CUNY WriteSite CUNY WriteSite

Writing Projects » Key Words » Criticize » Try Your Hand

Step 1: Read the passage below. As you read, look for the writer's argument and the evidence he cites to support it:
People are not homeless because they are physically disabled, mentally ill, abusers of alcohol or other drugs, or unemployed. However destructive and relevant these conditions may be, they do not explain homelessness; most physically disabled people, most mentally iII people, most alcoholics and drug addicts, and most unemployed persons do have places to live. Moreover, when mentally ill or physically disabled or alcoholic homeless persons do get a place to live, they are no longer homeless but they remain, as they were before, physically or mentally disabled, drug addicts, or whatever. Clearly, then, there is no necessary connection between these conditions and homelessness. Homeless people are homeless because they do not have a place to live.
— From Tell Them Who I Am: The Lives of Homeless Women
©1993 by Elliot Liebow

Step 2: State the author's argument in a sentence or two. Then note the evidence he uses to support this claim. Write your response in the box below:



Step 3: What is your opinion of Liebow's argument? Are you persuaded of its validity? Does your own experience support his conclusions? In a single paragraph, write a critique of his position:


Have you received an assignment that calls for criticism or asks you to write a critique? Do Your Own is a section that can help you get started. We also have some samples of CUNY assignments that ask for criticism and student papers that criticize.


CUNY WriteSite
Search | Index | Guide | Introduction | Writing Projects | Writing for Exams
Grammar and Style | Net Library | Conversations | Campus Resources | Teachers and Tutors

© 2000 The City University of New York
All rights reserved.