English Composition II – Week 2 Assignment
Summarizing a Written Rhetorical Text
Purpose of the assignment: To summarize an op-ed or argumentative article.
Procedure: Choose a well-established news source. Select an op-ed piece or argumentative article from within the last eight weeks. Important: Do not select a straight news article or one that appears mostly informative. You will be analyzing the argument of the article you select in Week 3.
Write a 150- to 250-word summary of the article. Your summary should include an overview of the article’s purpose and enough information that someone who has not read the article would have a clear and concise understanding of what the piece is about. You will have to make some choices about what reasons, details, and examples to include in your summary. However, your goal is to represent the gist of the article as clearly and accurately as possible. Do not include your opinion of the article or its topic. Do not editorialize (“This is a well-written article”).
Your summary must adhere to the following guidelines:
Introduce the source by title and author within the first few sentences of your summary.
Include a few direct quotations.
All quotations and paraphrases must be cited in APA Style.
Write in third person. Do not refer to yourself in the summary.
Include an APA-Style References page.
Proofread carefully so your summary contains few or no mechanical errors.
Format: One paragraph (two, at most), with an introduction, body, and conclusion.
Format the assignment in APA Style: one-inch margins, page numbers at the top right, 12-pt. Times New Roman font, running heads, and title page.
Submitting the assignment: Attach your essay as a single file Word document or .pdf file and submit to the W2 assignment drop box.
