Teaching CO300 Writing Arguments

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As you workshop your partner's paper, answer the following questions as specifically as possible. Where they are needed, give at least one suggestion for improvement. These questions represent the criteria for an effective summary and will help you determine if the paper has met the requirements of the assignment. I will be asking the same kinds of questions when I read the summaries.

1. Where does the summary state the full name of the author and the full title? Is this an effective place for both?
2. Where is the thesis of the article clearly, concisely, and accurately stated? Is it effective here? Could the writer improve his/her statement of the author's thesis? If yes, how?
3. Where is the author's purpose clearly, concisely, and accurately stated? Is it effective here? Could the writer improve his/her statement of the author's purpose? If yes, how?
4. List below the author's main supporting points included in this summary.
5. What should the writer change in regard to the presentation of the main supporting points? Has, for example, the writer omitted a main supporting point or included some points that seem to you to be less important?
6. Does the writer go into too much detail? Are too many specific details and examples from the essay included? If so, suggest ways the writer can present main supporting ideas without reiterating the author's specific details and examples.
7. Are quotations (if any) striking and relevant? If there are no direct quotations, make one suggestion of where the writer might include a pertinent quote.
8. Is the summary objective? Where does the writer of the summary allow her/his opinion to show?
9. Circle the author tags--references to the author as the originator of the ideas. If there are no author tags, point out where they could be used.
10. Does the summary contain a concluding sentence that signals it is ending so the reader is not left hanging? Do you have any suggestions on how to make the conclusion more effective?