Assignment 1: Text Summary and Analysis
Read all of the articles listed below, and choose one to summarize and analyze.
Summary (200-250 words)
Your goal in the first half of this assignment is to demonstrate your ability to understand the argument being put forward in the article you have chosen. Do this by summarizing the argument clearly and concisely: you must identify the article’s main argument, and the key details that are used to support it. What is the author saying, and what evidence is the author providing?
Analysis (200-250 words)
Your goal in the second half of this assignment is to analyze how the argument is organized and presented, and explain what makes it work. You could take note of the details the author has included and/or left out, the order in which the information is presented, the point of view taken by the author, the tone of the piece, etc. Try to “read between the lines:” uncover why the author says what s/he/ze says. Your job here is not to agree or disagree with the article, but to assess its structure and strategy. What is the rhetorical position of the argument, and what strategies does the author use to make it? How does the language of the article affect its content?
Notes:
For the purposes of this assignment, do not analyze the article in the summary section, or summarize the article in the analysis section.
Do not consult outside sources for this assignment; rely only on the content of the article you have chosen, your own ideas about the article, and relevant information from class discussions.
Pay close attention to the word limit for each section. The word limit does not include the title page or references page.
APA format requires your assignment to be double-spaced, in Times New Roman 12 pt font, with 2.5cm (one-inch) margins on all sides, and to include a header and page numbers, a title page, and a references page. For more information on document formatting, please consult Clearly APA: The NorQuest Guide to APA Style or the library APA guide.
Be selective when including quotations from the article. Students who quote heavily will find that they do not have enough room for their own summary and analysis; students who do not quote at all will find that their writing lacks specificity. Part of the challenge of this assignment is to find a balance between these extremes.