A summary is a brief, but to the point, rewriting in your own words of all the main ideas in an essay. It requires certain things:

It cites the author and the title (usually in the first sentence)
it contains the essay’s thesis and supporting ideas
it may use direct quotation of forceful or concise statements of the author’s ideas
it will NOT usually cite the author’s examples or supporting details unless they are central to the main idea.
Most summaries present the major points in the order that the author made them and continually refer back to the article being summarized (i.e. “Damon argues that …” or “Goodman also points out that … “).
The summary should take up no more than one-third the length of your assignment.
The Response:

A response is a critique or evaluation of the author’s essay. Unlike the summary, it is composed of YOUR opinions in relation to the article being summarized. You should respond thoughtfully and thoroughly. Do not just state, “I liked this,” or “I didn’t like this,” or “I agreed with the author.” It’s okay to do that a little bit, but a college writer should be beyond that. And in all cases, you should always back up your response with why you feel this way.

It examines ideas that you agree or disagree with
It identifies the essay’s strengths and weaknesses
in reasoning and logic
in quality of supporting examples
in organization and style.
A good response is persuasive; therefore, it should cite facts, examples, and personal experience that either refutes or supports the article you’re responding to, depending on your stance.
The following is the typical format for a summary and response essay:

Present the summary in a block of paragraphs, followed by the response in a block:

Intro/thesis Summary (two to three paragraphs) Agreement (or disagreement) Disagreement (or agreement) Conclusion

Note: Some essays will incorporate both agreement and disagreement in a response, but this is not mandatory.

You will be writing a one page summary and response each week, in response to that week’s reading. That means that one third should be summary, and two-thirds should be your personal response to the reading. An assignment that consists of merely restating what the reading was about will receive a low grade.

One page – that means you made it all the way to the bottom of the page
MLA format – I will go over this in class, but there are numerous resources available to make certain that you’re doing this correctly. After the first summary and response, I will remove points if your paper is not in correct MLA format
Citations – both in-text when you make references to specific parts of the text (and this includes page numbers) and a citation of the text itself on a Works Cited page
Submitted online by the due date and time – I don’t accept late work, so be aware of this.