FOR NJOSH ONLY

Essay Two: Summary and Researched Response

to a TED Talk of Your Choosing

What to Do:

Writing academically involves summarizing other peoples’ ideas, characterizing those ideas faithfully, and responding to those ideas—often by using research. For this essay, write a summary and researched response to a TED Talk of your choosing.

What is a “strong response”?

A “strong response” is a developed, thorough, extended response that has a main controlling idea. In the words of the authors of The Allyn and Bacon Guide to Writing, when you write a strong response to a source, you should “speak back to [the] author from your own critical thinking, personal experience, values, and, perhaps, further reading or research” and feel open to “write a response in which you are free to consider the author’s rhetorical strategies, your own agreement or disagreement with the author’s ideas, and your personal response to the text” (118).

Because TED Talks have quite a range in topics and because there are many ways to respond to each TED Talk, you may not know right away what you want to “say back” to a particular TED Talk. Indeed, you may discover and develop your response through research and drafting.

 

Tip #1: Highlight

Whatever it is you choose to “say back” to the TED Talk, strive to give your response focus—a main controlling idea that has a purpose. It may help to know that you don’t need to respond to every point an author makes. You may choose to “highlight” the points that relate most to your focus.

Tip #2: Rely on Detail-Rich Paraphrase and Summary:

Make substantial use of the source or sources you’re responding to. Offering a single sentence of quoted material and not engaging any of the author’s other ideas often is not enough . Rely on detail-rich paraphrase and summary more than quoting. They offer a much deeper, more informative portrayal of a source than solitary quotes do.

That said, I also urge you to use quotes. Quotes may be used to invite other authors into your conversation to “say” things they’ve articulated especially well. Quotes may also help you convey to your reader the style or flavor of a source you’re writing about.

Tip #3: Perhaps Research the Speaker:

Who is the speaker, and what is their relevant experience? That said, still keep your response idea-focused.

Tip #4: In-text Citations for Time-Based Media Sources:

MLA citation requires special in-text citations for sources that allow you to track the time that elapses—think of YouTube videos and how they have a timeline at the bottom. To see how to make these in-text citations, please see this page at Purdue OWL and scroll down to the section “Time-based media sources”: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/02/

What is the research requirement?

Use research to broaden your understanding, illustrate your points for your reader, and support your claims. Use at least 5 credible sources, including the following: at least 1 credible internet source, at least 1 credible book or ebook, and at least 1 relevant scholarly journal article. Any other relevant sources (news items, interviews you conduct, videos, etc.) may be used, too.

Who is your audience for this essay?

In The Curious Researcher, Bruce Ballenger recommends “writing across” rather than “writing up” (19). By “writing across,” Ballenger means writing to your peers—your classmates, who are in your “discourse community” (i.e. your ENGL 101 class).

During this project, you’ll be discussing your ideas with your classmates, sharing your writing with them, and receiving and implementing their feedback.

As Ballenger points out, “you’re trying to make your topic relevant and interesting to people who share in your own ‘discourse’ community. As you advance in college, that community will become more specialized and so will your writing” (19). As you may have noticed when we were introducing ourselves in class, we’re a pretty varied group, coming from a variety of places and having a variety of interests. We’re also all here, a part of the UW-Stout community!

 

Minimum Word Count: 1000 words. The works cited page doesn’t count towards the word count.                     

 

Value: 100 points Formatting: The document should be formatted according to MLA guidelines. Essays formatted incorrectly will be docked up to 5 points.

How Your Essay Will Be Graded:

Your essay will graded on how well it meets these challenges:

· Elaborating a thoughtful, thorough response to the TED Talk you have chosen

· Integrating your research into your writing in a way that crafts a conversation or argument

· Utilizing at least the required minimum of sources (5 sources total, at least 1 news item, 1 internet source, and 1 scholarly journal article)

· Summarizing what sources say accurately and in detail

· Quoting and paraphrasing effectively and correctly

· Employing correct citation and formatting (MLA style)

· Writing in a style that meets the needs of the audience and that contains a minimal amount of distracting errors

 

Due Dates:

First Draft : Due in your group’s thread in the Discussion Forum by the time your small group’s conference begins. These conferences will be held during our usual class time on Tuesday, Oct. 17th, and Thursday, Oct. 19th. 10 pts.