Summary and response paper

Summary-Response Assignment

Length: 500 to 750 words and a works cited page

Total Points: 150 points

Assignment

This assignment gives you the opportunity not only to show that you understand source material but also to express what you think about the ideas it includes. The audience for this summary-response comprises your classmates and me, but it is always helpful when writing a summary-response to think of readers that may not have read the original text. By imagining an uninformed reader, you will be sure to include sufficient information in your summary. You may respond to the source text in a variety of ways. In class, we discussed using personal experiences and reactions; evaluating the currency, thoroughness, and reliability of the sources; and examining the internal logic of the source. You may incorporate other sources as part of your response. For this assignment, you will be summarizing and responding to “Know Thyself” which is in your coursepack.

Organization

Begin your essay with a summary of the source text. Provide a general idea of what the source is about and the points you intend to address in your response. Avoid including any extraneous material. The summary should be no longer than a page; it may be briefer.

Place your thesis statement at the end of the summary or at the beginning of the response. After reading your thesis statement, your audience should be able to predict the form and content of the rest of your essay.

Your response should be one to two pages in length. It should include reasons and details that support your thesis statement.

In your conclusion, tie together the main points of your essay, relate them to the thesis, and discuss any implications of your conclusion.

Works Cited

Include a works cited entry, on a separate page, for any source you use, including the article you are responding to.

Submission Requirements (to be turned in in-class):

Staple the following to the back of your paper, in the order specified:

· Previous drafts and peer-review sheets

· Preparatory work (function statements)

· This assignment sheet

Grading Criteria: Your paper will be graded according to the criteria on the following page. Plagiarism will result in a failing grade for the paper and perhaps for the course as well.

Criteria	Points
SUMMARY ___ The summary refers to the author and title of the source. ___ The summary refers to the main idea, question, or problem discussed. ___ The source is summarized responsibly and purposefully.	/10
RESPONSE: THESIS AND CONCLUSION ___ The thesis statement responds to the material summarized and serves as a governing idea for the rest of the paper. ___ The conclusion ties together main points and relates them to the thesis. When appropriate, implications of the conclusion are also discussed.	/10
RESPONSE: KEY POINTS AND CONVINCING DETAILS ___ Key points are presented logically. (Be sure to make every step of your reasoning clear.) ___ Key points are supported by convincing details.	/10
COMPLETENESS AND FORMATTING ___ Source material is cited according to MLA guidelines. ___ A works-cited entry is provided. ___ The paper is formatted according to MLA guidelines. ___ Submission requirements are met. ___ A peer-review has been completed.	/10
EDITING AND PROOFREADING ___ The writing employs words and sentence structures appropriate to the demands of the rhetorical situation. ___ The essay is coherent and unified. ___ The essay is free of proofreading errors. Review the following chapters in Harbrace Essentials: apostrophe (17) fragment (2) pronoun-antecedent agr. (5c) semicolon (16) capitalization (21) fused sentence (3) pronoun reference (5d) subject-verb agreement (4f) colon (16) modifier (6) quotation marks (18) verb form or tense (4a-c) comma (15) parallelism (9) relating sent. parts (7d) spelling (20)	/10
TOTAL: Because this assignment is worth 150 points, the raw score is multiplied by three.	/50