Secondary Source Reports (SSR) are designed to help you develop become a better reader and writer of criticism by making you pay attention to how arguments are put together. Remember, an SSR is short report in outline form, not a fancy-schmancy paper.
Instructions
Read the article, underlining important passages and jotting notes and questions in the margins. Write a double-spaced, typed report on the article (max. 2 pages). Your report should follow this format:
Section I: Thesis
- Give the complete bibliographic citation of the article (MLA Style).
- Quote the thesis (cite the page number in parentheses).
- Restate the thesis in your own words. Keep in mind that the thesis may not be one sentence; it may be elaborated in several sentences. The thesis may be introduced in one paragraph and elaborated in another.
Section II: Structure
Review the article, dividing it into sections and identifying what each section is about. Then describe the structure of the argument, restating the main idea of each section in your own words. (E.g.: “After an introduction in which Smith lays out her thesis, she provides historical background for the poems under discussion (35-37). In section 2, she establishes her theoretical foundations, citing… (37-9).”) When paraphrasing or quoting, cite specific page numbers in parentheses at the end of the sentence. As you analyze the structure of the argument, be on the lookout for these component parts:
- Hook: how does the author begin?
- Exposition: How does the article establish its core idea factually (who, what, where when)? What kind of groundwork is prepared for the thesis?
- Thesis (“I say”): the core idea analytically (why, how)
- Critical conversation or debate (“they say”): what other arguments is the author responding to?
- Theoretical foundations (“they say”): what other concepts or arguments is the author building on?
- Definitions of key terms.
- Historical context.
- Structure: Pay attention to sub-headers, transitions, and topic sentences.
- Evidence: What kind of evidence is introduced, where, and how?
- Analysis: What kind of analysis is offered, where, and how?
- Quotations, Paraphrase, Summary: How does the author incorporate other critics and scholars?
- Conclusion: How does the author bring the argument to a conclusion?
Section III: Rhetorical strategies
List three specific “moves” you’d like to try in your own papers. This list may include a useful word or phrase, a good transition, or a way of introducing a quotation or another critic. Give specific examples—even copy the exact wording.
Section IV: (Optional) “Moves” to avoid
If you don’t like something, learn how NOT to do it. Identify what rhetorical strategies turned you off and explain why.
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