Summary-Response Assignment:
For this assignment you will go to the Hawkeye library site to select a peer-reviewed academic essay from the library’s online databases and write an analysis of it. The article can be about any issue you like, although it can be convenient if it’s about an issue you may want to write a longer research paper about. You will provide a brief summary of the work and then give your own interpretation of it. This interpretation will include an examination of the content, techniques, and form used by the work’s author as well as your own response to the work’s message (agreement or disagreement).
Length and formatting:
Minimum 3 double-spaced pages in a 12-point a standard serif font such as Times New Roman or Cambria. The paper will also include a work’s cited page in MLA format. The works cited page does not count to the paper’s length.
Tips and Suggestions:
– The summary portion of the paper should give across a thorough but concise explanation of the article. It should not take up more than 30% of the paper.
– Pick an article that’s approximately 3-7 pages long. You want to make sure you have enough material to drive your discussion.
– Look for anything that your writer does that stands out as being either impressive or flawed – those are the kinds of things your response should focus on.
– Your analysis can include your own thoughts on the subject or the way the author describes it, as well as any questions or observations that occur to you during your reading.
– Other tactics for response discussing your personal reaction to both the article itself and the subject it covers.
– Don’t forget to specifically name your article in the paper. The reader doesn’t know what “this article” is.
– In general, it should always be clear when you’re directly referencing your source versus when you’re discussing your own thoughts.
– Remember that direct quotes and information taken directly from your article need to be properly cited in MLA format; failing to do so can be considered a form of plagiarism.
The final copy is due by the end of the day on the date listed on Canvas.
Structure of the Paper
Introduction
First sentence introduces the article’s title and author.
You can give context for the article if it is necessary to understanding the article (historical, social, or cultural background information).
You might also establish the author’s credibility by giving some information about them.
If there is no background information to give, the summary of the article can be placed in the introduction.
The last sentence of your essay states the thesis (the point you want to make about the article).
Summary
Summarize the article in 1-2 paragraphs.
Summaries are objective. You do not indicate what you think about the article or the subject in the summary.
It needs to include just the key points
Body
There are three ways to respond to this paper:
1) respond to what the author is saying—examine the author’s argument
2) respond to how the author says it—look at the author’s language and tone
3) respond personally to what the author is saying. You aren’t arguing your views on the topic and what you think about it; you are responding just to what the author is saying in the article.
A fourth way to respond is to combine all three ways in your paper: discuss the content, the language, and then respond personally to what the author is saying.
Support what you are saying (provide evidence) for the points you make. You do this by directly quoting, summarizing, and paraphrasing from the article.
When you use information from the article, you need to use quotation marks when directly quoting and signal phrases to identify it as the author’s words.
Be careful that you aren’t just summarizing the article. Your summary should be 1-2 paragraphs. The remainder of the paper should be your response with one final paragraph to conclude.
Conclusion
Your conclusion needs to sum up your response. Be careful that you are not focusing on the issue but on your response.
Do not begin your conclusion with “In conclusion.” You will lose points for this. This is an unnecessary, repetitious, and overly used announcement. In short essays (under 10 pages) like we will be writing in this class, your conclusion will not exceed 1-2 paragraphs, so it is unnecessary to announce where the conclusion begins. It also disrupts the flow of your paper. The only time you would announce the conclusion is if the paper is multiple paragraphs or pages, and it isn’t clear where the conclusion begins or if you are giving a speech.
MLA Style
Remember that direct quotes and the summarizing/paraphrasing of information taken directly from the article also need to be properly cited in MLA format; failing to do so can be considered a form of plagiarism.
Use the stylebook that is included in the Norton textbook for MLA style.
If you are unfamiliar with the MLA process or uncertain about it, I am linking some YouTube videos Kirkwood posted. These are very short but do a great job of explaining MLA style.
https://youtu.be/l3Jefn0DUsI – Introduction to MLA Citation, 8th edition
https://youtu.be/X9Utmfmi6JA Citation Basics: Containers (Containers are the publications) sources are in
https://youtu.be/o8LSJC96m-s – Citation Basics: Core Elements
https://youtu.be/CNI7tOtMdMM – In-text citations
