Assessing Credibility
Please answer the following questions after reading the provided article “Margaret Atwood, the Prophet of Dystopia” and “Evaluating a source” document.
1. Let’s go back to basics here. What is the thesis of the “Margaret Atwood: Prophet of Dystopia” by Rebecca Mead? Write out a thesis paraphrase – using the 5-Ws (Who, What, Where, When, Why, and How, Purpose of the article, and the writer’s Tone) to help guide you. Include the title and author.
2. Let’s imagine you’re writing a paper on “Women’s Reproductive Rights in Literature.”
Please Assess the Currency & Relevance of the article, “Margaret Atwood: Prophet of Dystopia”
Use the questions on the Evaluating Sources guide (this is “C” for currency and “R” for reliability and relevance) to help develop your response which should be 1 paragraph long.
3. Assess the Authority of the author. Feel free to do some research on them.
Answer the question: Do you believe the author of ‘Margaret Atwood: Prophet of Dystopia,” Rebecca Mead, carries enough credibility, authority, and expertise to write about this topic in an effective way? Your answer should be about 1 paragraph.
4. Assess the Accuracy of the article.
Answer the question(s): how accurate is the author’s depictions of the novel handmaid’s tale? Outside of that, does Mead provide references or citations? Quotations? Your answer should be about 1 paragraph.
5. Assess the Purpose and Point of View of Mead’s article.
Is the content of the article primarily fact? opinion? or a balance of both? How can you tell?
Does the author seem to be manipulative or trying to sell something?
Does the author’s bias cloud or hinder their reporting of the subject?
This answer should be 1-2 paragraphs long.
6. This is a general question about your experience reading this article.
How do you feel reading this article impacted your reading of the handmaid’s tale novel? In other words, after reading this article to view, or think about, the novel in a different light or a different way? How so? Explain. Use details from the article to prove that you read. This answer should be at least 1 paragraph (and there’s no right answer for this one!).
