Summary-Reaction Paper
ENG 111
Task
Write a 3-page paper that summarizes and reacts to two articles that present opposing views on an issue of your choice. Your paper will begin with an introductory paragraph that includes a they say opener, gives an overview of the issue, and identifies an important controlling question. You will want this controlling question to be a question that the two articles answer in conflicting ways. Heres an example of the kind of controlling question that would work well: Does social media promote social activism? The body paragraphs of the paper will use summary and quotes to lay out the authors competing arguments. In this part of your paper, play the believing game (They Say/I Say, 31-33), leaving out your own ideas in order to listen carefully to each author. You are not required to summarize every part of an entire article; write the summaries with the controlling question in mind and to set up the next part of your paper. This next section will be your own personal reflections on or reactions to the ideas presented in the articles (I Say), framing your argument as a response to specific and significant ideas from your reading. Make clear whether you are agreeing, disagreeing, or both agreeing and disagreeing with what he says. Now you can play the doubting game. Remember to use the templates in Chapters 1-3 to help you introduce your subject and represent the articles ideas; then, see Chapter 4 for templates that will get you started with your response.
To locate two articles, use SIRS Issues Researcher database through the James Library
1. Open James Library website homepage
2. Click on A-Z Databases
3. Look under Popular Databases and select SIRS Issues Researcher
4. If you are working off campus, enter your RCC username and current password
5. Click on Leading Issues All Leading Issues
6. Scroll through topics and select an issue (i.e., Controversial Mascots)
7. Read and select one article from VIEWPOINT 1 and another from VIEWPOINT 2
8. Finally, copy the MLA 8 citation at the bottom of each article you select
Purpose
Good academic writing responds to what others are saying. This assignment provides practice for addressing what they say about an ongoing debate and respond by saying something of your own that matters. While all writing is persuasive in some sense, this is not an assignment that requires you to stake out and support a specific argument. If your honest response to reading two opposing viewpoints is to change your own mind or to realize that both sides have valid points of view, then that is an acceptable response.
Audience
For this assignment, assume that as far as this particular issue goes, your audience is either uninformed or uninterested. You will show your readers why this issue matters and try to move their initial stance toward your own opinion. In your reaction, you may discuss how or whether your own attitude was changed by exposing your thinking to two opposing arguments.
Genre / Format
You do not need to obsess over the five-paragraph-essay model. This assignment does not necessarily fit into the three body paragraph framework very well. Your final draft must be formatted using MLA style, 12 point Times New Roman, double-spaced throughout. You must include a correctly formatted Works Cited page.
Citations
When using SIRS Issues Researcher, you will find a raw MLA 8 citation at the bottom of each article:
Houska, Tara. “My Culture is Not Super Bowl Entertainment.” New York Times (Online), 01 Feb 2020. sirsissuesresearcher, https://login.proxy151.nclive.org/login?url=https://explore.proquest.com/sirsissuesresearcher/document/2356163092?accountid=13568.
You can use this citation as a starting point for your final Works Cited list, but you will need to format it correctly. Be sure to (1) edit the citation to conform to MLA style, (2) remove the hyperlink, (3) delete https://, (4) double-space the text, (5) switch the font to Times New Roman (12 point), (6) and create a hanging indent. Add the date the article was accessed.
Houska, Tara. “My Culture Is Not Super Bowl Entertainment.” New York Times, 1 Feb. 2020, SIRS Issues Researcher, sirsissuesresearcher/document/2356163092?accountid=13568. Accessed 13 Sept. 2020.
Grading Criteria and Expectations
Content/Ideas 50 points
Expectations: The paper is developed with two extended, paragraph-length summaries, emphasizing a key ideas from each article. The summaries reveal a deep understanding of the each articles argument. The reaction paragaph clearly shows how the sources have provided a springboard for the writers ideas and offers a new perspective on our understanding of the issue.
Coherence 10 points
Expectations: The paper’s title, opening, controlling idea, topic sentences, and transitions show clear connections between ideas, sentences, and paragraphs.
Voice 10 points
Expectations: The paper exhibits a mature, confident academic tone and precise diction; avoids redundancy, vague language, slang, wrong word errors, and the second person.
Sentence Fluency -10 points
Expectations: The paper uses a variety of sentence forms and openings; it avoids errors involving coordination and subordination, as well as sentence fragments.
Conventions 10 points
Expectations: The paper is free of spelling, mechanical, and grammar errors.
Documentation 10 points
Expectations: The paper clearly and accurately documents material from sources, skillfully using signal phrases and in-text citations. Works Cited page contains a correctly formatted entry for each source. Correct MLA documentation and formatting is used throughout
