Sunday, July 7, 2013

Commentary for Chase Meech

Chase,

I truly think your essay is very well written and strongly argued. I believe you presented Paglia's viewpoint accurately and fairly, but also effectively argued against it. I think a neutral audience would be inclined toward your argument instead of Paglia's, as it is rooted in both fact (the study cited in paragraph 3) and strengthened by a relevant personal narrative (shared in paragraph 2). With that being said, here are a few things I think could improve your argument:

If you’re looking to expand your argument (make your essay longer), I would recommend explicitly addressing the claim Paglia makes in the title, where she claims Gaga has contributed to “the death of sex.” Your method of putting her claims and speculations up against research to refute them, I think, would be very potent on this issue she brings up.

If you’re looking to condense your argument (make your essay shorter), I would recommend condensing the information in paragraph, particularly the personal narrative sharing the experience of you and your friends, to a few key points.
However, if you are satisfied with the length of your essay (I have no reasonable way to count the words and see if you are at or near the prompt’s limit), my recommendation would be to revise your concluding paragraph so that it more directly mirrors the strong thesis you presented in your introductory paragraph (for example, editing the vague sentence I pointed out to you in-class to be more specific to your argument).

(In addition, of course, proofread for grammatical and formatting errors.)

Aside from that, I can’t think of much to say. The 3 body paragraphs, which make up the core of your argument and (I assume) are what we are supposed to focus on in our commentaries, are extremely well argued and supported by your research. Good job, and best of luck with your final draft!

Sincerely,
Bailey Prince




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