3 Academic Summary & Response
Overview
The summary/response builds off of the summary by asking you to reflect on how the text connects to your experiences and knowledge. Where an academic summary restricts you from including your reaction or opinions of what the author said, this assignment will allow you to include your own voice in the conversation. In addition to understanding the full scope of an article, you’ll need to distinguish between types of ideas, such as the difference between a fact and an opinion. Then you’ll work on developing your ideas by providing evidence from your own experience or prior knowledge.
Suggested Pacing & Scheduling (for instructors)
Assessment Notes (for instructors)
Course Objectives
This assignment meets the following CO1 course objectives:
- Develop rhetorical knowledge
- Develop experience in writing
- Develop critical and creative thinking
- Use sources and evidence
Module Objectives
During the process of completing this assignment, writers will:
- Recognize the structure of a text, including main and supporting ideas
- Paraphrase outside sources effectively and appropriately
- Demonstrate close and critical reading skills
- Summarize a source for an audience who is unfamiliar with it
- Reflect on personal experience as a source of support for response
Assignment sheet
Academic Summary & Response Assignment
Showing that you understand the conversation around you is an important aspect of academic conversation. In this assignment, after summarizing a source you will add your own voice and consider how your experience contributes to your understanding of what you’ve read. This is an important aspect of academic discourse as you begin to add your own thoughts to the conversation.
In this assignment, you will:
- demonstrate your critical reading skills by:
- summarizing what a speaker says and then thoroughly
- reflecting on the points the author makes.
For this assignment you should imagine your audience to be an academic audience who has not read the text you are writing about. Your readers will want to understand the thesis/argument and main ideas as well as what you think about the text. Your readers will need to easily know which ideas are the speakers and which are yours through your author tags and citation.
Readings:
- Please see your instructor for a choice of readings for this assignment.
You must show a thorough and accurate understanding of your chosen text and use your personal experience and critical thinking skills to explain to what extent you agree, disagree, reflect on, and/or question the speaker’s points.
- Show your ability to logically connect your ideas to the text, with sufficient development for your reader to fully understand your position.
- This paper must be double-spaced, typed in size 12, Times New Roman font, with 1-inch margins
- You must use paraphrases, direct quotes, and attribution to show which ideas are not your own. This will follow standard MLA conventions, including the author(s) last name and page number for in-text citations, and a full MLA citation in the Works Cited page.
- Your essay must be between 900-1,000 words.
Use the following questions to brainstorm ideas for your body/reflection paragraphs.
- What new ideas has this text given you? Why is this idea insightful to you? How might you apply it?
- What did you agree with in this text? Have you had experiences that confirm what the author is saying?
- Where do you disagree with this author? Why do you disagree? What experiences have you had that contradict what the writer says?
- What points has the writer omitted? (What else could be discussed?) Why do you think the writer omitted them? Why do you think that these ideas should have been addressed?
Week 1: Summarizing a Text
INSTRUCTORS: Please see the scheduling and pacing notes at the end.
Week 2: Responding to a Text
Responding to a text is a crucial part of the academic conversation. Now that you’ve read and chosen an article, it’s time to start organizing your thoughts about and reactions to what the author said. But how do you know what’s an appropriate reaction in an academic context? Are you allowed to disagree with an expert? What if you learned something new and aren’t sure what you think about it yet? This week, we’ll talk about how you can thoughtfully respond to an author’s ideas and join a written conversation.
Types of Ideas
As you read, make notes, and summarize the article you’ve chosen, you’ll undoubtedly have immediate reactions. Perhaps you are nodding along vigorously or frowning in confusion. Taking those reactions and putting them into a piece of academic writing can be challenging because our reactions are personal, based on our history, culture, opinions, and prior knowledge of the topic. However, an academic audience will expect you to have good reasons for why you responded to a text in different ways.
In order to better understand your own reactions, we should first identify the types of ideas you’ll encounter. Here are some types of ideas you are probably familiar with:
- Fact: an observable, verifiable idea or phenomenon
- Opinion: a judgement based on fact
- Belief: a conviction or judgement based on culture or values
- Prejudice: an opinion (judgement) based on logical fallacies, incorrect, or insufficient information
So how can we respond to those ideas? From the assignment sheet, you have four options:
- Agreement. Did the author write a convincing argument? Were their claims solid, and supported by credible evidence?
- Disagreement. Do you have personal experiences, opinions, or knowledge that make you come to different conclusions than the author? Do your opinions about the same facts differ?
- Reflection. Did the author teach you something new? Perhaps they made you look at something familiar in a different way.
- Note omissions. If you have a lot of experience or prior knowledge on the topic of the article, you may be able to identify important points that the author didn’t include in their article.
The next step is putting these together. Can you agree with a fact? What if you realize you’re agreeing with a prejudice? These are some important questions to consider because they may or may not be logical reactions to discuss and develop in your paper. Your audience will also wonder why you are reacting in those ways, so it’s important to be able to explain what knowledge, experience, or values that led you to that reaction.
Check-in
- Make a list of the main idea and key points you described in your academic summary. For each one, decide what type of idea it is (fact, opinion, belief, or prejudice).
- For each idea, what was your response? Did you agree, disagree, reflect, or notice an omission?
- Are your reactions appropriate for the idea type? Make note of which ideas and reactions you’d like to explore for the body paragraphs of your summary/response.
Developing Your Response
Once you know what ideas you will respond to and how, the next step is to explain why you had that reaction. This reaction is personal to you, which means you will not need to use any outside sources to justify your response. Instead, you’ll use your personal experience, values, or knowledge to help explain your reaction to different ideas in the article.
Each body paragraph should be structured similarly so that your audience knows what you are responding to, how you are responding to it, and why.
- Paraphrase the idea you are responding to. This could be the main idea or one of the key points. Because you’ve already summarized the article, this paraphrase should only be 1-2 sentences. Remember that the purpose of your body paragraphs is to respond.
- Respond by telling the audience if you agree, disagree, are reflecting in a specific way, or noticed an omission. Make sure that your response is appropriate for the type of idea you have paraphrased.
- Develop your response by including evidence from your personal experience, values, or knowledge to tell your audience why you had that response. You can refer to the article again throughout your development. Don’t get off track! If you are agreeing with an idea, the entire paragraph should be about why you agree. If you are reflecting on an idea, the entire paragraph should be reflection on that idea.
Read the following sample response paragraph, then answer the questions below.
- Bostock says that social media is positive because it helps family connect; what kind of idea is this?
- What kind of response did the writer have to this idea?
- How did the writer develop their response? What kind of “evidence” did they use?
Contrast the previous paragraph with the following. What suggestions would you give this writer during peer workshop?
Week 3: Revision & Workshop
Transition phrases are an important part of connecting your ideas and quickly, concisely telling your audience how different ideas are related to one another. Some ways that ideas may relate to one another include:
- Complementary. Usually, key points are complementary, meaning that they work together to prove or explain the same claim. In this case, the ideas work together to reinforce the author’s main idea.
- Contrasting. Ideas can contrast with one another, meaning that they may show different sides of the same issue. For example, the author may discuss the impact of a problem on different populations, or the author may talk about how the law is viewed from the perspective of a police officer, a lawyer, and a judge. These ideas may agree or disagree with one another; contrasting ideas generally help readers understand multiple perspectives.
- Contradicting. The final option is that the authors or research may come to different conclusions or prove one another wrong. In that case, the author may be trying to show how complex an issue or event is.
There are two main places where you might use transition phrases to tell the audience if ideas are complementary, contrasting, or contradicting in multiple places in your paper: within paragraphs and between paragraphs. In your summary paragraph, you may want to use transition phrases to show how the author’s ideas are related to one another. In your body paragraphs, you may want to use transition phrases to show the similarities or differences in your responses.
In addition to the above relationships, transition phrases can also show time, cause and effect, emphasis, and sequence. Here are a few examples of transition phrases you could use in your writing.
| However | Therefore | Despite | In addition | In conclusion | Supporting |
| Because | Then | Afterward | Indeed | Subsequently | Currently |
| For example | Nevertheless | Earlier | On the other hand | Thus | But |
Return to the sample paragraphs above:
- What transition phrases did the writers use?
- How did those phrases help the reader understand how the ideas were connected?
- Are there any other transition phrases you would add to the chart above?
Peer Workshop
- Does the introduction explain the title of the text, where the text was published, who wrote it, and when it was published? What could be improved (i.e. transitions, style, organization)?
- Does the introduction summarize the article? Does it clearly explain the thesis of the article and then show the key points? Explain what the writer could do to improve.
- Does the introduction contain a thesis statement for the response that is a clear essay map with main points the author agrees/disagrees with? (Example: Although I think some of Carey’s ideas are helpful, I do not agree that changing study locations is beneficial). Are these points clear? Could they be clearer? Explain what the writer could do to improve.
- Does the paragraph clearly refer to the article using a paraphrased main idea and quoted or paraphrased evidence for support? List the ideas that your partner is responding to:
- Is the description of what the article says accurate and thorough? Give suggestions for any clarifications or improvement.
- Does the writer clearly explain whether they agree, disagree, gained insight, or found an omission?
- Is their description of what they think logical? Why or why not? (Think about facts, opinions, prejudices, and beliefs.)
- Does the writer explain the response with reasons and evidence from personal experience, their values, or prior knowledge? Could this be explained more?
- Does the writer conclude the paragraph with a transition, referring back to the article?
What are your two main suggestions for revision?
What are two strengths of this summary/response?
The following criteria define an “A” (excellent) response (90% +):
Understanding the text (close reading): Your essay convinces the reader that you have read the text closely and understand its purpose. The summary accurately represents the author’s central claim and key supporting points. In the body paragraphs you clearly and accurately showwhat the writer says before you respond with your own ideas.
Critical thinking (response):You critically respond to the writer’s ideas, connecting them to your own experience. You share a range of valid opinions (e.g. agreement, disagreement, new insights, questions) about the ideas presented in the text and discuss multiple points. The ideas are logical and clearly connected to the article.
Development (use of examples):The response provides appropriate examples from the text to show the original writer’s ideas. You describe your response fully and provide examples from your personal experience to support your opinions and connection to the text.
Organization:The essay is well organized, connected and easy to follow. The introduction includes a clear thesis statement and essay map and body paragraphs focus on just one idea at a time. Ideas within body paragraphs are organized and connected well, using topic sentences and transitions to introduce and connect the ideas. The essay flows well from one point to the next.
Quotes and paraphrases: The essay contains both paraphrases and quotations from the article. The paraphrased and quoted passages are chosen appropriately and integrated effectively.
Conventions and style: You have followed MLA conventions and made appropriate choices for an academic essay. The essay is carefully proofread and edited for grammar and punctuation errors.
The following criteria define a “B” or “C” (satisfactory) response (70–89%):
Understanding the text (close reading): Close reading of the text is evident. You understand the text and its purpose, but the summary could be more complete to represent the author’s central claim and supporting points. The body paragraphs could show a stronger understanding of what the text said about each idea but the descriptions are accurate.
Critical thinking (response): You critically respond to some of the writer’s ideas, connecting them to your own experience. The range or number of opinions you share may be limited and or could be improved to show stronger critical thinking skills. Some of the ideas may not be logical or may not seem to connect to the article.
Development (use of examples): The response provides some appropriate examples from the text to show the original writer’s ideas, but more may be needed. You could also better support your opinions by providing more personal experience and connection to the text.
Organization: The essay is generally organized well, but some improvements could be made. The essay map could more accurately introduce the organization of the ideas. Connections between ideas could be clearer. More than one idea may be present in some paragraphs. The essay could flow better from one point to the next.
Quotes and paraphrases: Paraphrasing is generally used appropriately, but some could be improved (i.e. they may be too close to the original or inaccurately represent the idea). Some quotes could be integrated more effectively.
Conventions and style: While the essay generally follows MLA conventions, it would benefit from more careful proofreading and editing for grammar and punctuation errors.
The following criteria define a “D” or “F” (unsatisfactory) response (0–69%):
Understanding the text (close reading): Close reading is not apparent. The summary is minimal, inaccurate or missing. In the body paragraphs the descriptions of what the text said are minimal, inaccurate or missing. Your essay does not show a complete understanding of the article.
Critical thinking (response): You have not critically responded to the writer’s ideas. The paper focuses on the writer’s ideas, not your response to them, or your response does not fully relate to the writer’s points.
Development (use of examples): This essay is not effectively developed. The response does not include appropriate examples either from the text or personal experience.
Organization: The essay is poorly organized. There is no clear essay map and ideas are not presented clearly. The same ideas may be presented several times in the paper. Or, paragraphs may often contain more than one idea.
Quotes and paraphrases: Paraphrasing and quotation may be missing. Most paraphrasing may be inaccurate or too close to the original and quotes may be in inappropriate or integrated poorly.
Conventions and style: The document is difficult to read due to mechanical errors. Attention to grammatical or MLA conventions is needed to make the writing clearer.
Suggested schedule/pacing
There are two approaches to the first week of this assignment:
- Copy content from the summary assignment if that was not taught, or
- Rely on the students to review the summary concepts together.
In the first scenario, you can copy and paste content from the Summary module to cover during week one. Because that might be overwhelming to cover in one week, you may consider extending this assignment to cover four weeks rather than three.
In the second scenario, use the first week as an opportunity for students to reflect on what they learned in the last unit, their strengths, and what they could do better for this assignment. You could have them review topics in small groups and then split them into different groups to teach the material to one another again; you could also rely more on students to describe the main ideas and key points in the articles you’ve selected for this assignment. This option has proven effective in the past.
A final option for the entire module would be to use the same articles from the previous assignment, essentially splitting this paper into two modules where the focus in the first portion is the summary and the focus in the second portion is the response. These choices will depend on your student population and their facility in reading the articles you’ve chosen.
Assessment notes
Writers tend to restrict themselves to thinking only about the main idea, which can make their response feel repetitive or vague. Identifying the supporting ideas or key points as valid ways in which they can respond to the text may help them to practice more critical thinking in their response.
When responding to an article, students can sometimes have difficulty distinguishing between distinct ideas in a text. For example, they may try to respond to the main idea in multiple ways, rather than delving into some of the supporting points. On the other end of the spectrum, they may find themselves stuck in response to details, rather than the consequences and purpose of those details. Spending time discussing the difference between facts, opinions, and prejudice is well worth your time. Those distinctions can help students avoid the pitfalls of agreeing with a fact or failing to recognize a prejudice (for example), which would then lead to failure to develop the paper.
Paragraph focus and cohesion is a big aspect of this assignment. While this isn’t a research paper, their body paragraphs should follow a familiar structure: claim from the text, their response to the claim, followed by evidence from their own experience and/or previous knowledge that supports their response. Stronger writers are able to distinguish between the ideas in the article, how those ideas are related, and clearly identify a response with reasoning.
