Formal Academic Summary & Rhetorical Analysis #2
[abbreviated FAS&RA#2] Directions Handout
WR 121, Fall 2004, Prof. Cora Agatucci
Worth: 10% of course grade - letter graded. 
Revision Option will be offered if Final Draft is turned in on time.
Late FAS & RA #2 will be penalized 1/2 letter grade. 
See WR 121 Course Plan for relevant deadlines.

This assignment will help you achieve these WR 121 learning outcomes:
Outcome 1:  Write...[using]...reading; and conform to standard edited English.
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.
Outcome 7:  Complete appropriate written critical peer reviews of student essay drafts...
Outcome 10:  Demonstrate an awareness of a variety of purposes and audiences.

BASIC REQUIREMENTS:

___Text Summarized & Rhetorically Analyzed is another WR 121 student's Essay #1.

___Manuscript Form demonstrates good faith effort to follow directions & models.  FINAL DRAFT MUST BE TYPED OR WORD PROCESSED, and DOUBLE-SPACED.  Review WR 121 Syllabus for other Manuscript Form requirements when preparing Final Draft, including standard MLA-style heading on page 1 and running page headers on second and subsequent pages.

___Plagiarism is avoided: Complete MLA-style bibliographical entry, following model given below for an unpublished student essay.  Quotation marks are used throughout assignment to set off direct quotations, using ellipsis marks . . . & brackets [ ] if needed.  Please review previously assigned "Paraphrasing, Summarizing, Quoting" (Muller 11-14), as needed.  Number the paragraphs [abbreviated para.] in your copy of the other student author's Essay #1.  In-text citation: Author being cited should be clear or clearly specified, paragraph and page numbers are cited correctly for all quotations & paraphrases in Rhetorical Analysis section.

___MLA-Style Bibliographical entry [instead of a centered title] identifying the text being summarized and analyzed, should be placed on the first page directly below your MLA style heading and directly above your Formal Academic Summary. Please follow this MLA-style model:

___Overall Clarity, Coherence, Correctness (Command of Standard Written English) of Final Draft. Command of Standard Written English; and Effective Style, Clarity, and Coherence will also be considered in instructor’s grading. Use complete, well-formed sentences throughout, and please proofread and edit your final draft carefully.

FORMAL ACADEMIC SUMMARY Directions

1. Length & Manuscript Format:  Your Formal Academic Summary should be about 100-150 words - no longer than one typed double-spaced or wordprocessed page, using a readable, standard-sized font and point size, and standard 1” margins.  This one-page limit includes the standard MLA heading (which may be single-spaced) on the first page of your assignment in the upper left-hand corner, the MLA-Style bibliographical entry (which MUST BE DOUBLE SPACED, with 2nd + lines indented - see above), and the double-spaced text of your Formal Academic Summary itself.

NOTE WELL:  Automatic 1/2 grade penalty if your double-spaced Formal Academic Summary (including MLA heading & MLA-style bibliographical entry required on page one) exceeds one (1) typed double-spaced page.

Format your Formal Academic Summary as one single paragraph.

2.  Summary Content: First sentence/s should formally re-state the full name of the author(s) and title of the text that you are summarizing, and establish the topic focus of the text.  The remainder of your Summary should clearly, concisely, accurately, and objectively present the thesis and major points. Generally, it is a good idea to present thesis and main points following the order in which they are presented in the essay that you are summarizing.  Remember to format your summary as one single paragraph.

Read closely and repeatedly to help you accurately identify the author’s major purpose, thesis, emphasis; and major points.

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 were to 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 the Formal Academic Summary:

a. Do NOT give your opinions about the ideas summarized nor about the quality of the writing (e.g., do not state whether you agree or disagree with the author’s ideas, nor 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 and to show your understanding of the text. 

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 and/or they seem essential to illustrating the thesis or main idea.

**Troubleshooting Tip: Even after (re)reading and discussing the essay with the student author, you may it challenging to identify the student author's thesis and/or major supporting points.  Nevertheless, it is your job as objective summarizer to identify thesis and main points as best you can (what you interpret them to be after careful re-reading) without making editorial or evaluative comments on the quality or clarity of the student's writing in your objective Formal Academic Summary section.

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RHETORICAL ANALYSIS Directions

1.  Manuscript Format & Length:  Begin your Rhetorical Analysis section on the second page of this assignment, entitle this section "Rhetorical Analysis," and be sure to use running page headers on the second and third (and any subsequent) pages of your Final Draft. 
Suggested Length for Rhetorical Analysis section: 2 typed / wordprocessed and double-spaced pages (or about 300--500 words).
Content directions under #2 below suggest a 5-paragraph Rhetorical Analysis.

2.  Rhetorical Analysis: Write a rhetorical analysis of the student author's essay, composed of well-structured and well-developed paragraphs, separated by logically appropriate paragraph breaks; and expressing your analysis in clear well-formed sentences.  Well-structured paragraphs have clear topic sentences that focus and unify paragraph content.  Well-developed paragraphs provide adequate explanation of the topic sentence idea, supported by well-selected specific examples.
In the process, be sure to avoid plagiarism by providing MLA-style in-text citations whenever you summarize, paraphrase (indirect quotation), and quote from the primary text/author you are analyzing (as well as from Muller or any other sources that you may cite).  In the case of an unpublished essay, you will also need to cite paragraph numbers, as well as page numbers, for quotations and paraphrases from the student author's essay.

Your Rhetorical Analysis should devote at least one well-structured and well-developed paragraph to each of the following:

(a) Rhetorical/Communication Context:  Drawing upon "external" evidence (e.g. in-class analysis & your own knowledge and experience of the Writing 121 audience, and your workshop interview with the student author) and "internal" evidence (clues within the essay itself):

Author/Authority: Explain briefly who the student author is (any special credentials, knowledge, and/or experience) as relevant to analyzing her/his authority to speak on the essay topic.
Intended Audience: Characterize the intended and targeted audience (using external and internal evidence to infer whom the author had in mind when s/he wrote this essay; be sure to comment on whether the student essay effectively addresses WR 121 students in this class.

(b) Essay Structure:

Identify (citing paragraph and page numbers) the major divisions of the essay--Introduction, Body, Conclusion--briefly justifying your divisions (using your prior essay writing knowledge/experience, and/or relevant Muller definitions/discussions.  That is, cite Muller, as needed, to help you briefly define the functions of these essay divisions). Also cite key passages where the student author presents the essay's Thesis / Purpose (which should be consistent with Thesis/Purpose that you identified in your Formal Academic Summary above).

(c) (At least) One Strategy of Development (or Rhetorical Mode):  Drawing upon "Contents of Essays by Rhetorical Mode" (Muller xxi-xxviii), "Strategies for Development" (Muller 25-37), "Glossary of Terms" (Muller G-1 to G-12), and/or relevant "Rhetoric" questions (provided by Muller) following your chosen essay; name, briefly define, and provide specific examples to illustrate one strategy of development used by the author in this essay.

(d) A Second Writing Strategy: Explain and illustrate (with specific examples and in-text citation) at least one additional writing strategy used by the student author. This second writing strategy can be another type of Muller's Strategies of Development (25-37), or another writing strategy you discerned from your own critical reading/analytical insights. Again, be sure to identify, explain, and illustrate the writing strategy (with specific examples and in-text citation from the student author's essay).

(e) Conclusion: WR 121 Application/s:  ADDRESS THIS ENDING PARAGRAPH DIRECTLY TO THE STUDENT AUTHOR!!

Identify the most successful/effective writing strategy used by the student author in her/his essay, and briefly explain why.
Identify one aspect of the essay that the student author might improve or strengthen if s/he were to revise this essay. Briefly explain why (trying to be both honest and tactful) and suggest how this aspect of the essay might be improved or strengthened.

WR 121 Home | Fall 2004 Syllabus | Course Plan

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Last Updated: 23 October 2004

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