Formal Academic Summary Directions
WR 122 Handout -  Winter 2008 - Prof. Cora Agatucci 

Deadlines:  See WR 122 Course Plan.
Grading Weight:  See WR 122 Syllabus.
Length:  No longer than 1 word-processed and double spaced page using standard margins, fonts & point sizes--i.e. Times New Roman 12 point or Arial 10 point--recommended for formal academic papers:  NOTE:  Grade penalty will be exacted IF Formal Academic Summary, including required double-spaced & correctly formatted MLA-style bibliographical entry, exceeds length limit of one (1) double-spaced page.

Topic Choice:  Write your Formal Academic Summary on ONE of the following AofA argument essays:

•  Rachels’ “The End of Life” (pp. 115-119)
•  Pugh’s “Legalizing Euthanasia: A Means to a More Comfortable Dying Process” (pp. 133-141)
•  Spidel’s “Who Should Have the Right to Marry?” (pp. 222-225)
•  Miller’s “When Will Race Lose the Race?” (pp. 263-265)
•  Grellhesl’s “Mediating the Speech Code Controversy (pp. 301-303)

Genre and Manuscript Form Requirements:  Review the model provided by Handout: Cora’s example Formal Academic Summary of Rogers’ essay, including these features:  

• MLA Style Header (may be single spaced)
• MLA-style bibliographical entry must be double spaced & correctly formatted! For help, see MLA-Style Models for Citing AofA Sources (handout).
• Summary following must be double spaced and formatted as one single paragraph
• First sentence/s of the summary should formally reintroduce the author’s full name and the article’s full title, present the topic focus and identify thesis/case claim of the argument essay being summarized.
• Integrate occasional author tags and use appropriate active verbs – examples:

According to Rachels, In Rachels’ opinion, For Rachels, . . .
Pugh states, asserts, asks, observes, notes, maintains, explains . . . 
Spidel believes, emphasizes, supports, argues, affirms, denies . . .
Miller objects, counters, contends, contends, concedes, rejoins . . .
Grellhesl points out, compares, contrasts, confirms, calls for . . .

·          Do NOT refer to an author by first name only in formal academic writing: instead, refer to author by full name, last name only, title + last name, or appropriate pronoun or synonym.

Content & Coherence Requirements: 

• Represent Thesis/Case Claim and ONLY major supporting points – do NOT include minor points, details, specific examples. And remember the 1-page limit!  The author's thesis/case claim should be presented in the first sentence/s of your summary, and then remaining space you are allotted should be devoted to representing the major supporting points most important to developing/supporting the thesis of the author's argument.
• Be accurate – do NOT misrepresent an author’s main points, purpose, emphases: read, re-read, be sure you understand the argument, and ask questions as needed, before writing your Formal Academic Summary.
• Be objective – do NOT give your own opinions on the ideas, and do NOT analyze or evaluate the writing quality; that is, stick to representing the main content points of the argument in your Formal Academic Summary. (Save your analysis & evaluation for the Critical Response Essay coming up next!)
• Be concise but clear  – do NOT be wordy, or repeat points unnecessarily, or quote extensively; BUT do NOT sacrifice clarity for conciseness in the process;
• Be organized & coherent – do NOT slavishly follow the author’s order of presentation in the argument being summarized if it deviates from the content requirements of this assignment (e.g. your summary is supposed to present the author's thesis/case claim in the first sentence/s, and then represent the major supporting points within the length limit).  Use appropriate transitions to indicate relationships among author’s main points represented in your Formal Academic Summary.

Winter 2008 WR 122 Syllabus | Course Plan | WR 122 Home Page

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URL of this webpage: http://web.cocc.edu/cagatucci/classes/wr122/FormalAcademicSummaryDir.htm
Last Updated: 16 January 2008

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Humanities Department, Central Oregon Community College
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