of writing and use support from the text
MLA style
Minimum 2 pages
Get some type of assistance with your draft from the Writing Center
Rough draft (with corrections shown) is to be included with final draft
Turn in final draft through Blackboard SafeAssignment by due date (beginning of class)
This is an example from the instructor:
Example of textual analysis
In the article, “First, Eat All the Lawyers,” the author, Torie Bosch, writes about the growing fascination with zombie pop culture. She starts off by discussing several zombie-related shows and works, including the TV show Walking Dead, William Seabrook’s novel The Magic Island, and Max Brooks’ book-turned-movie, World War Z. Bosch mentions these works to discuss her more particular subject of what she has observed in these zombie texts: what happens to the white-collared workers as opposed to the blue-collared workers. Bosch proposes: “What’s new about the current zombie craze is its white-collar shine” (651). There is a change in how the victims are portrayed that reflects on current society. Bosch writes this article for Slate, an online magazine that “covers emerging technologies and their implications for society, public policy, and the future” (Bullock 651)
The article first appeared in 2011, which is around the time of an American recession and the economy is not looking prosperous, with high prices, high unemployment, and low wages. Bosch makes a connection between zombies, the undead who preys on life, to the suffering of the white-collared workers (“lawyers, journalists, investment bankers” (Bosch 652). They are the ones who usually get eaten first—just like in the books and the movies, so it happens in real life. In contrast, “the strongest survivors come from blue-collar backgrounds—cops, hunters, mechanics” (Bosch 652). While white-collared work used to be the preferred professions, where people wear professional suits and sit in offices, this group is now suffering, as the world is changing. The people who seem to be surviving are those who have practical skills that are necessary in society to keep it going. These include those who do service jobs, such as those who work in the areas of electrical work, restaurants, and factories.
The world is becoming different with this new recession, just as it would as if zombies were invading the world. Bosch proposes the idea: “our white-collared skills become worthless…through total system collapse” (653). Bosch is causing readers to reexamine current society in regards to the new socio-economic conditions. Even though it may seem like she is using satire and farce to make fun of a group that she includes herself in, for she mentions we several times in relation to white-collar workers. She makes the comparison to get the audience to be aware that the world is not what it used to be. She does not offer solutions, but offers various views and questions.
The zombie crave has to do with our fears of being “eaten alive” in society and destroyed. This fear of the unknown is common. The author’s view is not particularly optimistic about conditions changing. Although she may not be entirely serious that white-collar work is now completely obsolete and unnecessary, but she makes this exaggeration, like Jonathan Swift’s “A Modest Proposal” to make a point and get the audience’s attention. It is like she is saying, “We are being eaten alive!” to people who may not know about it. Thus, she uses her catchy title by using an illusion from a Shakespeare play, Henry VI, Part II, about eating the lawyers.” This reference shows this is not a new occurrence, but it is a situation that has been around and is coming back again.
Bosch seems to pick apart the white-collar workers but also shows pity on them. There is an implicit question: What use do we have for the professional class? She reflects on the fear of the elite about economic survival. What they thought would make them great and survive is not helping them in modern society. Bosch shines light not only on zombies in movies and books but about survival in the current world.”