Outline for Summary/Critique Essay

The following outline shows the needed structure for the summary/critique essay. Use this as a reference when constructing the essay.

1.

Introduction (Minimum 1 paragraph, 100-150 words)

a. State the name of the essay

you are critiquing and the author’s name. State the main

point of the essay you are critiquing.

b. Thesis: _____________’s essay shows (strong/weak) writing skill and the author’s

points are (agreeable/disagreeable) on the whole.

c. Present background material on the essay you are critiquing. For example, you may discuss why the author wrote the piece, why the topic is relevant to many, and/or outline the author’s credentials.

2.

Summary of the essay you are critiquing (Minimum 1 paragraph, 100-150 words)

a. State the author’s thesis and main ideas. Do not use any quotes from the work; simply state the ideas in your own words. The tone of this section should be objective with no opinions of the content.

3.

Evaluate the quality of the writing (Minimum 2 paragraphs, 200-300 words)

a. Discuss three to four facets of the author’s writing and evaluate the success of those facets. Act as though you are grading the author. You may evaluate any of the following, and be specific in your evaluation:

Accuracy of information

Significance of information

Clarity of purpose and thesis

Clarity of definitions

Fair use of information

Logic of organization

Success of introduction and/or conclusion

Stylistic fluency of sentences

4.

Discuss which views of the author you agree and disagree with (Minimum 2 paragraphs, 200-300 words)

a.

Be specific in outlining what

exact ideas you agree and disagree with, presenting

specific quotes. Explain why you agree or disagree.

5.

Conclusion (Minimum 1 paragraph, 100-150 words)

a.

Summarize your overall views of the author’s essay, including the essay’s main strengths and weaknesses.

Annotations

Author: Behrens, L., and Rosen, L.J. (2016). Writing and reading across the curriculum. 13th New York: Longman.

Compose a summary/critique essay with a minimum of two body pages on Peter Capelli’s essay “Why Focusing Too Narrowly in College Could Backfire” on p. 435.

Include the required sections of the essay in this order:

1. Introduction (Include a thesis at the end that states your view on how successful Capelli’s piece was overall.),

2. summary of Capelli’s piece,

3. your assessment of Capelli’s writing skill,

4. your assessment of the author’s values,

5. And a conclusion that sums up the strengths and weaknesses of Capelli’s piece.

See the chart on p. 68 for more description of each section.

This is two body pages APA format with the cover page, abstract, Citations and References page. Total papers will be 5 pages. Due on Wednesday at 1:00 pm noon