Instructions for Summary / Response Essay
Summary/Response Essay
Assignment Description
Please use this article to write this essay:https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/14/opinion/sunday/smartphone-addiction-teenagers-stress.html
For this essay, you should select an article from the “Readings” folder in this unit and summarize/respond to it in a formal essay. The summary/response essay asks you first to summarize the main points of the article and to respond to those points by agreeing, disagreeing, or agreeing with some but not all of the arguments made in the article. You should include evidence (from the article, from your own reasoning, from examples, from experiences, etc.) to support your response.
Due Dates
Please refer to the calendar due dates. Please remember the peer review is a separate grade and has separate due dates.
Purpose and Learning Objectives
The purpose of writing a response paper is to encourage you to read actively and to evaluate the selected articles critically. While it is possible to read an article just once and gain an understanding of the main idea, much of the depth and nuance of the article will only be discovered after multiple readings. Moreover, your grasp of the ideas and concepts presented in the article will remain superficial until you apply those ideas and concepts in your own writing. As you write, you should practice making clear claims about the material you’re writing about and should practice supporting those claims with evidence from the text and from your own reasoning about the subject.
Minimum Requirements
- 600- 900 words (approx. 2-3 pages)
- An interesting and informative title
- MLA format with in-text citations and works cited page
- An introductory paragraph that tells readers what article you are responding to and that includes a thesis statement
- One or more paragraphs that summarize the article
- One or more paragraphs that respond to the article
- A conclusion paragraph that wraps up the main ideas in the essay
You should not expect to earn a grade higher than a 60% if you do not meet the minimum requirements.
Process for Completion
- The first step in writing a good response paper is to actively read the article assigned. Active reading means consciously identifying the thesis, purpose, audience, and tone. It means determining what main points the author is trying to convey with his or her article.
- Next, it might help to construct an outline or graphic organizer that will help you visualize the claims and the evidence supporting those claims. Once you have a firm understanding of the article, start formulating your response by asking questions:
What do I really think about this topic? Why do I think that?
Do I disagree with any points being made? Why?
Do I agree with any points? Why?
Can I think of additional examples or evidence that support or refute the author’s claims?
Can I connect something in the article to my own personal experience?
Can I apply the ideas presented in the article to some other subject? - At this point, you should start to formulate your response. Once you have an idea of what you want to say, start drafting your essay.
The introduction should clearly identify the author and article you’re summarizing. It may include a bit of brief summary to show what the main point of the article is. It should include a thesis statement that presents your response to the article.
The body paragraphs should begin with a summary of the article that you’ve chosen (one or two paragraphs). Be sure to accurately represent the ideas and arguments from the source. Next, you should develop your response (between one and three paragraphs), usually with a statement of agreement or disagreement, followed by your reasons, examples, and evidence. Remember that the purpose of a response paper is to add your own voice to the mix, to join the conversation. I want to read your reactions, your interpretations, and your opinions. Take this opportunity to develop your own voice.
The conclusion paragraph should reinforce the ideas you stated in the essay. - Once you’ve drafted your paper, go back and review how you’ve organized your paragraphs (do they have topic sentences?) and integrated evidence (all quotes should be seamlessly incorporated into your own sentences).
- When you’re happy with your draft, you should complete the peer review process to get feedback on your writing.
- After you have read the feedback provided by your peers, continue revising and editing your draft. You might find that some comments are more helpful than others. You are not obliged to take anyone’s advice, but you should at least consider every suggestion. When you are comfortable that the essay is in good shape, upload it to eCampus. The final draft will automatically be sent through “Safe Assign,” which is an originality checker used to help identify plagiarism.
Plagiarism
Plagiarism is using someone else’s words or ideas without giving credit and is a serious academic offense. It can range from:
- Turning in a paper any part of which you did not write,
- Cutting and pasting a paper together from various sources without attributing the sources correctly,
- Changing a few words but basically keeping most of the words and sentence structure of the original,
- Using the ideas of another without giving credit to the person who originally had the idea.
- Using the exact words of the source without using quotation marks even if you give the name of the source.
Refer to the syllabus for consequences of plagiarism in this class. For more information, see http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/589/01/
Grading and Rubric
To access the rubric, go to the essay submission and select “View Rubric.” Please remember that the grades for peer are listed in the syllabus as separate grades.
Last name 1
Your name
Professor’s name
English 1301
September 3, 2014
When you submit essays in college, you should format them correctly according to MLA formatting standards. You may use this document for instructions while formatting your own Microsoft Word document, or you can use this as a template to draft your own essays.
You should format the entire document in Times New Roman 12 point font. Everything should be double-spaced. Do not add superfluous spaces between paragraphs. In some versions of Microsoft Word, you should turn off the function that automatically adds a space between paragraphs (to turn off this function, highlight all of the text in the document and then open the Paragraph box from the Home ribbon by clicking on the arrow at the bottom of the box. Then, select the checkbox next to “Don’t add space between paragraphs of the same style”). Include a heading (such as the one at the top of this page) that lists your name, your instructor’s name, your class, and the date. Format the heading exactly like the rest of the document (double-spaced), but do not indent the heading as you would indent the first line of a paragraph.
You should also include a title. The title should be centered. Do not add extra lines between the heading and the title or between the title and the first paragraph. You should capitalize the first letter of the title and all of the other words except articles (a, an, the), coordinating conjunctions (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so), and prepositions (with, to, about, etc.). Be sure the title is interesting and relevant to the topic. If writing about a work of literature or an article, do not use the same title as the work. In other words, if you’re writing about the article called “Beyonce: Sex Terrorist,” you must name your paper something besides “Beyonce: Sex Terrorist.”
You should set all of your margins to one inch. You should indent the first line of each paragraph by .5 (one tab), except in the works cited page, where you should use a hanging indent for each entry (to format a hanging indent, highlight the entries in the works cited page. Then, open the Paragraph box by clicking on the arrow in the bottom corner. Then, click on the “Special” dropdown menu and select “hanging”). You should include a page number at the top right corner of the page (Microsoft Word formats it at .5, which is correct). You should include your last name with the page number. Be sure to use the page number function in Microsoft Word so that it updates for you automatically (double-click the very top of the page where the page number should go. When the header opens, select “Page Number” in the Design ribbon and then select the correct page number).
Student Name
Professor Name
Course
Date
Is English Really that Crazy?
“Sometimes you have to believe that all English speakers should be committed to an
asylum for the verbally insane.” This is a quote from the book Crazy English, written by Richard
Lederer in 1989. In the essay “English is Crazy Language”, which is a excerpt from the opening
chapter of his book Crazy English, Lederer takes a witty and rather genius approach of proving
how English is, indeed, a very crazy language.
Lederer starts the book off with facts about the English language, emphasizing about how
it is “the most widely spoken language in the history of our planet.” I find that this is a very
clever way to prove to the readers that he is knowledgeable in this matter. Lederer then states
“nonetheless, it is now time to face the fact that English is a crazy language.” From here on, we
are faced with a whirlwind of Lederer’s ridiculously brilliant examples and play on words of the
English language in an almost poetic-like stance.
He begins with “the blackbird hen is brown, blackboards can be blue or green… if
blackberries were really black and blueberries really blue, what are strawberries, cranberries,
elderberries, huckleberries, raspberries… supposed to look like?” This clearly already shows the
readers how absurd the English language really can be. If a blackboard is green, why is it called a
blackboard and not a greenboard? Why aren’t strawberries called pinkberries and raspberries
redberries? Lederer also includes other examples like “hot dogs can be cold, darkrooms can be
lit, homework can be done in school, nightmares can take place in broad daylight…” These
professor� 4/26/15 8:18 AM
Comment [1]: The
first
paragraph
introduces
the
text
that
the
student
will
respond
to.
Both
the
title
and
author
are
identified
as
well
as
the
general
topic
of
the
text.
professor� 4/26/15 8:19 AM
Comment [2]: In
this
paragraph
the
student
gives
a
little
more
detail
by
identifying
the
thesis
of
the
original
text.
2
examples particularly stood out to me because I feel like they have completely contrasting
meanings. In a way, they can be similar to a juxtaposition of sorts.
Lederer then begins to question what other languages use the same ironic and, shall I
say, confusing phrases used in English. “In what other language do people drive in a parkway
and park in a driveway? In what other language do people recite at a play and play at a recital?”
These examples made me really wonder, is English really the only language that does this? After
giving it much thought, I’ve come to this conclusion: English may be crazy, but it’s not any
crazier than most other languages.
Although they might not have as many ironic phrases and words as English does, I do
believe that there are many other languages that do. One, for example, comes from Spanish:
huevos rancheros is an omelet served along with vegetables for breakfast. When translated, the
meaning of huevos rancheros is eggs from a ranch or farm. Ironically enough, though, the eggs
used in this meal do not particularly come from a ranch, nor is it eaten at a ranch. Another
language comes from my roots, Vietnamese: alligators are called cá sấu which, when translated,
means “ugly fish”. Sharks are called cá mập which means “fat fish” when translated and
dolphins are called cá heo which is translated to “pig fish”. Also, whales are called cá voi which
translates to “elephant fish” and, of course, sounds absolutely ridiculous to me. Another great
example is thương which means “to love”, whereas bị thương means “to be wounded”.
With all this being said, I must commend Lederer on his views and points. Before I
read his excerpt, I thought to myself, there’s no way English is really this crazy. I thought I
wouldn’t agree with what Lederer says but I found that I’ve really appreciated reading this
chapter. It’s really opened my eyes to a broader spectrum. I’ve come to realize that English is, in
fact, absolutely crazy, but so are most other languages. And in the words of the brilliant Richard
Lederer himself, “when I wind up my watch, I start it, but when I wind up this essay, I shall end
it.”
professor� 4/26/15 8:20 AM
Comment [3]: In
this
paragraph
the
student
has
summarized
the
supporting
examples
for
the
original
text.
professor� 4/26/15 8:28 AM
Comment [4]: Here
we
begin
the
student’s
response
and
we
have
the
student’s
thesis
statement.
professor� 4/26/15 8:25 AM
Comment [5]: This
paragraph
includes
the
students
support
of
his/her
thesis.
He/She
claimed
that
English
is
no
more
crazy
than
any
other
language
and
in
this
paragraph
he/she
proves
that
by
giving
several
specific
examples
from
another
language.
professor� 4/26/15 8:29 AM
Comment [6]: In
the
conclusion,
the
student
restates
his/he
thesis
and
concludes
the
essay
with
a
quotation.
3
Works Cited
Lederer, Richard. “English is a Crazy Language.” from Crazy English: The Ultimate
Joy Ride Through Our Language. Atria Books, A Division of Simon and Schuster,
Inc. 1989. Print.
professor� 4/26/15 8:31 AM
Comment [7]: Here
we
have
a
Works
Cited
page
that
includes
the
text
referenced
in
the
essay.