2.1 - Assignment Details

When you write a summary and response essay, you practice skills that help you engage deeply with a text and develop your own ideas. In the academic summary, your focus is on reading carefully, identifying the main argument and supporting ideas, and understanding how the text fits into a larger academic conversation. The response asks you to connect the text to your own experiences and knowledge, distinguishing between facts, opinions, and beliefs, and supporting your insights with evidence from your life. Together, these tasks help you read actively, think critically, and participate thoughtfully in academic discussions.

The academic summary provides readers an opportunity to practice their reading skills and strategies. Reading is an active process; we must do more than merely glance at words and sentences to understand the full scope of a text. To learn and apply knowledge, we must practice close and critical reading strategies in order to understand the main idea, supporting ideas, and to consider connections to other aspects of the academic conversation around that topic.

The 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, the response allows 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.

This assignment gives you a chance to practice important skills in reading, thinking, and writing. You’ll work on understanding a text deeply, summarizing the author’s ideas clearly, and reflecting on how those ideas connect to your own experiences and thoughts. By doing this, you’ll practice reading critically, adding your own voice to a conversation, and supporting your ideas with evidence from the text. These learning outcomes are all about helping you think carefully, write clearly, and participate confidently in academic discussions.

This assignment meets the following WRIT 101 course outcomes:

• • Read texts thoughtfully, analytically, and critically in preparation for writing tasks.

  • Integrate their own ideas with those of others.

  • Use writing as a means to engage in critical inquiry by exploring ideas, challenging assumptions, and reflecting on and applying the writing process.

  • Use conventions of format and structure germane to the rhetorical situation and audience.

  • Formulate an assertion about a given issue and support that assertion with evidence germane to the issue, position taken, and given audience.

Purpose

This assignment is designed to help you engage deeply with an academic text by both summarizing and responding to it. First, you will demonstrate that you understand the author’s argument and main points through a clear, concise summary. Then, you will add your own voice, reflecting on the text and connecting it to your experiences, prior knowledge, or observations. This dual approach—summary plus response—models how academic writers participate in ongoing conversations in their fields.

Audience

Your audience is an academic reader who has not read the text. Your writing should clearly distinguish between the author’s ideas and your own reflections. Readers should leave with a clear understanding of both the text’s argument and your perspective on it.

Choice of Readings

Select ONE of the following texts to read and summarize.

• Peter Elbow, "The Doubting Game and the Believing Game"

• Mary Louise Pratt, “Arts of the Contact Zone”

• Vershawn Ashanti Young, “Should Writers Use They Own English?”

Assignment Requirements

1. Summary (150–250 words)

   • Accurately and concisely explain the author’s thesis and main points.

   • Avoid including your personal opinions in this section.

   • Use proper MLA attribution for paraphrases, in-text citations, and include a Works Cited entry.

2. Response (750–850 words)

   • Reflect critically on the text. Your response should:

   • Explain what you agree or disagree with and why.

   • Connect the text to your personal experiences or observations.

   • Identify any ideas the author may have overlooked or questions the text raises for you.

   • Ensure your ideas are clearly linked to the text, with appropriate paraphrasing, direct quotes, and MLA citations.

   • Use author tags and attribution to make it clear which ideas are yours and which come from the text.

Formatting

• Length: 4-6 pages.

• Double-spaced, 12-pt sans-serif font, 1-inch margins.

• Include a Works Cited page formatted in MLA style.

This rubric explains how your Summary and Response assignment will be assessed using levels of mastery. Each category—critical reading, integrating ideas, writing as inquiry, academic conventions, and supporting claims—shows what work looks like at advanced, proficient, developing, emerging, and beginning levels. These levels reflect how consistently and effectively you use these skills in your writing. Use the rubric as a guide while drafting and revising to strengthen your mastery in each area.

A — Advanced

• Critical Reading: The summary is precise, complete, and concise (150–250 words), accurately representing the author’s thesis and all major points.

• Integrating Ideas with Those of Others: Student and author ideas are seamlessly integrated with consistently clear distinctions between voices.

• Writing as Inquiry: The response shows deep critical engagement—challenging assumptions, raising questions, and extending or complicating the author’s claims with meaningful personal insight.

• Using Academic Conventions of Format, Structure, and Citation: MLA format, citations, Works Cited, paragraphing, and formatting are correct with no significant errors.

• Formulating an Assertion and Supporting It with Evidence: The response presents a clear, thoughtful position supported with well-chosen textual evidence and strong reasoning.

B — Proficient

• • Critical Reading: The summary covers the thesis and major ideas with only minor omissions or simplifications.

  • Integrating Ideas with Those of Others: Student ideas connect meaningfully with the author’s ideas, though distinctions or transitions may occasionally be unclear.

  • Writing as Inquiry: Reflection is meaningful but may not fully explore complexities or question underlying assumptions.

  • Using Academic Conventions of Format, Structure, and Citation: MLA format and conventions are followed with minor errors.

  • Formulating an Assertion and Supporting It with Evidence: A clear stance is supported with some evidence, though development may be uneven.

C — Developing

• Critical Reading: The summary conveys some main points but misses or misrepresents key ideas; understanding is partial.

• Integrating Ideas with Those of Others: Attempts at integration are inconsistent, unclear, or insufficiently developed.

• Writing as Inquiry: Reflection is surface-level, generalized, or loosely connected to the text; limited engagement with assumptions or implications.

• Using Academic Conventions of Format, Structure, and Citation: MLA conventions are inconsistently applied; multiple errors appear.

• Formulating an Assertion and Supporting It with Evidence: A position is stated but supported weakly, vaguely, or with minimal connection to the text.

D — Emerging

• • Critical Reading: Summary shows minimal understanding, omits major ideas, or includes inaccuracies.

  • Integrating Ideas with Those of Others: Connections between student and author ideas are limited or unclear; distinctions between voices are blurred.

  • Writing as Inquiry: Reflection is minimal, superficial, or only loosely tied to the text.

  • Using Academic Conventions of Format, Structure, and Citation: MLA conventions are frequently incorrect or missing.

  • Formulating an Assertion and Supporting It with Evidence: Claims lack support; evidence is missing, irrelevant, or unclear.

F — Beginning

• • Critical Reading: Summary is inaccurate, missing, or unrelated to the text.

  • Integrating Ideas with Those of Others: No meaningful integration of ideas; distinctions between voices are absent.

  • Writing as Inquiry: No reflection, questioning, or critical engagement with the text.

  • Using Academic Conventions of Format, Structure, and Citation: MLA format, citation, and academic conventions are absent.

  • Formulating an Assertion and Supporting It with Evidence: No clear claim or support; reasoning and evidence are missing.

This chapter contains material from:

• First-Year Composition by Leslie Davis and Kiley Miller,  Colorado State University, licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.