Summary-Response Prompt

  

Summary-Response Prompt

Assignment Introduction

Summary-Responses are designed to prepare writers for research projects. In short, Summary-Responses consist of researching a topic, reading an academic article (or book chapter) on that topic, summarizing it, and responding to some of its main points. By doing this, you will become familiar with scholarly literature surrounding a topic AND be able to integrate that research in your Report research paper. In total, you will write three (3) Summary-Responses; each Summary-Response must focus on ONE (1) article or book chapter.

Assignment Topics

For this assignment, you may select a current controversy to explore. Your selected topic must be debatable and discussed in scholarly literature. Please note that I have blacklisted some topics. To be clear, please do NOT write about any of the following topics: gun control, armed teachers, abortion, marijuana legalization, video games and violence, euthanasia, lowering the drinking age, GMOs. If you are having trouble selecting a topic, please refer to the lecture, “Selecting a Research Topic.”

Assignment Requirements

For the Summary-Response assignment, you are required to summarize and respond to a scholarly article or book chapter. This article or book chapter must:

• Have been written within the last ten (10) years
• Come from a scholarly journal OR a book written by an expert in the field. Sources from popular sources (i.e. newspapers or websites) will not be accepted
• Be at least ten (10) pages long + the Works Cited/Bibliography page. In other words, the Works Cited/Bibliography page must start on page 11 or beyond
• Be submitted as a PDF through the assignment link in Canvas

Articles that do not meet ALL of these requirements will not be accepted.

The Summary-Response itself (i.e. your typed summary and response to the article) must:

• Include MLA-style citation at the top of the page
• Include one (1) paragraph summarizing the key points of the article. This summary paragraph must not be longer than 20 lines total
• Include two (2) paragraphs responding to two (2) claims made in the article. The response section must introduce new ideas and be at least 30 lines long total
• Be submitted as a Word doc through the assignment link in Canvas. Yes, the article PDF and the Summary-Response will be submitted through the same assignment link

Research Requirements

• Your Summary-Response must be written on a scholarly journal OR a chapter from an eBook. You may access academic articles and eBooks by searching through databases via the Moorpark College Library website; I included a lecture with videos explaining how to access these
• In the response portion of the Summary-Response, you are required to respond to two (2) claims made in the original article. These claims must be supported by evidence from research. This evidence may come from any of the following:
  • articles from the library database
  • library books or eBooks
  • websites of well-known newspapers, magazines, or news networks
  • do not cite from Wikipedia, personal blogs, or random websites found on Google

Essay Policies

• Late essays are accepted up to six (6) days late with a grade penalty of 5% for each day that it’s late (including weekends). Essays will not be accepted on or after seven (7) days.
• It is your responsibility to submit the correct assignment file by the due date. Canvas allows you to view assignment files after you’ve submitted them; I recommend double-checking your submission to ensure that you uploaded the correct file. I do not accept resubmissions for incorrect file submissions, corrupted files, or “blank” submissions. 
• If you’d like an extension on this assignment, you must contact me to use your Late Essay Coupon on or before the due date. The Late Essay Coupon cannot be used after the submission deadline has passed.
• This assignment must be submitted through the specified link on Canvas. I do not accept assignments via email nor through the “comments” box in Canvas.
• Summary-Response final drafts must include BOTH in-text citations AND a Works Cited entry.
• Besides the Summary-Response final draft, you are required to submit a copy of the original article as a PDF. Submissions without accompanying PDFs will receive an automatic 0.