Summary and Response Paper

Overview: For this assignment, you will summarize and respond to the core reading selected by your instructor. Check the Announcements page, the Course Calendar, and Class Session 2 for specifics on the core reading. Your instructor may also assign accompanying chapter material or reading guides, depending on the core reading selected. The body of your paper will describe, summarize, and respond to the core reading. • Description requires that you identify the core reading by title and the author by his/her full name. You may also briefly identify the genre or purpose of the core reading (that is, identify whether it is an essay, a short story, a poem, a report, an editorial, biography/memoir, instructions, persuasion, etc.). Tell your reader what the core reading is. • Your summary should include an interpretation of the intended meaning of the reading—its main point, theme, or key issues—and point to significant details of the text that support this interpretation. Tell your reader what the reading is about and what it means. • Your response should expand on your understanding of the core reading and the surrounding issues, and may incorporate your own ideas and experiences as they relate to the reading. Chapter 5 in our textbook gives examples of types of responses. This is your chance to say what you think, and why. Your thesis statement should indicate your overall response to the core reading—whether it is your reasons for agreeing or disagreeing with key ideas, or your insights interpreting and reflecting on the meaning of key ideas. Your ideas should be supported with evidence from the reading and possibly from your outside reading or experience. Cite specific quotes from the core reading to back-up your interpretations or use as touchstones for your responses. Your overall objective is to contribute to the conversation about this core reading and to engage your readers in your ideas—ideally, helping them to understand some aspect of the reading more fully. To do this effectively, you’ll need to consider your readers/audience carefully as part of the collecting and shaping phase. (See the section on Audience Analysis below, and review the pages on Audience Analysis in Chapter 2 of our textbook carefully.) Specifics: ? 100 points possible ? 850 words minimum, double-spaced, using Times New Roman 12-point font ? MLA or APA manuscript style with in-text documentation and Works Cited or References list, as specified by your instructor. (More information on MLA or APA style can be found in Chapter 13 at the back of your textbook—look for color-coded pages marked “MLA” or “APA” along the side border—or in the Resources area of the class, in the MLA and APA Formats folder.) ? Both in-text documentation and Works Cited or References list required (Works Cited or References list does not count in the minimum word-count requirement) ? Core reading to be specified by the instructor ? Clearly developed main point (thesis) stating overall, focused response ? Accurate summarizing and meaningful response, supported with evidence ? Audience awareness ? Observation of the conventions of Standard English ? Use of at least five documented quotes (words, phrases, or key sentences) and/or documented paraphrases (key details or ideas rephrased in your own words), documented with correct in-text documentation in either MLA or APA style, as specified by your instructor • First draft must include a minimum 200-word audience analysis. This analysis should be posted as the first item in the draft, before the first page (MLA style) or title page (APA style). Audience analysis is to be removed from the final draft. Audience analysis The audience analysis should be minimum 200 words in length, and should appear as the first item in your first draft, before page 1 of the actual paper. Use copy & paste to add your audience analysis to your first draft file before posting. 1. Audience profile. Describe and define your target audience. Who do you want to reach with your summary/response? Can you define the audience by age, gender, educational level, ethnic background, or any other criteria? (approximately 2-4 sentences) 2. Audience-subject relationship. Discuss what your audience probably already knows—if anything—about the topic. You are not just addressing the specific core reading here, which is probably new to most of your readers. You are addressing what your readers may know about, have experienced, or heard second-hand about the general theme of this reading. What attitudes or biases do you expect in your audience? (approximately 2-4 sentences.) 3. Audience-writer relationship. Discuss your relationship to this audience. Consider what you may have in common with your audience. Consider whether your audience will trust what you have to say or not. Are you “one of them,” or are they a group different from you who needs to know something you have to offer? (approximately 1-3 sentences.) 4. Writer’s role. Discuss the role/perspective you want to project to your readers. Do you want to come across as a fellow spectator, someone with personal experience of this topic, an expert on this particular reading, a friendly story-teller, or some other role? As long as you remain consistent, these and many other possibilities are acceptable. (approximately 1-3 sentences)