Confusing the Reader: Susan Griffin’s “Our Secrets” Essay (Critical Writing)

Exclusively available on Available only on IvyPanda® Made by Human No AI

The Paragraph:

Yellow highlights represent claims, while green highlights represent evidence.

“When one starts reading this book, it is true that it may be confusing, especially if the focus was to classify it into one of the conventional genres of literature. At first, it appears as if her prose is an oral narrative, a story that is based on fiction. Her prose is centered on herself as she uses first person pronoun to present her story. However, further reading of her work reveals that Griffin’s work is not a story based on fiction. It is a piece of research that has been presented in a non-conventional way. She is trying to collect facts from the past and present it in the best way possible. One of the major themes of her work is the World War II, its major players and implications. Graff and Birkenstein (2007) say, “Something still hidden which lies in the direction of Heinrich Himmler’s life,” (p. 236). It is important to note that Heinrich Himmler was the head of Nazi’s secret police. Heinrich Himmler sought thefi advice of Reinhard Heydrich, his assistant, when making his decisions regarding the wars. According to Graff and Birkenstein (2007), “He has made only one decision on his own with a consistent resolve: following Hitler with unwavering loyalty, he is known as der treue Heinrich, true Heinrich” (p. 250). Susan Griffin is interested in what happened in the years preceding World War II, especially in regards to the atrocities the German government committed against humanity.”

The main claim in this paragraph is that, at first Griffin’s book does not appear to fit into the conventional genres of literature. This claim is informed by the fact that the book has the potential of confusing the average reader. This claim is followed by the evidence that Griffin’s book first appears as an oral narrative to the reader. This evidence is expounded further when the author points out that most of Griffin’s book makes heavy use of first person and other personal examples.

The other claim in this paragraph is that Griffin’s story is not entirely based on fiction but it also utilizes subtly delivered research. This claim is followed up with the evidence that most of the book is trying to collect and utilize historical facts. The evidence that is used to back up this claim is Griffin’s references of World War II. For instance, Griffin uses scenes that occurred in Germany during the World War II to make her evidence ‘speak’ in the defense of her claims. Another piece of evidence that is used to back up the claims that are made in this paragraph is the observation that Griffin indicates genuine interest in historically accurate facts that preceded World War II.

The balance between claims and evidence in this paragraph is unsatisfactory. First, the first two claims are supplied with inadequate evidence. For instance, the first claim that Griffin’s work is a fictitious oral narrative is backed up by frail evidence that the author uses first person pronouns in the book. Furthermore, the first claim is quickly disqualified by another claim that Griffin’s work is research-based. This second claim is followed up by substantial pieces of evidence including quotes from the book. However, even though the paragraph utilizes quotes from the book, these pieces of evidence are not analyzed properly in a manner that makes them tangible. For example, the three sentences that follow the second claim are all direct quotes and only the last line in the paragraph is an analysis of these quotes.

The revision that would achieve a balance of claims and evidence in this paragraph involves combining the first two claims in order to come up with a single and solid assertion. Combining these two claims would make the paragraph less confusing to a reader. The other viable revision for this paragraph involves using fewer quotes as evidence for the second claim. Therefore, the paragraph would have more analyses for the quotes.

More related papers Related Essay Examples
Cite This paper
You're welcome to use this sample in your assignment. Be sure to cite it correctly

Reference

IvyPanda. (2021, April 21). Confusing the Reader: Susan Griffin's "Our Secrets". https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-book-our-secrets-by-susan-griffin-critical-writing/

Work Cited

"Confusing the Reader: Susan Griffin's "Our Secrets"." IvyPanda, 21 Apr. 2021, ivypanda.com/essays/the-book-our-secrets-by-susan-griffin-critical-writing/.

References

IvyPanda. (2021) 'Confusing the Reader: Susan Griffin's "Our Secrets"'. 21 April.

References

IvyPanda. 2021. "Confusing the Reader: Susan Griffin's "Our Secrets"." April 21, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-book-our-secrets-by-susan-griffin-critical-writing/.

1. IvyPanda. "Confusing the Reader: Susan Griffin's "Our Secrets"." April 21, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-book-our-secrets-by-susan-griffin-critical-writing/.


Bibliography


IvyPanda. "Confusing the Reader: Susan Griffin's "Our Secrets"." April 21, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-book-our-secrets-by-susan-griffin-critical-writing/.

If, for any reason, you believe that this content should not be published on our website, please request its removal.
Updated:
This academic paper example has been carefully picked, checked and refined by our editorial team.
No AI was involved: only quilified experts contributed.
You are free to use it for the following purposes:
  • To find inspiration for your paper and overcome writer’s block
  • As a source of information (ensure proper referencing)
  • As a template for you assignment
Privacy Settings

IvyPanda uses cookies and similar technologies to enhance your experience, enabling functionalities such as:

  • Basic site functions
  • Ensuring secure, safe transactions
  • Secure account login
  • Remembering account, browser, and regional preferences
  • Remembering privacy and security settings
  • Analyzing site traffic and usage
  • Personalized search, content, and recommendations
  • Displaying relevant, targeted ads on and off IvyPanda

Please refer to IvyPanda's Cookies Policy and Privacy Policy for detailed information.

Required Cookies & Technologies
Always active

Certain technologies we use are essential for critical functions such as security and site integrity, account authentication, security and privacy preferences, internal site usage and maintenance data, and ensuring the site operates correctly for browsing and transactions.

Site Customization

Cookies and similar technologies are used to enhance your experience by:

  • Remembering general and regional preferences
  • Personalizing content, search, recommendations, and offers

Some functions, such as personalized recommendations, account preferences, or localization, may not work correctly without these technologies. For more details, please refer to IvyPanda's Cookies Policy.

Personalized Advertising

To enable personalized advertising (such as interest-based ads), we may share your data with our marketing and advertising partners using cookies and other technologies. These partners may have their own information collected about you. Turning off the personalized advertising setting won't stop you from seeing IvyPanda ads, but it may make the ads you see less relevant or more repetitive.

Personalized advertising may be considered a "sale" or "sharing" of the information under California and other state privacy laws, and you may have the right to opt out. Turning off personalized advertising allows you to exercise your right to opt out. Learn more in IvyPanda's Cookies Policy and Privacy Policy.

1 / 1