Frakenstories & The Writer's Practice

III: Analytical Writing

Section III moves into more complex analytical tasks, helping students develop critical thinking skills while maintaining engagement through creative scenarios and roleplay.

These experiences introduce academic writing skills in accessible, engaging ways.

Ethical questions are about moral judgments of right and wrong, with particular reference to how our actions affect others.

This experience introduces ethical analysis:

  • Identifying stakeholders and their interests
  • Weighing competing concerns
  • Supporting decisions with evidence
  • Understanding complex cause-and-effect relationships

This experience develops critical thinking and persuasive writing skills while addressing a timely topic. Key learning opportunities include:

  • Understanding why people hold beliefs
  • Evaluating evidence and claims
  • Developing persuasive strategies
  • Writing with empathy and respect for audience

The two versions offer different approaches:

  • V1 (Personal) lets students work with familiar examples
  • V2 (Balderdash) provides creative freedom through invented scenarios

Both versions emphasise the importance of tone and approach when trying to change minds.

It's worth also discussing the limitations of persuasion and argument when attempting to change people's minds, especially with regard to deeply held beliefs. 

This experience introduces rhetorical analysis through:

  • Close observation of media
  • Understanding implied messages
  • Analysing audience and purpose
  • Recognising cultural values and assumptions

The alien perspective helps students step back from familiar media and see it with fresh eyes.

This experience makes rhetorical analysis accessible through humour. Students explore:

  • How humour works on different levels
  • The role of context in meaning
  • Cultural literacy and shared references
  • The relationship between form and function

The two versions provide different frameworks:

  • V1 (Robot psychologist) emphasises craft analysis
  • V2 (Meme historian) explores more cultural and historical context

Customise this prompt!

We strongly suggest you customise this prompt image with something your students will find relatable and funny. 

This experience introduces trend analysis and prediction. Students practise:

  • Identifying patterns and trends
  • Supporting predictions with evidence
  • Understanding cause and effect
  • Considering multiple perspectives and outcomes

This experience develops counterfactual thinking and causal analysis:

  • Understanding historical causation
  • Considering multiple outcomes
  • Tracing consequences through time
  • Supporting speculation with evidence

Customise this prompt

This experience relies on domain knowledge, so customise the prompt with an image/topic that your class has studied or researched.

This experience combines scenario planning with analytical and imaginative writing. Depending on how realistic your scenario is, students develop:

  • Systems thinking
  • Risk analysis skills
  • Problem-solving approaches
  • Understanding of complex causality

Customise this prompt

The default image we've given you is a silly image designed for a fun, Baldardash-style writing experience. But you can substitute it for something more serious, espeically if there's a potential disaster you've been learning about in class.

Teaching tips

  • All of these prompts benefit from longer writing times and character limits. Increase the default settings!
  • These experiences introduce academic writing skills through playful scenarios. Help students see how these same analytical approaches apply in more traditional academic contexts.
  • The roleplay elements (alien scientist, robot psychologist, etc.) help students approach analysis with fresh eyes. Encourage them to enjoy the perspective shift.
  • Look for opportunities to connect these analyses to your subject area. Many of these frameworks can be adapted for specific content.
  • Consider collecting successful student examples that demonstrate different analytical approaches. These can serve as models for future work.
  • Use the ethical dilemma framework with subject-specific scenarios
  • Apply the conspiracy theory analysis structure to historical or scientific misconceptions
  • Adapt the rhetorical analysis approaches for subject-specific texts
  • Use the prediction and scenario planning experiences with content-area trends and developments
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