How to critically analyse an article – Term Paper

Reading Assignment 7: “Why You Truly Never Leave High School”

You will find a link to this article in the Week 9 homework folder in Blackboard. 

Article analysis sample

1. Ask a question about the purpose of the article.

Why we never leave high school is an article which outlines the importance that adolescence ages play to people lives. The article start by describing a real life scenario of a life in high school for popular and non-popular students, and their afterlife. It gives a substantial support to the idea that those who were popular still lead in social groups even after the high schools years. The article also shows that issues like self-esteem and shame also originate in high school. The portrayal of the ideas in the essay thus leads to a question on its purpose to the readers. One would thus ask, is this article meant to show the readers that high school life is the most important part of development for all humans?

How to analyse an article in English

2. Ask a question about one of the claims made in this article.

One of the claims made in this article is that life is a perpetual high school. In other words, it means that life has similar characteristics to those encountered among the high school students. The writer argues that this is because, in life, people always find themselves in boxes of strangers; thus, those future used in social segregation at high schools are still applied in adult life. Such claim thus raises some questions on the idea that people never leave high school. One would ask, are the high school students who behavior similar to adult lives, or are the adults who act like the high school students?

How to analyse an article from a newspaper

3. Ask a question about one of the examples used in this article.

One example used in this article is the sensitivity of the high school teenagers to their social lives. A 2005 study by Koji Ueno suggested that only 37% of all the teenagers in the United States had a clear answer to whom was their best friends. According to this example, it is clear that most adolescents do not know the feelings of others and that’s why they cannot tell who their best friends are. Such statistics thus lead to questions about the future character formed by false friends. One would ask, is there a future social impact on the high school students due to the false friends that they socialize with?

Sample of critical analysis of an article

4. Ask a question about the way this article was written.

This article directs the readers on the most interesting things that happen when people are in their adolescence. The primary concentration is on the things which make this period of life different from other development stages. The article is thus skewed toward one area of understanding. However, it leaves out other possible changes, which occur in other development stages, which are also relevant to the human lives. The method used to write this article can thus be questioned based on the execution. One would ask, is this article written with proven evidence, or is it just a persuasive essay meant to make life in high school look unique?

Sample article analysis

5. Ask a question regarding something this article made you think about.

This article made me think about the modern parenting concerning the parent’s past life in high school. According to the article, when students enter high school, and they are rejected from the cool table or the sports teams, they complain to their parents about their awful life in school. However, their parent does not give positive advice as they try to make their children fit in rather that coping with the situation. For this reason, some parents even move to buy their children expensive clothes and more pocket money. Such parenting method thus had me question life in high school with regard to modern parenting. One would ask, could life in high school change through good parenting advice?