In-Class, Jan. 30th: summaries, summaries...

Today, we are going to deal with SUMMARIES again. (Don't mind the "response" part yet.)

I have graded your summaries of "Why Terrorism," but don't worry, these are just ADVISORY GRADES, which means you have the chance today of rewriting your summary and turn it in for a better grade.

Task 1: revise your summary of "Why Terrorism"
Now that you have the handout with examples of A, B, C, D, and F summaries it should not be a problem to write a very good one. So take the graded summary I'll give back to you today, and retype it in the first 10-15 minutes of class.

Task 2: email it to your neighbor for peer-edit
Email your perfect summary to the person who sits next to you. If there is one person who has to grade 2 instead of 1, I will give him/her extra credit. If there's no volunteer, I will pick one. Everyone must have one summary to proofread and edit.

I will model how to do professional "comments" in a word document.

Task 3: send your edited version back to your peer, together with a memo
When you've finished peer editing, email the summary back to the peer you got it from, together with a short MEMO (in memo style) what he/she has done well, and what needs to be improved.
Always email a copy to me (both of YOUR perfect version, and the version you have PROOFREAD).

At the end of the first half hour, I want to have all your emails.

HOMEWORK: Revise your perfect version according to your peer's comments, and email it to me as your "final" summary for a real grade by Friday! Or bring it to class on Friday.

Task 4:
Write a ~200 word summary of the song you have picked. Email this summary to your partner. The partner will peer edit it, and email it back to you. This is also due in class on Friday (your "final" version).

MAKE SURE you exchange names and email addresses with your neighbor, in case you email from home!!!

What to look for in a summary:

1) does it have a cool title telling about the content? The best one I've seen so far was:
Terrorism - Choice, or Obligation?
You can't take this one any more; it belongs to the student who invented it!!!

2) Is the first sentence an attention catcher?

3) Does it have a short, precise summary of the content of the article, stating the author's main point (what does the author want to tell us with this article - that's the thesis)?

4) It must not have too many quotations (those belong in the response part).

5) It must not have personal "I" - only in the last sentence of the summary, you may make a personal statement, but it is always better to put it in passive, such as "The author was very convincing," instead of "I was very convinced by this text."

6) It must not be longer than 200 words, and not shorter than about a 100.

7) Does it have a good text flow, correct grammar and mechanics?