Reading Analysis Questions

On the day that you present in front of the class you must also write your response to the questions below and hand in your answers. You must hand in your answers on the day you signed up for.

Reading Analysis Guide for Walter Mosley's Devil In A Blue Dress

Guidelines for Reading Analysis Presentation

Sign-up on the presentation calendar on my desk. Make a note of the chapters and presentation date that you sign up for below.

Reading analysis chapter: __________________________Presentation date: _______________

You will be presenting your analysis in class along with other classmates. The class will be counting on you to be on top of the article you are covering, so please be prepared!

This assignment is worth 40 points – to receive credit, you must participate in the presentation of your analysis. You will be graded primarily on your written analysis (breakdown of scoring below), but outstanding presentations will be rewarded.

Read the chapters or section that you will be analyzing carefully. On your first reading, just try to identify the main idea(s) and get a feel for the writer’s approach and the flow of the chapter. On your second reading, go over the text more carefully; notice how the writer creates characters and tells the story.

To prepare your written analysis:

Identify the author’s name and the title of the chapter(s) you are covering. Answer the following questions, numbering each answer in the way the questions are numbered.

1.     What is the central theme of the selection? Your answer should be a complete sentence in your own words (not a quote!). Be as specific as possible, but remember that the theme of a book refers to the authors overall concerns. The plot is what happens as the book moves ahead. The theme refers to the overall concerns of a book.

2.     What are the concerns of the characters in the chapter(s) you have read? This book is fiction. Do you think the events in the book could happen in real life? Do you think the way the characters act is believable. If the events in the book are exaggerated by the author, does it make the book less effective? If the behavior of the characters are exaggerated, does it make the book less believable or effective?

3.     Is the central theme expressed explicitly or implicitly? The claim is explicit if the writer spells out what it is. The claim is implicit if the writer only implies the claim but does not state it outright.

4.   Did the events and actions in your chapter(s) surprise you or change your mind about the characters in the book?

4.     What is the tone – the feel – of the chapter(s) you read?

5.     What things in the story give the most insight into human nature?

6.     Does the writer leave the opinions and feelings to the readers? If so, why? Is this approach effective?
7. Make up two questions from the chapters you read that you'd ask the class if you were the teacher.

Midterm Reading and Prompt

Prompt

Read the editorial from the Los Angeles Times concerning the public’s right to see police personnel files when information within might bolster the defense of individuals accused or a crime. At the same time, it’s understandable that police desire to keep their personnel files private - for reasons that are not necessarily nefarious. 

Currently, police themselves examine files in question and decide what is released to the public. 

Defense lawyers understandably object to this. In a 1963 case - Brady vs. Maryland - the courts ruled that people have must be given timely access to police personnel files. California is the only state that does not ensure this ruling is carried out. 

Transparency is a hot button issue these days. Write a short essay (250-300 words) responding to the editorial. Make sure you have a strong thesis statement that makes your response clear. Back up your opinion carefully with strong topic sentences and strong evidence. Make sure your essay is clear and well-organized. Proofread your essay carefully.

Police Privacy vs. Public Right To Know

In California, police officers have a right to keep their personnel files confidential. At the same time, all criminal prosecutors are constitutionally bound to disclose to the defendant any evidence that's reasonably likely to affect a conviction or punishment.

So: What if the defendant believes that such evidence is located in the arresting officers' personnel files? Who has the right and duty to look through those records?

In many police departments, the task is performed by the police themselves. Defense lawyers quite reasonably object that police officials have an inherent conflict of interest in choosing which information in their officers' files to flag.

The duty to disclose is assigned to prosecutors under the landmark 1963 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Brady vs. Maryland. But in California, it's not clear if, or when, prosecutors are allowed to look through police files.

Those and related questions come before the California Supreme Court in arguments set for Thursday. At issue is an effort by Daryl Lee Johnson, who was charged in San Francisco with domestic violence, to obtain access to the records of the officers who arrested him. Any evidence of past officer misconduct could bolster his defense.

A lower court explained that the police and the district attorney are already on the same team, so confidentiality of records isn't undermined when prosecutors examine them. But other courts have rejected prosecutorial access to police files absent a court order. The state's high court has to sort it out.

In doing so, the justices must certainly recognize that in order to satisfy the Brady requirement they need to grant someone, whoever it may be, meaningful and timely access to police personnel files. It would hardly serve justice to perpetuate a system in which exculpatory evidence sits unexamined in police files while prosecutors, with a duty to disclose it, can never see it.

More than half a century after the Brady ruling, it is startling that so much uncertainty remains over when, how and even whether prosecutors must disclose exculpatory information. The problem is even more vexing in California, given the interplay between Brady and strict laws and court rulings protecting officer files.

In addition, California is the only state in the union that does not complement the Brady requirement with an enforceable attorney's rule of ethics that clarifies what to turn over and when. A State Bar panel is currently considering such a rule. It wouldn't answer the sorts of questions coming before the Supreme Court this week in Johnson's case, but it would help clarify a prosecutor's constitutional obligations to criminal defendants.

Thesis statement essentials

THE THESIS STATEMENT

The thesis is the ONE sentence that contains

the foundation, the premise, the argument

you are presenting to your readers.

It is the core of the essay.

Strive to make it strong and clear.

ELEMENTS OF THESIS:

• It must be ARGUABLE.

This means it presents an opinion, an argument, or an illustration of a view or experience.  It is not a mere statement of fact. 

• It must ADDRESS the TOPIC.

While this element seems obvious too, writers often get going and one thought leads to another and another and the topic gets left behind. Re-read the prompt several times to make sure you haven’t gone off topic beyond the parameters of the assignment. 

• It must be specific enough to be covered in the paper.

What is the length of the assignment: two pages? ten pages? The length determines how broad or narrow the scope of your thesis will be. Adjust accordingly. 

• It must MAKE SENSE.

This is the catch-all element that asks you to re-consider your wording, syntax, diction, and grammar. Make changes as you see fit.