Reading Summaries:

For most articles read from the class anthology, you will submit a reading summary the day that we discuss the work in class.  Below are all the details of the reading summary.  It is your responsibility to check the reading schedule and show up to class with the reading summaries ready.  If there is any confusion contact me right away.

Directions: Complete the following tasks for the anthology articles listed below. This assignment is designed to provide practice in reading/responding critically and to build your writing skills. In this response, you’re being graded on the thoroughness of your answers as well as mechanics, so take your time, edit it, and turn in a polished revision.

Tasks: Summarize the article in its entirety. To complete the summary, you’ll need to do two things.

A) Thesis: First, in a line by itself, write “Thesis” and then provide the actual word-for-word thesis of the article you’re responding to. This needs to be the one sentence in that article, quoted directly, which best sums up the entire argument. Some articles have difficult thesis statements to identify, so pick the one sentence that most looks to be the thesis to you.

*) This thesis must be a direct quote, not something you come up with on your own.  If you're not 100% sure, feel free to list a couple of sentences that you've narrowed it down to.

*) Since it will be a direct quote, this thesis must have a parenthetical citation.
 

B) Summary: Second, summarize the article/lecture; tell me all the major points the piece makes. You’ll have to boil every major argument down into just a few sentences.

*) This summary needs to be at least 150 words long to hit all the major arguments, but could end up being much longer.

Requirements:

*) Each summary must be submitted in full MLA format.

*) You will need to submit summaries for each of the following articles.  They are all found in the Class Anthology.

*) If multiple summaries are due on the same day, you must make them all part of the same homework assignment (only one header, etc.)

March 31:

Reading Summary for Manning, “Students for Sale”

Reading Summary for Twitchell, “But First a Word from Our Sponsor”

April 2:

Reading Summary for Bagdikian, "Grand Theft"

Reading Summary for "Who Owns What"

April 14th:

Reading Summary for Schlosser "The Chain Never Stops"