Summary/Response One

So far, you've written an informal narrative and an academic narrative about a significant experience, and responded informally to some other students' narratives. Now it's time to write an academic response to an academic narrative. This kind of summary/response is an assignment you'll see in CO150, and is also common (in varying forms) in other disciplines like education and business.

The questions you'll answer ("Purpose") are (1) What are the purpose and main points of this writer's essay, and (2) Do you agree or disagree with one of his/her points based on your own experiences?

You're answering these questions for ("Audience") that same academic audience as for the last essay you wrote (Narrative 2). This audience is more specific, in that they have not read either the essay you're summarizing or your previous narrative. You'll have to give them enough information so that they can understand the author's essay by reading only your summary.

The goals are (1) to accurately summarize an article using the conventions of academic summary (your tutor will discuss these with you), (2) to provide a focused response to the article with a clear thesis statement, and (3) to develop your response using examples from your personal experience that are clearly related to examples/ideas from the article itself.

If you're having trouble getting started, take a look at the "Summarizing" section in the back of this resource packet. You might also revisit the section on "Reading Strategies." Be sure to use your notes on the article itself and your two-column log for ideas. Before starting to write, you might look again at the sample summary/response in this packet & any notes you made on it when you discussed it with your tutor.