English 101 Critical Response Paper

Length: 1000-1300 words.

Instructions: Write a coherent, unified, accurate, and objective critical summary of a text of your choosing. It can be something we read in class or something else entirely. Your audience, of course, includes your classmates and me. There are two parts to this assignment which are listed below in detail.

Summary: Your summary should identify what key points or themes the author is attempting to convey in the article. Some of this should be concentrated in the introduction, but should also be spread out through the remainder of the paper. The summary portion should be a brief explanation of a key point or theme using evidence from the article to better explain what the author is attempting to state.

Critique: The critique should be a balanced discussion and evaluation of the strengths, weakness and notable features of the text. Remember to base your discussion on specific criteria. Good reviews also include other sources to support your evaluation (remember to reference). The critical analysis portion of this assignment will be to critique in a negative or positive manner what you believe the author is attempting to state. Remember to stay objective and in third person.

Additional Requirements: You may use up to 3(three) other sources while critiquing to better elaborate a point. You are required to use at least 1(one). These sources may be any of the short stories or articles on Canvas, or a separate outside source.

How to Construct Your Paper:

In the Introduction (1 to 2 paragraphs, 4-8 sentences), you should:

· provide a context for the article or paper (background information or shared knowledge)

· give the title of the article or paper, author, source, and, in the case of a magazine or journal article, the date of publication and the text

· identify the author by profession or importance, if appropriate

· describe the purpose or main idea of the material in a one sentence statement that weaves together the themes from the one‐sentence summaries you made while you read the material and how you are going to critically analyze the text. Do you agree with the key points or disagree? This is your thesis.

· give an indication of your overall impression of the article or paper in general terms

In the Body portion of the paper you should:

· provide an analytical summary of the main findings/arguments/conclusions of the article or paper

· discuss the strengths /usefulness of the material

· discuss the weaknesses/limitations/problems with the material, especially for your purposes/context

· make sufficient references to the authors of the material

In the Conclusion (1 or 2 paragraphs, 4-8 sentences), you should:

· summarize what you have written in the Body

· make a final judgment on the value of the article indicating the balance that you see existing between the strengths and limitations of the material

· comment on the future of the issue/topic or implications of the view expressed

In-Text Citation and Works Cited Entry:

Use a page number for anything you quote. Also place a page number at the end of material summarized from a particular page. If, for example, you have summarized material from page 3 in three sentences, put the page number after the third sentence. Include a works-cited entry for the source you summarized. The works cited page needs to be on a separate page.