THE ANALYSIS OF AN ARTICLE
Planning article analysis
There are several stages in analyzing and presenting an article that can be grouped around the following steps:
1. Read the article and understand its topic.
2. Identify the message (the central, main idea).
3. Sort out the key issues and organize your thoughts around them.
4. Express your attitude to the key issues and your opinion of the author’s
position.
5. Make notes about additional facts and updated information to support your
position.
6. Present the analysis.
You have to read and understand the article and its key issues. But it is not
enough just to know what the author of the article writes about. You are also
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expected to show that you can critically evaluate the facts and views presented in the article. This means being able to form your own informed opinions about them. To make the process of organizing your thoughts and ideas better structured you should consider the following questions while reading the article:
1. What is the title of the article? Who and where is it published by?
2. What is the author’s aim? (To present some new information? To persuade? To
discuss a problem? To solve a problem?)
3. Is the message clear? Is it explicit, clearly stated? Is it evident throughout the
article? Comment on the author’s presentation of fact. Distinguish between
facts and author’s opinion.
4. What kind of tone is the article written in?
5. What is your impression of the article? Does it make an interesting reading?
Structure of article analysis
Introduction
Give the article’s title, refer to the source of article, say a few words about the author and define the type of the article (analytical, informative or mixed); specify its message and outline the key issues.
Main body
Present the main facts and ideas given by the author in the article, speak about the author’s general stand on the problem, discussed in the article.
Conclusion
Comment on the author’s opinion and manner of fact-presentation, express your outstanding of the problem and support your commentary with some background knowledge, additional updated information or/and reference to other sources.
Useful words and phrases
Introduction
The title of the article is
The article under analysis / consideration / discussion / review is The article is entitled
The author of the article is
The article is published in
The article is taken from
The subject / topic / problem / current issue of the article is
The problem was caused by / resulted from / was a result of
The objective / main aim of the author is
The article deals with / tackles / raises / bears on / the problem of
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The article is devoted to
The article provides ample food for thought for the readers
Main Body
The Author’s Technique
- The author looks at / takes a quick look at / explores / examines the problem of
- The author informs the readers that / describes / characterizes / shows /
illustrates / defines / portrays /discusses / demonstrates / introduces / analyses /
suggests / recommends
- The author foresees / predicts / claims / admits / asserts / criticizes / condemns /
acknowledges
- The author brings to light / highlights / stresses / lays stress on / draws the
readers’ attention to / points out / puts emphasis on / emphasizes / focuses on / comments on
Developing Arguments
Sequencing
Firstly / First of all / Secondly / Thirdly / Then / Next / After that / Finally / Eventually
Addition
Furthermore / Moreover / In addition to / To add to that / Besides / What’s more / Apart from this / Along with / As well as
Comparing
Both ... and / Also / Neither ... nor / Likewise / Similarly / In the same way / Almost the same as
Contrast
Nevertheless / However / Despite this / In spite of / Actually / In fact / On the one hand ...On the other hand / Although / Even though / Whereas / At the same time / Different from / Otherwise
Highlight
- It’s essential / vital / extremely important to understand
- Ultimately / Basically / Most importantly
- In particular / Especially / Chiefly / Mainly
- If we look at the problem closely
- What it exactly means is
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Giving an example
- To clarify / explain / paraphrase / illustrate
- For example / for instance
- In other words / That is
- Specifically / In particular
Cause and Effect
- Because of / Owing to / Due to / For this reason
- One explanation (for...) is that ... / What has brought this about is that ... / As
it
- happens
- Therefore / As a result / Hence / Accordingly / Consequently / As a consequence /
- Thus
Presenting questionable ideas
- Provided / Providing / Granted / Granting
- Supposing / Assuming
Referring to something or reporting somebody’s ideas
- In somebody’s words / understanding / According to / Somebody is quoted as
- saying / As somebody says / claims / argues / considers
- The information is taken from
- Somebody defines / describes ... as ...
Agreeing with or supporting somebody’s ideas
- I would like to support / back an argument
- I’m prepared to share somebody’s views / to side with somebody
- I totally / completely / absolutely agree with
- I fully understand that / I’m in favor of / I support / I share the author’s opinion
- I see eye to eye with the author on this problem
- The author is correct to point out
- To a certain extent / up to a point I agree with ...but
- The message is explicit / clearly stated / implicit
- The facts are accurate
- The author’s conclusion is unbiased / objective /logically consistent with the
rest
- of the article
- The author presents a well-argued, reasoned case, clear arguments
- The tone of the article is neutral / unbiased / impartial
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Disagreeing with or supporting somebody’s ideas
- I would like to oppose somebody / to disagree with somebody on an issue
- I’m afraid that I can’t accept the idea that ...
- The author’s conclusion is biased / inconsistent with the facts / opinions of
- The author is insufficiently informed that
- The tone of the article is biased / partial / bitter
- The author’s tone is excessively emotional / unscrupulous / stereotyped
Making general statements
- All in all / Generally / On the whole
- Basically / By and large / For the most part
- Essentially / My general impression / assessment of he article is ...
- I’m convinced / I do think / I feel / I tend to think / I would suggest that
- I believe / consider / suppose
- Myviewisthat/AsIseeit/Itseemstome/Inmyopinion/view/Itismy
view
- that / It strikes me that / I’m inclined to believe
Summarizing
- So to sum up / Finally / In brief /
- If I can briefly summarize
- The article ends in ...
- Before I finish let me just go over the main points of
Concluding
- In conclusion / To conclude /To cut it short / Taking everything into account /
On the whole / As it was previously stated
- I’d like to finish by saying that / To conclude I’d like to say that / To reach
one’s own conclusion
- All things considered I would like to say
- The article makes an interesting and informative reading. The article to analyse “Russia says it cannot accept US peace plan for Ukraine ‘in its current form’
Moscow’s refusal highlights the limited progress Donald Trump has made on his promise to end the war Pjotr Sauer
Tue 1 Apr 2025 11.57 EDT. Moscow has described the latest US peace proposals as unacceptable to the Kremlin, highlighting the limited progress Donald Trump has made on his promise to end the war in Ukraine since taking office in January.

Sergei Ryabkov, a foreign policy adviser to Vladimir Putin, said some of Russia’s key demands were not being addressed by the US proposals to end the war, in comments that marked a rare acknowledgment from the Russian side that talks with the US over Ukraine had stalled in recent weeks.

“We take the models and solutions proposed by the Americans very seriously, but we can’t accept it all in its current form,” Ryabkov was quoted by state media as telling the Russian magazine International Affairs. It came after Trump on Sunday revealed his frustration with Putin, saying he was “pissed off” and threatening to impose tariffs on Russian oil exports.“All we have today is an attempt to find some kind of framework that would first allow for a ceasefire – at least as envisioned by the Americans,” Ryabkov said.

“As far as we can see, there is no place in them today for our main demand, namely to solve the problems related to the root causes of this conflict.”

Putin has repeatedly referred to what he claimed were the “root causes” of the conflict to justify his hardline position on any prospective deal to end the war in Ukraine.

As preconditions for a ceasefire, the Russian leader has insisted on terms that would, in effect, dismantle Ukraine as an independent, functioning state – pulling it firmly into Russia’s sphere of influence.

He has demanded that Kyiv recognise Russia’s annexation of Crimea and four partly occupied regions in the south-east, withdraw its forces from those areas, pledge never to join Nato, and agree to demilitarisation. In recent weeks the Russian president has also been openly pushing for regime change in Ukraine, claiming that Volodymyr Zelenskyy lacks the legitimacy to sign a peace deal and suggesting that Ukraine needs external governance.  Trump appears to be growing increasingly impatient with his lack of progress in a war that he promised to end in 24 hours, expressing frustration with Russian and Ukrainian leaders as he struggles to forge a truce.

Trump’s comment that he was “pissed off” with Putin over the Russian leader’s approach to a potential ceasefire in Ukraine was a noticeable shift in tone from a leader who had previously expressed admiration for Putin. However, Trump later dialled back his rhetoric and by Monday was accusing Ukraine of trying to renegotiate an economic deal with the US.

The White House on Tuesday said Trump was frustrated with leaders on both sides of the war.

Despite a flurry of US-brokered meetings and parallel talks with Russia and Ukraine in Saudi Arabia that produced – on paper – a 30-day energy ceasefire, both sides have continued to strike each other’s energy infrastructure.

The Trump administration also attempted to broker a ceasefire in the Black Sea, but Moscow sought to attach several conditions to the deal, including the easing of European sanctions, a demand swiftly rejected by Brussels.

Grigory Karasin, who represented Russia at the talks with the US in Saudi Arabia, last week admitted that the sides had failed to make significant progress and that negotiations may drag into next year.

But Trump’s team has said it remains committed to halting the war, with the US leader telling NBC he and Putin planned to speak again this week.

The Finnish president, Alexander Stubb, who spent time with Trump over the weekend, said he proposed setting a deadline of 20 April for Putin to comply with a full ceasefire.

However, those close to the Kremlin believe Moscow is unlikely to accept a full ceasefire without securing some of its demands, which include the cessation of all arms and intelligence supplies to Ukraine from the US and other allies.

“We’re prepared to keep fighting for some time,” said Fyodor Lukyanov, a prominent Russian foreign policy analyst who heads a council that advises the Kremlin. “The continuation of the war, which we are slowly but surely winning, is in our interest. Especially considering that the main sponsor [the US] seems to be backing out … Why should we rush in a situation like this?”