Summary-Response Assignment

Dr. Marquardt

ENG 1430

WKU, Spring 2016

Project 1: Summary – Response

Young and Kheyfet have very different views of the Cinderella story. Please choose one of these articles and write a summary-response essay about it.

Definition:  A summary/response assignment asks a writer to first present the major points of another source and then expand on those points through incorporating other ideas. 

Summary:

•  names the author and/or title of the original piece.
• opens with a clear statement of the original piece’s focus.
• contains all the major ideas and significant examples used in the original piece
• explains any key terms used in the original piece.
• presents accurately the ideas in the original piece, without distorting or otherwise changing their meaning.
•  if a full summary, avoids giving the summary writer’s opinion, reflecting on the piece, or engaging in a discussion about the ideas in the piece.
• presents the information in a coherent, focused way, not as a list of points and ideas.

Response:

•  a specific focus, usually stated explicitly in the beginning of the response.
• an expansion of ideas from the original source, including drawing on personal experience, ideas learned in other courses or contexts, the news, or similar sources
•  a clear connection between the writer's ideas and the ideas in the original text.
•  a clear sense of the writer’s feelings and/or opinions about the ideas to which they are responding.
•  an explanation of why the audience should find the response significant, fascinating, or otherwise engaging.

 Genre Conventions:

Genre conventions of Summary include the ability to both paraphrase and condense the thesis, main claims and main examples of a reading and present them in an objective, 3rd person, and accurate manner using signal phrases that tell the reader that information contained in their writing are not their original ideas, but belong to the author. The summary should not read like a list of points, but should be synthesized into a skillful abstract of the author’s work. Genre Conventions of Response include the ability to choose one of the main claims from the summary and develop a point of view that either agrees, disagrees, or complicates said claim. The writer should be able to provide explanation and evidence to support their point of view. This evidence may be of a personal nature, but is not limited to this, so long as the writer connects the evidence to their reasoning. The writing may be in 1st or 3rd person.

Focus in Summary—the writing is limited only to the paraphrased main ideas and examples of the text being summarized. It does not incorporate the writer’s personal opinions and presents the information as the author of the text’s rather than the writer of the summary. As well, the summary clearly identifies the title, the author and the author’s thesis. Focus in Response—the writing clearly states the writer’s position in relation to the author’s claim and explains and supports this position.

Development in Summary—the writing contains all relevant claims and examples the author makes Development in Response—the writer has thoroughly explained his/her position and provided evidence to support his/her position. This evidence is sufficiently connected to said position.

Organization in Summary—the essay should be a condensed version of the original (approximately 150 words). It should not be a list of the original text’s claims rather it should read like a cohesive paragraph. The writer may wish to organize the author’s claims from most to least important (or vice-versa), in order that the points were presented, in chronological order, or using the points to build into their response. Organization in Response—the essay should be a condensed version of argument (approximately 350 words). The writer should present their claim, explain it, and support/connect it, though it need not be in this order. The writer may use inductive or deductive reasoning and their writing may reflect this

You must cite the essay you respond to.

You do not have to have other sources, but if you use them, you must cite them.

·        Draft 1: Detailed outline

·        Draft 2: 400 words

·        Final draft: 500 words

Submission Format:

Include all of your work in one Google Doc. (make sure you share this Document and post the link as a comment to this post.)

1.      Draft 1 on top (with comments)

2.      Draft 2 in middle (with comments)

3.      Draft 3 at the bottom (with comments)

Professor Lew might make changes to this assignment when she returns.