Name:________________________ Block: ________ Date: _____________

Practicing Breaking Down an Article – Pre-Assessment

As an introduction to our reading of our first big text, Of Mice and Men (1937), you will also
complete a pre-assessment for another skill we’ll focus on this semester–reading, understanding,
and interpreting the purpose, audience, and structure of other nonfiction texts. Over the course of
reading this book, some of these supplemental texts will be informative, others will be
argumentative. We will learn to spot the different strategies authors use to write for these
purposes.

To remind us of the context surrounding the creation of Of Mice and Men, you will read the
following article. This article is informative in nature, and is split into distinct sections. Your task
is to complete the following graphic organizer with text from the article. (this graphic organizer
will become extremely familiar to you!)

Here is a link to the article:

https://spice.fsi.stanford.edu/news/land-your-land-great-depression-migrant-farm-workers-and-le
gacy-new-deal

Article of Choice: “This Land Is Your Land: The Great

Depression, Migrant Farm Workers, and the
Legacy of the New Deal”

1. Purpose:
What is the author’s purpose for writing this text? Use one of The author wrote the text to show how
the following sentence starters:
homelessness/ bankruptcy was something a
The author’s purpose is to convince viewers…
ton of good people were having to deal with
The author’s purpose is to share details about… because of the depression and how the
The author’s purpose is to present details to viewers that help problem was solved.
them understand
The author’s purpose is to inform people about…

2. Main Argument: How they solved the problem of all the people
What is the main claim of this piece? What going bankrupt because of the depression.
point is the author trying to make to their
readers?
 3. Supporting Point 1 (Sub Claim)
What is one supporting point for the main “Many Americans lost their life
claim? What is one smaller topic that the
savings and were left destitute.”
author uses to help support the article’s main
point?

4. Relevant Evidence Used to Develop

Point 1 It shows how they are saying how they were
What is one piece of relevant evidence / left with nothing
example that the author uses to support this
point?

5. Supporting Point 2 (Sub Claim) “The government launched

What is another supporting point for the main numerous federal agencies and
claim? What is one smaller topic that the programs to provide critical relief
author uses to help support the article’s main
point?
to the displaced American
workforce and agricultural
communities.”

6. Relevant Evidence Used to Develop The Farm Security

Point 2
Administration, in particular,
What is one piece of relevant evidence / resettled poor migrants on
example that the author uses to support this
point?
productive land, building entire
communities, cooperatives,
schools, and residential camps
with running water and sanitary
conditions.
 7. How would you describe the style of
this article? Is it Formal? Informal?
Academic? Scientific?
Conversational?
Why did Moncaster use this style?
What are they hoping to accomplish?
8. The article ends with discussion
questions. Why do you think the
author does this? How might this
help you think about the text’s
intended audience?
9. Write one specific detail that you
learned by reading this article.
Include your reaction to learning
that new insight.
10. Choose one of the discussion
questions and write a 2-3 sentence
response to it. Include the Question
# that you’re responding to.
I would say probably academic, it lists names and
tells you facts about the whole thing and gets to
the point.
He was trying to teach people about the
depression
He does this to make the reader pause and think
about everything they just read
How much people really lost. I know it was bad
but I didn't know it was that bad.
Question one
I believe he chose those photos because they best
suit his article. The first one shows people waiting
in like by a truck for “ a days work” which i'm
assuming means money. It shows how many
different people came together to try and help.
The last photo shows what it looks like where
someone is living. I'm going to assume those were
the conditions of the people who lost everything
they had. That photo suits the article to best
visualize what he was talking about.