OVERVIEW In this paper you will generate a 2 page, 1.5- or 2.0-spaced, typed summary of a source
reading.
This “summary paper” assignment asks you to practice three essential academic writing skills:
summarizing, paraphrasing, and quotation. Above all you will demonstrate your ability at integrating
outside quotations into your writing.
ASSIGNMENT Begin by selecting any ONE of the following readings:
Pollen, “Why ‘Natural’ doesn’t
Mean Anything Anymore”; Sontag, “A Woman’s Beauty: Put Down or Power Source?“; Zinczenko,
“Don’t’ Blame the Eater”; or Ruparelia, “India’s Farmers Are Right to Protest Against Agricultural
Reforms.” These can all be found in the Course Readings folder on our course website.
Browse the selections first. You may pick one of these articles that you strongly agree with, one you
strongly disagree with, or simply one that has an interesting topic.
Your task here will be to write a detailed summary of your selected piece.
A “good” summary will cover the writer’s main topic and his or her point of view about this topic. It
may also address the following: their intentions in writing the article or essay; any disagreements or
criticisms expressed by the writer; any differences of opinion expressed between the writer and
others; and/or the ways the writer may be attempting to change or influence our ways of thinking or
acting in relation to the topic. No outside readings or sources are used in a summary.
A summary is generally written as if it were introducing this reading to an audience that has never
read it before. You will therefore need to first introduce the article to your audience as well as
describe and summarize its main point(s). In a summary, you should, of course avoid making your
own arguments or offering your own views about the source text. The word “I” has no place in a
summary.
REQUIREMENTS This paper should make use of and cite from only your one (1) selected text.
Additional sources from outside our class readings or textbook are not permitted for this assignment.
Your paper should meet the following requirements:
❖ The opening paragraph of your paper should introduce the essay to your reader. It
should answer the questions: WHO, WHAT and WHY. Who is writing the article and
what has given them the authority or experience to write it? What is the main point or
idea of the article? And why (according to what the author says or thinks, instead of
what you say or think) are they writing it?
❖ Write your summary in the present tense (e.g., “the writer says” as opposed to “the
writer said”).
❖ Your paper should make use of at least three (3) of the suggested “introducing” or
“signal” verbs on p. 39-41 of Graff and Birkenstein’s They Say/I Say in the chapter “The
Art of Summarizing.” Your 3 verbs should appear in boldface in your paper. As the
text explains these signal verbs are to be used specifically for introducing direct
quotations; that should also be the case in your paper.
❖ Your paper should include a minimum of three (3) direct quotes and a minimum of
three (3) paraphrases from your selected reading. Quotes and paraphrases should be
followed by the page number from which they are taken in your original source (put
the page number in parentheses).
❖ Finally, your paper should make frequent use of “summarizing language.” Make sure
to remind your reader that they are reading your report on a source (and not your
point of view or opinions) by the frequent use of phrases such as “as the article claims”
or “as the author suggests.”
For a solid summary, make sure that the most important ideas or arguments are directly quoted and
that less important ideas or arguments are paraphrased.
GETTING STARTED What is a good summary? Consult They Say/I Say p. 30-42. You may also review
the “Sample” assignment submission in our “Course Assignments” folder.
AUDIENCE The “audience” for your papers in this course is not the instructor but a general academic
audience. You may not assume that he/she has any familiarity with our course readings. Your source
reading, therefore, should be introduced “from the ground up.”
FORMAT The paper should include page numbers inside parentheses when citations are made.
Paragraphs numbers can be used for sources with no page numbers. For example, if a quote appears
in the third paragraph type “(par. 3).” An MLA Works Cited page is required for this assignment. Type
your name, class, instructor name and date on the upper left hand side of the paper.
GUIDELINES This paper will be marked according to the following: clarity of presentation of ideas,
including the absence of grammatical and other sentence-level errors; precision of reading
comprehension; and adherence to requirements of the assignment, especially the five main ones.
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