Summary & Analysis

Formal Academic Summary & Rhetorical Analysis #1
WR 121, Prof. C. Agatucci - Fall 2002, Weeks #3 & #4
Worth: 10% [or 20 %] - letter graded.
Revision Option will be offered if Summaries & Rhetorical Analyses are turned in on time.
Late Summaries & Rhetorical Analyses will be penalized 1/2 letter grade.

DEADLINES: See WR 121 Course Plan for week-by-week assignment schedule & deadlines

This assignment will help you achieve these WR 121 learning outcomes:
Outcome 4 Employ one or more sources responsibly (without plagiarizing) in a summary or another writing assignment.

Outcome 6 Use critical reading and writing to analyze and synthesize ideas in an academic writing sample, identifying rhetorical patterns, major assertions, and supporting details.

Text to be summarized and analyzed: Choose one of the following essays: Adler's "How to Mark a Book"; OR Dillard's "The Writing Life"; OR Elbow's "Freewriting"; OR Murray's "The Maker's Eye: Revising Your Own Manuscripts" OR Dillard's "An American Childhood"; OR Rodriquez's "Family Values"; OR Mead's "New Superstitions for Old"; OR Coles's "I Listen to My Parents and I Wonder What They Believe"
(in Muller pp. 42-46, 50-61, 184-197; 431- 434, 438- 443)

FINAL DRAFT MUST BE TYPED OR WORD PROCESSED, and double-spaced: See WR 121 Syllabus on preparing Final Drafts.

DIRECTIONS FOR FORMAL ACADEMIC SUMMARY:

1. Length & Manuscript Format: Your summary should be no longer than one typed double-spaced or wordprocessed page, using a readable, standard-sized font and point size, and standard 1” margins. The one-page limit includes the standard MLA header on first page [see WR 121 Syllabus]
Example Formal Academic Summaries (online handout):
URL: http://www.cocc.edu/cagatucci/classes/wr121/summaries.htm

2. MLA-Style Bibliographical entry should introduce your summary. Note the formatting in the Example Formal Academic Summaries. See directions given in Summary & Analysis Exercise handout.

3. First Sentence(s) of summary should formally re-introduce the name of the author(s) and title of the text you are summarizing, and establish the topic focus of the text.

4. Summary Body should present the main points, clearly and concisely: read closely and repeatedly to help you identify the author’s major purpose, thesis, emphasis.

Select material for inclusion carefully and do NOT exceed the length limit given above or your summary will be penalized at least one-half grade. Staying within that limit means you cannot be comprehensive: omit less important points and supporting detail; generalize the point of specific illustrations. Use your interpretation of the author’s thesis, main purpose, and emphasis to guide your decisions regarding what to include and exclude.
Represent the major point(s) of the text accurately, fairly, and objectively—such that if the author read your summary, s/he could agree that you have done so.
Use occasional “author tags” (e.g., “according to Ehrenreich,” or “as Ehrenreich says”) to remind the reader and yourself that you are summarizing another’s text, not giving your own ideas.

What NOT to do in a Formal Academic Summary:

a. Do NOT give your opinions about the ideas summarized or the quality of the writing (e.g., do not state whether you agree or disagree with the author’s ideas, or whether you think this is good or bad writing);

b. Do NOT repeat or restate points unnecessarily: be clear and provide transitions to be coherent and show relationships among main ideas represented, but be concise and make every sentence count;

c. Do NOT use extensive quotations: keep quotations to a minimum, limited to key ideas or special phrasing. In general, paraphrase, in your own words, the main ideas both to be more concise than the original text(s) and to show your understanding of the text(s).

d. Do NOT include minor points and details: stick to the major points; mention specific details and examples only if they are given primary emphasis and proportional space by the author(s) and/or they seem essential to illustrating the thesis or main idea.

5. Command of Standard Written English; and Effective Style, Clarity, and Coherence will also be considered in instructor’s grading. Please edit and proofread carefully.

DIRECTIONS FOR RHETORICAL ANALYSIS:

1. Manuscript Format & Length: Begin your Rhetorical Analysis on the second page of this assignment, entitle this section "Rhetorical Analysis," and be sure to use running page headers on second and any subsequent pages of your manuscript.
Suggested Length for Rhetorical Analysis: 1-to-2 typed / wordprocessed and double-spaced pages (or about 250-350 words).

2. Write a rhetorical analysis of the selected essay: focus on analyzing the rhetorical (communication) situation of the essay, and selected writing strategies employed by the author. Use the guidelines and questions given in the Summary and Analysis Exercise handout and relevant sections of Muller to help you select analytical points to discuss in this section.

[Add in Winter 2003: What might you and other WR 121 students learn from the content, structure, style of this essay (i.e. what it says and/or how it says it)? Specifically, what writing strategies used in the essay would you like to try (or to avoid) because they seem effective (and/or ineffective)? Or put another way: what are the strongest and weakest aspects of the essay? Why?]

Be sure to develop and support your analytical points with well-selected examples from the essay.
When you quote and/or paraphrase from the essay, cite the page number parenthetically like this (232).
Use paragraph form and complete, well-formed sentences throughout.

3. Command of Standard Written English; and Effective Style, Clarity, and Coherence will also be considered in instructor’s grading. Please edit and proofread carefully.

Cora's WR 121 Course Web Site: Index
Fall 2002 Syllabus | Course Plan | Assignments | more to be linked

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Last Updated: 26 July 2003

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