Analysis and Critique: How to Engage and Write about Anything

by Dorsey Armstrong

Tap into the power of effective writing by developing the fundamental critical and analytical skills that transform your writing from "good" to "great." Regardless of your subject, goal, or occasion, these skills will help you organize your thoughts into a coherent piece, make a persuasive argument rooted in facts, and make responsible use of research materials.

You'll find the secrets of these and other methods in 24 accessible lectures that immerse you in the elements of successful writing. With engaging literary and everyday examples, inspirational prompts, and unforgettable insights, this course is the perfect reference guide for both professional and casual writers.

Survey the ways five major literary genres-fiction, essay, poetry, drama, and autobiography-can show you the path to stronger persuasive and critical writing. Writing prompts and practice examples will help you better understand how to apply the insights you'll uncover by studying each genre. See how the art of rhetoric can help you adapt your writing to different situations. The increased awareness of classical rhetoric you gain will go a long way toward making you a stronger writer by calling your attention to the basics of compelling analytical writing. Take a step-by-step look at the four major stages of the writing process-researching, writing a first draft, editing, and rewriting.

Chock full of useful strategies and real-world examples, this course is an invaluable tool for developing your effective writing skills so you can better express yourself to others.

Listening Length: 12 hours and 7 minutes

Genres: Writing, Nonfiction, Audiobook, Language, Education, Personal Development, Literature

13 pages, Audible Audio

First published January 1, 2011

About the author

Dr. Dorsey Armstrong is Associate Professor of English and Medieval Literature at Purdue University, where she has taught since 2002. The holder of an A.B. in English and Creative Writing from Stanford University and a Ph.D. in Medieval Literature from Duke University, she also taught at Centenary College of Louisiana and at California State University, Long Beach. Her research interests include medieval women writers, late-medieval print culture, and the Arthurian legend, on which she has published extensively, including the 2009 book Sir Thomas Malory's Morte Darthur: A New Modern English Translation Based on the Winchester Manuscript and Gender and the Chivalric Community in Sir Thomas Malory's Morte d'Arthur, published in 2003. In January 2009, she became editor-in-chief of the academic journal Arthuriana, which publishes the most cutting-edge research on the legend of King Arthur, from its medieval origins to its enactments in the present moment. Her current research project-Mapping Malory's Morte-is an exploration of the role played by geography in Malory's version of the story of King Arthur.

Reviews

[David Huff · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've always enjoyed listening to the Great Courses, and this one was no exception. "Analysis and Critique" was a solid course which covered a multitude of general topics that can help anyone become a better writer. A number of lectures were devoted to the art of writing a persuasive essay and presenting an argument; another major topic covered all the important aspects of writing a research-based article. Various genres were also explored in detail, including drama, poetry, autobiography, and others. The practical tips for finding your "voice", and knowing your audience were especially good.

One very helpful lecture explained, at length, ten of the top writing and grammatical errors, and how to recognize and avoid them. Examples of both terrible and outstanding writing were presented and analyzed throughout the course.

All the basics are here, and this course would help any high school or college student (or an adult needing a refresher) significantly improve their writing ability and style. And finally, I thought the presenter, Dorsey Armstrong, was particularly outstanding. She is a Professor of English and Medieval Literature at Purdue, and is an noted expert on the Arthurian legend. Her teaching ability makes a good course even better. Highly recommended!

[Andy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solid substance but pretty basic stuff and nothing special in the delivery.
For beginners, I would probably recommend something simpler:
How to Give a Pretty Good Presentation: A Speaking Survival Guide for the Rest of Us
.
For more advanced needs, I would look at one of the many books on writing by famous writers in the genre of interest.

[Amirography · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an intermediate course for anyone interested in improving their writing. It was full of interesting and unique lessons which were offered in a structured way. Though I was familiar with many of the subjects, Dr Armstrong managed to surprise me, by offering new ways to apply familiar concepts and aspects that were formerly unfamiliar to me.
I'm impressed, but I'm also disappointed. Not because of the whole book, but because of the 23rd lecture, which offered a rather bad picture of Dr Armstrong. She talks about "Correct" and "incorrect" grammatical use. While many non-professionals believe there is such a thing, most scholars recognize pseudo-existence of such a concept. We have at best "common grammar" or "standard grammar". There is no such thing as "correct" in the usage of language. With that in mind, it's too disappointing to see an educated figure such as Pr. Amstrong, to rely on these kinds of grammar policeries, without offering any rationalization for her contradicting the current paradigm of linguistic science.

Fluency: 5/5
Style: 5/5
Content: 4/5

[Ian · Rating 3 out of 5]

How do you analyse and critique a series of lectures about analysis and critique presented by a master?

Boldly.

Analysis and Critique is a thumbnail sketch of writing and presenting ideas aimed at people like me. People who aren't particularly gifted at presenting ideas. The only problem is the presenter is using language that is targeted to a more academic audience.

There is plenty in there for me. I enjoyed it and while it probably won't make me a better writer, I do have a better understanding of what good writing is. In the end it was worth the effort but not exactly what I was hoping for when I bought it.

[Courtney Umlauf · Rating 3 out of 5]

Armstrong's lectures are very concise and easy to listen to. She includes a lot of examples of whatever she's talking about that will help the learner to really grasp the concept. So if I hadn't already learned about everything she's discussing, I would have enjoyed these lectures. But I constantly found myself thinking yes, yes I get it. Move on already, so I'm going to pass on listening to the rest of these.

I would recommend these lectures for anyone who hasn't taken many literature or writing classes. If you have taken those classes (and paid attention during them), this will probably be very old news for you.

[TS Chan · Rating 4 out of 5]

An adequately comprehensive course on the art of persuasive and compelling writing for the masses. I enjoyed listening to Professor Dorsey Armstrong's King Arthur: History and Legend and I find this course to be just as satisfying. The type of writing covered included prose, essay, autobiography, poetry and drama. Even before she touched upon writing per se, she first instructed on how one can be an effective reader and how literature can help. Then she moved on to establishing and shaping a voice, and knowing your reader before going into the aspects of essay and autobiography writing, and the uses of poetry and drama writing.

At the end of it, she closed with the following words which I really loved.

If you really want to be an astute, engaged reader and writer, then my best advice would be: Be promiscuous - read anything you can; write whenever you can.

The world around us is filled with words; take in as many as you can, and then give us some back.

[Albert · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've always wanted to be an author, but I am aware that I don't have the patience, tenacity, imagination, nor the tough skin to be one. Nonetheless, books on how to write keep piquing my interest.

Thus I bore through this audiobook. It's actually meant to be a college level writing course, and the author is a university professor from Purdue and a Stanford graduate at that.

I must have the wrong impression of the level at which college students should be learning because I kept expecting the lectures to go deeper. Instead, to my disappointment, almost all of the material were things I had already learned in high school. (Perhaps I should take this as a testament to how good my high school English teachers and curricula were, rather than an indictment of Purdue's English courses.)

This work provides a good basic foundation upon which to build one's writing, but anyone who's had any degree of learning in this area can safely pass on this work and seek out more advanced material. It's not that it's poorly done--it's just that it's very basic.

3 stars, rounded up from 2.5 stars.

P.S. I'm the first to admit that just because I was (once) taught how to write doesn't mean I can do it well. (Evidence: my book reviews!)

[Adrian · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am a much more confident writer due to this course. It was well organized and presented many practical techniques for conducting research, avoiding plagiarism, knowing your reader, organizing your thoughts, and writing autobiographies. I highly recommend it.

There were plenty of starts and stops over many years of owning this course. This was mainly due to Armstrong's early focus on the satirical essay by Jonathan Swift called "A Modest Proposal" which I found repulsive. I finally decided to just blow past that section and I'm glad I did.

I find that I am writing much faster and more concisely. I'm responding to emails faster and hitting send with a level of confidence I did not have before. My new year's resolution was to improve in this area and I did it. Thanks, Dr. Armstrong.

[Nilesh Jasani · Rating 3 out of 5]

This course is intended for high school or graduate school students, which this reviewer is not. For young, novice writers, the book is littered with many useful tips with relevant examples. The professor is engaging and with a sense of humour. Her delivery is perfect, and more importantly, the language used through the course itself is exemplary.

Yet, for experienced writers, there is a lot of extremely elementary mixed with occasional pearls. At times, the pedagogy turns grating when the Professor vexes eloquent on common-sensical factors needed for good analysis.

[Stacie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a solid primer on literary critique and analysis- the nuts and bolts "how to"- with lots of positive and negative examples (they would be 'mentor texts' if they'd been written) as well as exercises to practice those skills. I'd say that this is equivalent to Freshman English 101/102, but I've taken those courses and they were nowhere near as clear and concise as this. This would have made my life so much easier if I'd had it in college.

[5H3MS · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read for anyone who is reading and writing on a daily basis

[Quinn da Matta · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not my favourite lecture series, but still informative and interesting.

[Timi Waters · Rating 5 out of 5]

I listened to all 24 lectures on audible. Awesome stuff.

[Feng Ouyang · Rating 5 out of 5]

This course contains 24 lectures on college-level writing. Although the title says “write about anything,” the lectures focus on essay writing. They start from the standard “5 paragraph essay” format and take the student to the next level. The author systematically covers several aspects of writing, from overall architectures to final details, providing both valuable insights and practical tips at each step. The course itself serves as an excellent illustration of the author’s points. This review offers a summary of the lectures, followed by some comments. The course outline can be found here: https://www.wondrium.com/analysis-and...
The first two lectures are the introduction, in which the author explains the difference between good writing and bad ones and offers a roadmap on improving writing by examining other good writings, i.e., literature. In her view, writing is not about self-expression but communication. Good writing effectively delivers the message while getting the recipient (the reader) engaged and giving the readers an enjoyable experience. The “reader-centric” view of writing is carried throughout the course.
The following three lectures (3 to 5) develop the reader-centric view by talking about how to adapt one’s writing style to the communication needs. Starting by discussing the various genres, the author moves to the topic of voice. Voice is a writing style that drives the choices of sentence structure and vocabulary. The writing can be formal or casual, plain or poetic, with everyday or esoteric words. Voice is a personal trait, but it is also a choice. By adopting different voices, a writer is signaling the readers they intend for. For example, a class essay with a casual tone implies disrespect to the reader, the professor. An article can exclude layman readers with its complex grammatical structure and specialized terms. Therefore, when planning for and executing a writing task, a writer must be clear on the intended audience.
After these introductory lectures, the author moves to the main body, essay writing. The next four lectures (6 to 9) cover the classical essay components, the introduction, the body, and the conclusion. However, these lectures go beyond the high-school template and offer some variations and nuances.
The introduction, according to the author, should not be limited to clarifying the claim and providing a roadmap for the support in the main body. The introduction should address a more important question: so-what. It should link the problem and claims to what matters to the users and motivate them to continue to read. In addition to the conventional “problem definition” introduction, the author points out an alternative: starting with a common term and writing the essay around it. The writer can take the term and develop or twist it. In the process, the writer’s ideas and messages can be delivered.
The author also stresses the importance of linking supporting evidence to the claims or thesis. The connection may be evident to the writer, but it needs to be specific so that the reader can grasp it. It is like presenting evidence in court: you won’t want the juries to search for the connection and draw their own conclusions; you want to point it out clearly for them.
On the conclusion part, the important, but often missing, part is again the “so what.” We not only need to support the claims but also need to make the reader think the claims are important to them. The “so what” could be the benefit of the claim or the cost of the alternative.
The next part of the lectures (lectures 10 to 17) is about writing instruments. The author encourages people to learn language skills from poetry (unusual use of words) and drama (writing for the speech effects). The author spent two lectures on autobiography, a uniquely valuable skill for many occasions of self-promoting. An autobiography should focus on IAA: interest, abilities, and achievements. Biographical materials should be chosen and organized to reflect your IAA on the specific topics you want to promote. The material does not have to be all positive; past mishaps or mistakes can also portray a person positively. More importantly, when you describe your achievements, be sure to include others around you. This tactic shows your leadership capabilities.
The writing instruments also include rhetoric skills. The author talks about the logical flow of arguments. You start from a common ground accepted by everyone (commonplaces) and clarify the terms used (stasis), about which agreements may or may not exist. If the opposing parties disagree on terminology, that would be a good wedge to develop your arguments. For example, in the U.S., people commonly believe that the pursuit of happiness is a fundamental right. However, different understandings of the term “happiness” lead to varying social policies. After setting the foundation with commonplace and stasis, one can use deductive or inductive logic to construct arguments.
The other two rhetoric components are the classical ethos (self) and pathos (emotion). These two tools are used to establish connections with the readers. Ethos is about credibility and identity. By presenting the writer as a person with relevant experiences and qualifications, a reader can learn to trust and relate to the writer. Pathos invokes an emotional response from the reader, making the latter more susceptible to persuasion. Pathos works only if the author establishes ethos. Therefore, with limited space, more emphasis should be put on ethos development.
Having addressed the overall structure, the parts, and the language instruments, the author then moves to the writing process in lectures 18 to 23. The process is described in three phases: research, writing, and editing.
About the research phase, the author advocates an iterative approach. The research scope and the essay focus are continuously adjusted until they are aligned. You start with a broad research scope and narrow it down when you find an interesting topic. Then the topic is further modified or abandoned depending on the material you can find in research. There are several pieces of advice that I find valuable.
• Don’t feel obligated to use all your research results. Your essay should have a sharp focus.
• Do not solely depend on an Internet search. Many materials can only be found in libraries. (This may be more true for liberal arts where old materials are still valuable).
• In addition to paper books, the libraries also provide databases that you cannot access elsewhere and librarians who can recommend the proper database for your needs.
• When retrieving books from a library shelf, look around it, and you may find other interesting books that do not come up when you search the catalog.
• Keep good notes on the sources of the material for proper attribution later on.
For the writing phase, the author prefers a scattering gun approach: write down whatever comes to mind without worrying about structure and grammar. Usually, your thesis evolves during such writing. Therefore, you should save the introduction to the last, when your idea is crystallized.
The editing phase, according to the author, can be done in two steps. In step 1, look at the coherence of the whole document. Is the introduction clear on the points to make? Is every part of the body tied to the points in the introduction? Does the conclusion provide an adequate summary? In step 2, craft each part of the document in grammar and language. In this part, the author also discussed some common grammar errors.
The last lecture (24) closes the course by encouraging students to read and write frequently.
The course centers on several classical works throughout the discussions. It is a brilliant arrangement because the students encounter the same materials repeatedly. The drawback is a limited sample size, resulting in lower diversity. Nonetheless, using real works for illustration does bring tremendous advantages. We can see how the principles of writing can be carried out with beautiful prose and smooth flows. We don’t have to write everything in a template while still adhering to the principles taught in the course.
The course itself is another excellent demonstration. Every lecture has an introduction and a summary, which also provides a transition to the following lecture. However, these mechanisms are implemented in a variety of ways. So it does not feel rigid and mechanical. The author employees a diverse treatment in teaching. Sometimes she reads the classical works and analyzes the text. Sometimes she comes up with a hypothetical writing task and compares different versions. The author also shares her own teaching and writing experiences as illustrations. Such sharing also serves as ethos, enhancing the author’s authority and authenticity.
“Analysis and Critique” is both enjoyable and practical. It is very helpful in improving writing beyond the high school level. However, as the author advises at the end, reading and practicing are the only ways to convert the knowledge imparted in the lectures to personal skills.


.

[Henrik Maler · Rating 4 out of 5]

What is the book about?
Analysis and Critique touches on every genre to highlight the benefits of their particular writing styles. She explains where and how can we make use of them.

Can I recommend it? Whom is this book for?
Yes, even though it was not quite what I hoped for. I would have liked to know more about writing essays, but she touched upon many ideas and different genres that surprised me. It may just be my pre-critical response, but as I understand “analytical” (decomposing the whole and investigating its parts), analytical skills were not the focus of this book. A good read still!

What else did I learn from this book, if no specific concept?
- It inspired me to pay even more attention to the logical structure of my essays and arguments.

What is said, roughly?
- Sometimes practice restraint, sometimes make use of your knowledge about styles of writing from different genres (metaphors from poetry, anecdotes from autobiography, …)
- Great writers are great readers: The more you read, the greater your appreciation for good writing becomes.
- Three lifes of a piece of writing: 1) Reading it the very first time (mere exploration); 2) Reflection on it, e.g. particular words and certain details; 3) Reading it the second time armed with your precritical response, allows for insightful reading.

Shape your voice
- Choosing a certain kind of diction or sentence style contributes to the voice of your piece of writing. You can sound e.g. polite, or emotional.

Know your reader
- Know who you are talking to, because this determines what you write, how you write and why you write.
- It also shows respect for the audience. You can fail to do so, e.g. if you do or do not provide information that it needs or does not need.

How to write an Essay
1. Introduction: “The opening can make or break you.”
- TELL THEM WHAT YOU ARE ABOUT TO TELL THEM
- The What-So-What?-Test: The reader has to come to know what the subject matter is and why it matters; why it is worth making an argument about in the first 5 sentences, so he keeps reading. You have to find a good blend between description and explanation.
- Fix your argument in a specific time and place and make a substantial claim including carefully selected details.
- Avoid universal claims because they are empty and thus do not add anything important.
2. Main part: “If you do too many sequences, you might as well be writing a grocery list.”
- TELL THEM
- The five-paragraph model
- Invent your (own) language: Establishing key terms and ideas early and then “the process of organisation becomes a matter of consistently referring back to, linking and developing them throughout the piece. This adds a layer of sophistication to the argument that might otherwise be lacking.”
- Follow yourself through on your own terms and reiterate them to demonstrate the connections you want your audience to make.
- Doing so, forces your readers also to accept the meanings of the terms you have established as given such they cannot help but follow along.
- The repetition-variation approach: The links from one point to the next need not only be numerous but strong. Take a word or phrase from the end of one paragraph or section of an argument and add some slight variation as the beginning of the next paragraph.
- Cause-and-effect: Instead of speculation and association,
- Explain the evidence: Evidence does not speak for itself. This is a problem since its meaning is not self-evident.
- Provide a direct link between the evidence and the conclusion. Explaining the evidence is not enough. Explain why the evidence should be interpreted a certain way.
- Make concessions: Admit alternative viewpoints and adress them. This way you establish yourself as a trustworthy commentator on a particular subject.
- Anticipate questions or moment of confusion.
3. Conclusion
- TELL THEM WHAT YOU’VE TOLD THEM
- The negative-consequences-conclusion: accept the argument otherwise negative consequences will ensue: “If we don’t do x, then y will happen” and *not* an ultimatum “You’d better do x, or else y is your fault” to avoid putting your reader into a defensive position.
- The no-viable-alternatives-conclusion: Establish a criterion against which you measure the worth of your argument; against which yours wins and others fail.
- The positive-consequences-conclusion: accept the arugment and good things could happen
- Make the audience want to hear more the issue.

Editing—Finding What’s Wrong
1. The holistic approach (first because more important)
- What is the main argument?
- Outline each paragraph in one two three sentences to reveal the structure of the paper and how each of it links to your main argument.
2. The line-by-line approach
- Quoting: If your quote is three lines long, you shoud spend at least equally many lines to explain why it is important.
- Reading the essay out loud

Self-Presentation/Autobiography
- most important rule: less is more
- three key areas: Interests, Abilities, Achievements
- Connecting individual achievements to a broader collaborative effort.
- Presenting faults or failures as part of a larger process of self-development—indications of talents that were not full realised

Rules of Rhetoric
- Commonplaces: “a piece of truth that is wrapped up in easily recognisable language”, sth “that is familiar enought to a certain group of people that rhey’re going to respond positively to it, even if they can’t always identify why”. Example: right to pursue happiness. Evokes a feeling of solidarity
- Stasis: general agreement between opposing parties what the terms of the argument are
- Deductive reasoning
- Inductive reasoning: "to determine what commonalities in your evidence are most worthy of being presented as truths that should be universally acknowledged"

Invention and Arrangement
- Kairos: the greek god of the good opportunity; opposed to Chronos, the god of time;” refers to the opportunities that a particular set of circumstances offers and to the need to time your response” so as to seize these opportunities; “the right thing in the right way at the right time”
- Invention: the process by which we generate arguments
- To come up with ideas one can consider the kairos of one’s situation
- One can create kairos by drawing analogies between one’s work and the zeitgeist. This propels discussion in which new arguments develop.
- Arrangement: the way arguments are organised
- To come up with new arrangements one can consider the kairos of one’s situation, too, restructuring existing ideas

Ethos and Pathos
- Ethos: “the reader’s perception of your reliability or character”
- pathos: the reader’s inspiration of emotion, especially sympathy

Finding what you need
- Check the library and see which books surround the one you have pre-selected
- Set a time period for doing research, because you could research forever! Then begin to write. As the objective of the paper becomes clearer, you can do another research session.

[Diogo Muller · Rating 4 out of 5]

To tell the truth, I got this because it sounded kinda interesting, and I needed another book to complete a 2-for-1 combo. And... it really surprised me! This course is not only about how to analyse and criticise at other's people's writing, but also about how you can become a better writer by applying the same to everything you write. While this is a college-level course, the lessons were clear and well explained enough for even someone far from the area of interest as me to understand.

The subject of the lessons are also varied, going from prose, poetry, to how to start writing and get better, beat writer's block, the importance of context, and so on.

Overall, a very good listen. Some of it may be a bit basic if you ever had writing classes, or even if you ever wrote anything, but still, it's a great course for anyone who wants to get better at write anything.

[Alex Shrugged · Rating 4 out of 5]

Here is the first draft:

Really clear and to the point. Many of these things I already knew about writing. I am like the professor. I tend to write whatever comes to mind in a stream of consciousness and go back and edit the snot out of it. Most of my time is spent editing, paring it down, getting to the point as quickly as possible. The professor's husband writes carefully so that very little editing is required, but it it slower and takes just as much time. I find that writing precisely slows me down and crimps my creativity, so I write fast and sloppy. Clean it up later. Getting the best thoughts down as quickly as possible works best for me.

And now I will edit the above paragraph to be more concise...

It was real good.

Well... maybe not that concise. I'll try again.

The professor was clear and to the point, beginning with analyzing classic texts, modern texts, then moving on to a letter to the city council, obituaries and, of course, the obligatory college term paper. She also talked about the process of writing. Like me, she tends to shotgun a project, writing as much as she can, not worrying too much about grammar, but just getting her thoughts down. Then she spends most of her time editing her work. But her husband, who is also a professor, writes carefully, so that very little editing is needed at the end. Nevertheless, the finished product takes about the same time using either method. I felt reassured.

OK. Better. It still needs work, but this is a book review. I'm not that obsessive about book reviews.

I liked the professor's personality. She was professional, but seemed comfortable sharing things about her personal life relevant to the subject at hand.

I'll probably listen to this audiobook again.

[Randolph King · Rating 4 out of 5]

This lecture series provides a guide for writing critiques. It is one of the Great Courses lectures series presented by Prof. Dorsey Armstrong of Purdue University.

The lectures focus primarily on organizing your thoughts and getting them on paper in a well-structured and readable form. She also encourages reading in as broad a spectrum as you can manage. Then a lesser emphasis on analysis, which, for me, felt like it came more from making your own thoughts clear and concise, then getting them in written form.

She speaks clearly and is well-organized. This makes it easy for her to get her points across. Her thoughts are reflected in the accompanying booklet. Although I felt it was too close, as it is often verbatim. Having read the book first, I felt like large portions of the lecture were redundant.

The material does a good job of covering the subject, and it felt adequately in-depth. In 24 lectures, each just shy of a half-hour, she covers a lot of ground. Although most of the lectures either discuss the subject matter abstractly, she does draw good examples from several works including fiction, poetry, drama and non-fiction. One lecture is devoted to grammar, which I felt was more of a sore point for her and, for me, felt like it should have been outside the scope of this lecture series.

I felt the lectures were good and well worth the time. I listed to several of them multiple times.

[Matt Tomaso · Rating 4 out of 5]

- If you write professionally (or habitually) and want to refresh yourself on fundamental principles or to refresh your writing practice with some techniques you may not have considered, this will be an easy and enjoyable way to do so.

- If you are a beginner, you will profit from this, but not as much as you would after having mastered the basics.

- Do not mistake literary criticism for "criticism" as used in the title of this course. What Dr. Armstrong is encouraging is learning how to critique writing from the perspective of improving its function.

- This is not a lecture series about writing mechanics, literary criticism, self-help/motivation, grammar, etc. It is, a bit like Stephen King's much more personal "On Writing", written for people who want to write or to improve their writing and need some food for thought.

In this excellent set of lectures Dr. Armstrong provides clear and logical advice, supplemented by examples, about how to improve writing. Although she covers a very wide range of writing types and goals, her lectures tie everything from five-paragraph essays to business letters to novels and autobiographies with a set of very general common themes. This approach allows the course to unfold like a narrative, increasing both memorability and entertainment value.

Recommended.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Analysis and Critique: How to Engage and Write about Anything, Professor Armstrong covers a broad audience well, that is anyone who desires to improve their writing. She is engaging and creative in her explanation, writing examples, and lecture delivery. I rarely became bored with her lectures, as sometimes occurs with other Great Courses series.

For someone studying at a Master's level, some lectures were too elementary for me. I understood the difference between you're and your and the differences among their, they're, and there when I was in grade school. However, other lectures in this series were beneficial for a more advanced writer, such as building a persuasive argument and the use of dramatic or poetic language in proper dosage.

Overall, I recommend for anyone high school level and above who seeks to improve their writing.

[SusanwithaGoodBook · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the third course I've taken with Dorsey Armstrong and she does not disappoint. I love her clean, direct, informative, but still fun and engaging delivery. She's got a lot to say, but she delivers it so clearly and concisely that you can't help but feel better informed than you were before taking her course. There's not a lot of ground breaking info in this course, but it is a great overview of the things that make writing wonderful and how to get down to those basic pieces. I have much to learn, and I have no plans to become a writer, but this course made me a better reader, and perhaps someday I can use some of her tips to make even my basic writing better. For now I need to ponder and practice some of the many useful tips she included in this course.

[Lenka Příplatová · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very eye-opening book for me. I guess many native English speakers become acknowledged with at least some of the discussed works and ideas through their basic education, but since I am not a native speaker and haven't really learned English until after I finished high school (yes, I had English at high school, I learned almost nothing there), many of the topics were quite new to me, yet they were approached at the level of an educated individual and not a child or a complete beginner. I really enjoyed both the style and content of the lectures. I wouldn't necessarilly recommend it for native English speakers with good education in English language and literature, but for us foreigners who want to become more eloquent in the language, it was pure gold.

[Shannan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was exactly what I needed when I decided I needed to relearn how to write essays, but with the added boon of being a fantastic analysis of nearly every kind of writing under the sun and therefore providing skills and advice that can easily be applied to any aspect of life. Armstrong herself uses a wonderful blend of personal and historical examples to illustrate her lessons and further teaches in such a way that is clear and memorable. This course was especially fun for me as I was in school at the time while also working in writing fiction for my own use, so I was able to apply the lessons as I learned, and they were enormously helpful. I learned far more from this lecture series than I have from any other teacher or writing professor in my life.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

I gained quite a bit from this course. An experienced author may pick up pieces, but likely would not learn as much as I did. Please note also that this lightly addresses many types of writing, including poems. Those how are after specific kinds of writing (and don't want other kinds) may not be too happy with this broad spectrum of writing topics. I liked all sections just for some exposure to a wider spectrum (than what I plan to actually write).

If you don't expect a narrow writing focus (e.g. book-length fiction) and you are not highly experienced already, then you may really appreciate this also.

[Rodney Hall · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dr. Armstrong obviously knows her craft. I have learned many things from many writing professionals over the years and this is among the best. I love the way the professor walks through each topic systematically and accents the learning points with examples from real writers, both professional and otherwise. Armstrong also demonstrates her points across multiple forms of writing. She includes prose, poetry, drama, letters to the editor, and business correspondence. Whether you seek to write professionally or just want to communicate better at school or work, I highly recommend "Analysis and Critique: How to Engage and Write about Anything."

[Mark Askew · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've been enjoying Great Courses. This was a really good series of lectures and includes an accompanying PDF, which is great because there were some book recommendations I wanted to check out.

The content touches on many standard writing recommendations and the lecturer gives great examples. I do recommend to check this out if you are fairly new to lectures, books, and content on the skill of writing. I have a bit of an obsession; therefore, I've heard many of the examples and advice.

[Eric Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

Outstanding audiobook that a wonderful reminder of how important it is to have writing skills. Lots of great foundational components to keep in mind when writing anything from notes, personal letters, email, business documents and more.

Dorsey Armstrong is a joy to listen to and learn from her course. This is the second of her work an Audible that I have purchased and will consider additional works in the future.

[Amber · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a solid course. I feel I learned a lot even without doing the additional work. I liked how the course was organized and the separation of genres, while still having overlap.

My only major complain is that in the grammar section the discussion of personal pronouns needs to be updated. She was admitted on they being plural which is no longer the case in all instances, and it would be nice to see the course reflect that change.

Overall I found this course very useful and engaging.

[John Teske · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good book to read, I did not listen to the course. Much of my writing skills came not so much by what as I was taught as what I learned in the "school of hard knocks."

That being said, this was a nice summary of things that I missed in high school and college. The most helpful chapters for me were towards the end of the course, on editing and rewriting.

[Lee · Rating 2 out of 5]

The author of this series of lectures provided techniques of analysis that was geared towards a utilitarianism; read this literature and learn how to do this thing rhetorically, to convince someone of your position. But if it was utilitarian, it was also not very useful. The lessons she took from the language in these great works of literature seemed trite, something that a high schooler might find helpful.