Assignment 1: Summary and Personal Response 

Due Week 2 and worth 120 points

Select one essay in The brief McGraw-Hill guide: Writing for college, writing for life: (2nd ed.) to summarize for this assignment. Choose from the following essays:  “Se habla Espanol” by Barrientos; “Facing poverty with a rich girl’s habits” by Kim; “On becoming a writer” by Baker; “Farm girl” by Hemauer

Write a one and one-half to two (1½ – 2) page summary paper in which you:

1. Identify the source (writer and title of essay) and state his or her most important point in your own words.
2. Summarize the other main points and their supporting details in separate paragraphs.
3. Discuss the (1) writer’s purpose, (2) genre, (3) audience, and (4) tone (attitude),
4. Describe your emotional response to the essay.
5. Use quotations, paraphrase, and summary correctly.

Your assignment must follow these formatting requirements:

• Be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides; citations and references must follow APA or school-specific format. Check with your professor for any additional instructions.
• Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title, and the date. The cover page and the reference page are not included in the required assignment page length.

The specific course learning outcomes associated with this assignment are:

• Recognize how to use quotations, paraphrase, and summary in the writing process.
• Apply the writing process to develop various writing genres.
• Write clearly and concisely about selected topics using proper writing mechanics.

Grading for this assignment will be based on answer quality, logic / organization of the paper, and language and writing skills, using the following rubric.

Click here to view the grading rubric.