Major Paper #3–Summary/Response
We will be working on this assignment for the next three units. In this unit, we will focus on the summary. In Unit 9, we will focus on the strong response. Unit 10 is designed to provide time for revision. The paper will be due at the end of Unit #10.

Purpose:
Most of us use critical reading strategies everyday to effectively process all of the information we are consistently bombarded with. This assignment allows you continue to explore ideas of reading and writing rhetorically, as you will use different strategies to write your summary and your strong response.
The Assignment:
This assignment will have two parts:
1.) Summary
Summarize in 150-200 words the article your instructor has chosen from the assignment: “Children Need to Play, Not Compete,” on pages 270-274 of your 9th edition textbook (or on pages 276-279 of your 8th edition textbook or pages 287-291 in your 7th edition textbook). In this summary, you should relay the article’s main points, completely and accurately, in your own words. If you find yourself in a situation in which the author’s words needed to be quoted directly (perhaps for emphasis), you must make it clear that these words are the author’s by using quotation marks appropriately. You will not want to quote anything over one sentence in length, and you will want to limit yourself to no more than 2-3 direct quotes, if you use any at all. Remember that the whole point of this portion of the assignment is for you to restate the author’s points objectively in your own words.
In general, I recommend you structure your first sentence something like this:
In “Children Need to Play, Not Compete, Jessica Statsky…
This will function as the thesis statement of your summary, so this first sentence will need to convey the main point(s) of the article to give your reader an overall view.
2.) Response
Write a 1 ½ to 2 page response to “Children Need to Play, Not Compete.” Before you even begin drafting, you will want to decide on the terms of your response. Once you decide on the terms (or grounds) of your response, you’ll want to figure out how you can support your points—using logic, outside evidence, examples from your personal life—whatever is appropriate.
(We will discuss how to determine the terms of your response in Unit 9.)
Please Note: The sample summary for this unit is included on the “Lecture Notes” page.

Unit 9: Summary and Response (2) – Assignment

Write a full, rough draft of your strong response to “Children Need to Play, Not Compete.” (This response should be 1 ½ to 2 pages in length). Please keep in mind the following: Before you even begin drafting, you will want to decide on the terms of your response. Once you decide on the terms (or grounds) of your response, you’ll want to figure out how you can support your points—using logic, outside evidence, examples from your personal life—whatever is appropriate.
Please Note: The sample Strong Response section for this unit is included on the “Lecture Notes” page.
Unit 10: Summary and Response (3) – Assignment

In this unit, you will want to revise your own work to the best possible quality. I strongly recommend that in addition to reviewing your work yourself, you find yourself an outside reader—someone who will read your work and offer you suggestions for revisions.
You have two options in choosing an outside reader:
1.) You can find someone on your own to read your work (ie. your spouse, one of your kids, a friend, a neighbor).
2.) You can sign up for the Peer Review Option by emailing me. (I’ll set up an email list, so that you and 2-3 of your classmates can email each other your drafts and get feedback.)