Overview of Major Assignments in CO150
C0CC150: Portfolio I - Part A
Summarizing an Article and Responding to its Points
Purpose: Your purpose for writing this essay will be to accurately represent a writer's ideas and thoughtfully respond to those ideas. To prepare for this assignment, we will read six articles which address the issue of college drinking. As we read and discuss these articles, you will practice various strategies for summarizing and responding. Then, you will choose one of the following articles to focus on and revise into a polished essay:
- "College Drinking" by Francine Katz
- "Dry University and College Campus Please!" by Mohamed Elmasry
- "Ban of Brothers" by Benoit Denizet-Lewis
Audience: Your audience is yourself, your instructor and your classmates. Although your readers are familiar with the text you've chosen, you should thoroughly represent the writer's main points and provide textual evidence throughout.
Requirements:
- Your summary should accurately and objectively represent the author's purpose and main ideas in less than 300 words (about one page). It should also adhere to the guidelines for academic summary covered in class.
- Your response should be at least 600 words (about two pages). In it you should:
- Provide a clear thesis claim in which you agree and/or disagree with the author's main idea(s) or argument.
- Focus on 1 - 2 ideas. Decide which points you most want to make in your thesis and stick to developing those points thoroughly. If you try to cover too much material, your essay will feel scattered and undeveloped.
- Develop your thesis claim with logical reasoning and substantial evidence (such as personal experience, cultural observations, and textual references).
- Begin your essay with a summary of the article and then lead into your response. Although writers have successfully combined summary and response, it's best to keep them separate for this assignment. Clarify where the summary ends and where the response begins by shifting your tone from that of an objective reporter to that of a subjective responder and by providing a clear thesis claim to indicate the start of your response.
- To improve credibility, avoid distracting spelling and grammar errors.
- Type your essay in a readable, 12-point font and double-space it. Submit your essay in a folder along with any other contents specified in class.
Paper Length: 900 - 1,200 words (3 - 4 pages)
Due Date:See Syllabus for due dates for TR and MWF
Worth: 10% of your final grade
*For assistance with this essay, visit The Writing Center (in Eddy 6) or come by office hours.
Teaching Resources
