1. Go to the assigned web site in your internet browser.
2. Determine the type of the site using criteria offered by Alexander and Tate. If the site may be classified in two or more types, then determine which type is the dominant.
3. In light of your determination of the type of the site, identify the purpose of the site. If there is more than one purpose, identify the main purpose(s) that the site is designed to achieve.
4. Develop a tentative hypothesis regarding the target audience for the web site. You may revise this hypothesis later on, but you need at least some notion of the target audience to help you understand the strategic actions that are incorporated in the site.
5. Begin to look for strategic actions in the site that are designed to achieve the main purpose(s) of the site with regard to the target audience. The general categories of strategic actions are invention, arrangement, expression, and delivery. It is wise to consider the arrangement of the site first. Look at second level pages linked to the main page and look at third level pages linked to the second level pages. This should give you a sense of the way that the site creator has structured materials for target audience viewing at the site. You should consider how effective the site is arranged to achieve the purpose(s) of the site for the target audience. Such a consideration may help you come to a final decision about the actual target audience of the page--since content in the front, second level, and third level pages will no doubt help give you a firmer conception of the audience for whom the site is designed. It will also help you identify content areas in the site that are most central to achieving the purpose(s) of the site. With these content areas in mind, you should identify the principal appeals used in the site to achieve its main purposes in regard to the target audience. You should consider how well such appeals ought to work for the target audience. Having identified the principal appeals addressed to the target audience, examine how well expression and delivery of materials at the site promote the appeals used and/or more generally assist in achieving the purpose(s) of the site.
6. You are now ready to begin writing your critical review. Frame your review so that it has four parts:
a. identification of the type (or dominant type) of the site and its associated main purpose(s)
b. identification of the target audience of the site
c. consideration of the strategic actions taken at the site to achieve its main purpose(s) in regard to the target audience.
d. evaluation of the strategic actions taken at the site as means of achieving its main purposes in regard to the target audience.
7. Be sure that your essay follows MLA style and is expressed clearly, appropriately, and with mechanical correctness. (See the course syllabus under Essays for more discussion of these matters.)
Your review will be evaluated using a template. The template will provide for evaluation of six factors of your review.
a. Your identification of the type of the site and its main purpose(s) (2 points possible)--You will receive points to the degree to which your review provides a justified (i.e., argued for) specification of the type and main purpose(s) for the site assigned for analysis.
b. Your identification of the target audience of the site (2 points possible)--You will receive points to the degree to which your review provides a justified (i.e., argued for) specification of the target audience of the site assigned for analysis.
c. Your analysis of the strategic actions taken at the web site (5 points possible)--You will receive points to the degree that your review provides a justified (i.e., argued for) account of the invention, arrangement, expression, and delivery of the web site.
d. Your evaluation of the strategic actions taken at the web site as means of achieving the main purpose(s) of the site in regard to its target audience (2 points possible)-- You will receive points to the degree to which your review provides a justified (i.e., argued for) assessment of the site's strategic actions in relation to the main purpose(s) and the target audience of the site.
e. The organization of your review (2 points possible)--You will receive points to the degree that your essay exhibits the four parts recommended for the review.
f. The expression of your review (two points possible)--You will receive points to the degree that your essay (i) expresses your ideas clearly, appropriately, and with mechanical correctness and (ii) follows the directions on format and documentation provided by the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers.