English

Assignment 1: Academic Summary and Analytic Response

Overview: Throughout your academic career you will be asked to summarize and respond to the

texts you read, and this assignment will ask you to do so in a way that focuses on rhetorical

aspects of an article. To prepare for this assignment we will critically examine the rhetoric of

health as discussed in a series of texts that address issues related to physical, environmental, or

community health. While we will consider the content of each of these texts, our primary

concern for this assignment will be how the author conveys the central message to their potential

audiences. As we read and discuss these texts, we will practice various strategies for

summarizing and analytically responding.

Purpose: Your purpose for writing this essay will be to accurately portray major ideas in the text

and to analytically respond to the text by evaluating the author’s strategies for conveying those

ideas. Choose one of the following texts to examine critically, summarize accurately and

objectively, and respond to with a thoughtful rhetorical analysis.

Readings to choose from:

• “Fighting Food Insecurity on Campus,” Higher Education Today, Christopher Nellum

• “Golden Rice: Lifesaver?” The New York Times, Amy Harmon

• “Farmland without Farmers,” The Atlantic, Wendell Berry

Audience: Your audiences for this assignment are your instructor and your classmates. Although

your readers are familiar with the text you’ve chosen, you should thoroughly represent its main

ideas and key points and provide accurate textual evidence throughout.

Requirements: You will create one document that is composed of two parts: a summary and a

response. Your summary should accurately and objectively represent the author’s thesis and key

points in approximately 300 words (about one double-spaced page). It should also adhere to the

guidelines for academic summary covered in class.

To achieve your purpose with your audience, use the following strategies in your summary:

• Introduce the text in the beginning of your summary so your readers know which text you

are summarizing. Include the author’s name, the article title, the date of publication, and

the publication title within the first few sentences.

• Focus on the writer’s arguments by reporting the text’s thesis and key points. Show that

you understand the “big picture”—the writer’s overall argument and how they achieve or

support it.

• Avoid giving examples and evidence that are too specific so you can focus on the overall

argument. Do generalize about types of evidence, kinds of examples, and rhetorical

strategies used by the author to support the argument.

• Use author tags/attribution so that your reader understands that you are reporting the

author’s ideas.

• Use an objective tone and an even mix of paraphrased and quoted source material.

Your response should be approximately 300 words (about one page) and should answer the

following question: Did the author successfully achieve their purpose with their intended

audience? Logically, to answer this question, you will need to do the following: identify what

the author’s purpose is; who the intended audiences are (explaining any assumptions, values,

opinions, or beliefs the identified audiences hold); and explain why the rhetorical features (listed

below) prove whether the author did/didn’t achieve their purpose.

Your response should answer this question by including a thesis (which is how you answer the

question), reasons to support your thesis, and evidence to support your reasoning. Critically

respond to the text’s effectiveness by analyzing purpose and audience and use the rhetorical

features as evidence to support your assertion.

• Purpose: You must address the author’s purpose, since you are answering the question:

Did the author successfully achieve their purpose with their intended audience? When

addressing purpose, consider what the text’s aims are and whether they’re clear for the

audience.

• Audience: You must also discuss the intended audience, since you will be answering the

question: Did the author successfully achieve their purpose with their intended audience?

When considering audience, you’ll first need to identify the audiences the text is

addressing and explain any assumptions, values, opinions, or beliefs they hold. You could

also consider whether the audience is easily identifiable or rather vague and how this

impacts the article’s effectiveness.

Draw your evidence to support your assertions about purpose and audience from the

following rhetorical features:

• Organization/Clarity: How clear is the author’s overall argument? Did the author

support their contentions in an organized order?

• Reasoning/Logic: How logical is the author’s argument? Is the thesis a reasonable claim

to make? Do the reasons logically support the thesis?

• Evidence/Support: What kind of evidence did the author use (data, observations,

anecdotes, examples, analogies)? Does the type and quality of evidence the author uses

appropriately realize the purpose with the audience?

• Language/Style: Did the tone and style support the author’s purpose? Is the level of

language suitable for the intended audience?

Keep in Mind:

• Begin your essay with a summary of the text, then lead into your response with an

effective transition from an objective academic summary to an analytical response that is

well supported with textual examples. Although writers have successfully combined

summary and response, for this assignment you should summarize then analyze.

• Improve your credibility with your audience by avoiding spelling and grammar mistakes.

• Type your essay in a readable, 12-point font and double-space it.

Paper Length: 600-700 words (about 2 pages); Worth: 15% of your final course grade

Workshop Date: Wednesday, February 9th Due Date: Friday, February 11th

**NOTE: At the end of your paper, include the following honor pledge: “"I have not given,

received, or used any unauthorized assistance."

Assignment 1 Grading Rubric

Excellent Satisfactory Unsatisfactory

Summary:

Purpose/Audience:

The summary convinces the

reader that you have read the

article closely and understand

its argument because the

summary accurately and

objectively represents the

author’s central claim and key

supporting points. The

summary does not merely list

the main ideas but shows how

the reasons support the claim.

The summary is selective about

details and examples, choosing

only ones that help to illustrate

a key point.

Summary:

Purpose/Audience:

The summary convinces your

reader that you have read and

understood the key points of the

article. It could improve in

showing the connection

between the main claim and

how it is supported. The

summary may have some extra,

unneeded details from the

article. There may be parts of

the summary that are

inaccurate, incomplete, or

subjective.

Summary:

Purpose/Audience: The

summary doesn’t convince the

reader that you have read the

article closely because its

argument is not clearly

represented and/or there may be

inaccuracies. The summary

may provide a list of points

rather than any sense of a larger

claim supported by reasons and

evidence and/or is merely a

chronological re-telling of the

article, rather than showing

clear understanding of the

thesis, reasons, and evidence.

The summary loses focus

through inclusion of minor or

off-topic points. Your opinions

and judgments are included in

the summary.

Response:

Purpose/Audience: The thesis

of the response is clearly stated

and separate from the summary.

You support your thesis with

clear reasons and textual

evidence. Your analysis is

based on the examination of the

text’s rhetorical effectiveness

upon an audience that you have

clearly identified. The response

convinces the reader that you

have a strong sense of the

author’s rhetorical choices and

how effective they were at

Response:

Purpose/Audience: The thesis

of the response is stated,

although it could be more

clearly defined and/or

supported. Your separation

between summary and response

is difficult to identify. Your

determination of the text’s

effectiveness could be more

logically explained. You

evaluate the content of the

article at the cost of a clear

analysis of its rhetorical

effectiveness. The response

Response:

Purpose/Audience: There is no

clear thesis guiding your

response. There is a lack of

organization that contributes to

making it difficult to

distinguish between summary

and response. Your reader may

question whether you have read

the article closely because there

is little or no discussion of the

text’s audience or the author’s

rhetorical choices. The response

includes irrelevant textual

content and/or does not

reaching the intended

audience—including what

assumptions the author makes

about their audiences and how

each audience will respond to

the implications of the article.

convinces your reader that you

have read and understood the

rhetorical choices the author

has made in the article. It could

have drawn better connections

between the author’s rhetorical

choices and the intended

audience. The response could

touch on more assumptions and

implications that the text

demonstrates as it addresses an

audience you have clearly

identified.

consider the rhetorical

elements.

Summary and Response

(S&R): Quotations and

Paraphrases: The essay

contains both paraphrases and

quotations. The paraphrased

and quoted passages are chosen

appropriately and integrated

into the summary and response.

S&R: Quotations and

Paraphrases: The essay needs

a better balance between

paraphrasing and quoting. It

needs to choose and integrate

quotations more effectively.

The summary may have

quotations and paraphrases

from the text, but the response

does not integrate textual

material as well or vice versa.

S&R: Quotations and

Paraphrases: The essay is

mostly quotations strung

together, or there are few

textual examples from the

article. The material used may

be poorly chosen and

integrated, or it lacks

appropriate balance between

paraphrase and quotation.

S&R: Attribution: The

summary cites the author, title,

date, and place of publication.

The whole essay (both

summary and response) uses

attribution so that it is clear

when the writer is referring to

their own ideas or the ideas

presented in the text. Every

sentence containing borrowed

information is appropriately

attributed. There is variety in

the kinds of attribution used.

S&R: Attribution: The

summary may not present all

the necessary publication

information. Generally, your

reader can tell that you are

referring to the author’s words

and/or ideas, but there may not

be an appropriate author tag in

every sentence containing

borrowed information.

S&R: Attribution: It is not

clear whose ideas are being

presented (whether from the

article or your own). Because of

the lack of author tags, the

reader is often unable to

identify borrowed material.

S&R: Conventions & Style:

You have followed all the

guidelines on the assignment

sheet. You have made

appropriate choices for an

academic essay. The essay is

carefully proofread and edited

for accuracy and clarity.

S&R: Conventions & Style:

While you followed most of the

guidelines on the assignment

sheet, sometimes your writing

is too informal for an academic

essay. The essay would benefit

from careful proofreading and

editing for clarity.

S&R: Conventions & Style:

Your rhetorical choices are

inappropriate for this context

and/or the document is unclear.

Attention to conventions is

needed. You have not followed

the guidelines on the

assignment sheet.