Guided Annotations Worksheet on “Wanting Babies Like Themselves”
Frances Santos
Overview
- This worksheet is adapted from “Guided Annotations [Resource]” by Frances Santos.
- Through the worksheet, students learn how to engage in close reading while analyzing the writer’s vocabulary, tone, and reasoning.
Worksheet
Directions for students: As you read the text in the left-hand column (or after you have read it once all the way through), respond to the questions and tasks in the right-hand column.
| Focus Text | Critical Questions & Tasks |
| Directions for teachers:
Copy and paste the New York Times essay “Wanting Babies Like Themselves, Some Parents Choose Genetic Defects” by Darshak M. Sanghavi.[1] |
Directions for teachers: Feel free to use the following questions and tasks in conjunction with the article. Adjust positioning as necessary.
Vocabulary: As you read, provide a definition for each of the following words using context clues and/or a dictionary:
Tone: How would you characterize the tone of the piece in paragraphs 1-5.?
Tone: Discuss the rhetorical shift that occurs in paragraph 6. What is the author trying to do here?
Line of Reasoning: What comparison is the author making here in paragraph 10? What claim are they making with this comparison?
Line of Reasoning: The author makes another comparison in paragraph 14. What is being compared and how valid is this argument?
Line of Reasoning: The author has shifted largely to anecdotal evidence. Why shift to this type of evidence?
Line of Reasoning: Describe the rhetorical shift between paragraphs 20 to 21.
Line of Reasoning: What claim does the author conclude with? How does his evidence and reasoning build up to this claim?
Rhetorical Elements: Identify and explain the following elements of the text:
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Click here to download a Word Doc version of the example Guided Annotations worksheet for the New York Times essay “Wanting Babies Like Themselves, Some Parents Choose Genetic Defects” by Darshak M Sanghavi:
“Wanting Babies Like Themselves” Example
Attribution:
Santos, Frances. “Guided Annotations Worksheet on ‘Wanting Babies Like Themselves’.” Strategies, Skills and Models for Student Success in Writing and Reading Comprehension. College Station: Texas A&M University, 2024. This work is licensed with a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
- Sanghavi, Darshak M. “Wanting Babies Like Themselves, Some Parents Choose Genetic Defects.” The New York Times, 5 Dec. 2006. NYTimes.com, https://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/05/health/05essa.html. ↵
