English 101: Composition and Rhetoric
Guidelines for Essay 4: Summary Assignment

Dr. Tina L. Hanlon

Associate Professor of English
Ferrum College

Draft of essay due in conferences no later than Mon., Nov. 6. Be sure to bring the article to your conferences. (Also, have previous essays with you when you come to conferences.)

Write a summary (at least 400-500 words) of an article from a recent Newsweek. The article must be at least one full page long in the magazine, preferably longer. If you find it difficult to summarize the article in your own words without using too many quotations, the problem might be that the article is not long enough and you are trying to repeat every point made in the article. Picking a short article will not make the assignment easier.

Samples available: If you want to read samples of student summary essays, go to this link in the web site of the textbook Writing and Reading Across the Curriculum, 8th ed. (used in English 102).

You must submit the following three parts:

• Summary

• Response

• Citation for the article in MLA format

Summary section (at least four paragraphs) :

• Do not analyze the article or develop a thesis of your own. The first paragraph of the summary should identify the article and give an overview of its focus. You could say that the thesis of a summary is your concise statement of the main focus or main idea of the source article. If you are summarizing an opinion piece, that would mean restating the main argument or editorial comment or analysis given in the column.

• The grade will be based mainly on how accurately you summarize in your own words the content of the article. (The usual grading standards for style and mechanics will also be used.) It should be clear to the reader whether you are summarizing a news article or an opinion piece ("My Turn" or one of the professional columnists).

• If you use any short direct quotations in your summary, give the page number of each quotation in parentheses. (In research papers, parenthetical references are also given for paraphrased ideas and information from outside sources, but in this summary, all the ideas will come from your one source, so parenthetical page numbers are needed for direct quotations only. The author and title should be mentioned at the beginning of your summary.) See LBH, chaps. 31, 45, and 47 on handling of quotations in papers. Don't use too many quotations and don't use the exact words of the source unless you cannot put that idea or information into your own words accurately or effectively.

• Pay special attention to writing concisely and precisely in the summary. Get as much content from the source into your sentences as you can without wasting words. (See advice on conciseness in LBH, chap. 23f.)

Response (at least one paragraph)

Give any responses you have to the article. This is the only section of the essay that should contain any of your own commentary or analysis. You can express any opinion that you want, but the assignment's grade will be based partly on whether your responses are clear, logical, and pertinent to the article. You may comment mainly on what you learned from the article or add comments on the topic of the article (e.g., say whether you agree with Anna Quindlen that it might be a good idea to fine people who don't vote, as Australia does).

Citation

Put one full citation to your article or story at the end of your essay, using MLA format. Use the guidelines in LBH, chap. 479b for an entry that could go on a Works Cited list (this paper will have just one work cited at the end). Copy this format for documenting a magazine article precisely, giving all publication and location details in the same order.

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