ARW 250 : Critical Summaries

As noted in the addendum, you will complete TWO critical summary assignments over the
course of the term; together, they will be worth 15% of your course grade (2 x 7.5% =
15%). This handout outlines the key information that you will need in order to (1) complete
the assignments well, and (2) make sure that you get full credit for them.

The basics:
1. Its totally up to you which texts (from the articles and book chapters we will read
each week) you write your critical summaries on but plan well! Specifically:
2. At least one critical summary (CS) must be completed before Study Week. In
other words, if Study Week rolls around and I dont have at least one CS from you
yet, youve lost 7.5% of your course grade. Youre welcome to do both of your CSs
before Study Week, or you can leave one until the second half of the term.
3. The CS on a given text is due on the first day that we look at that text i.e. on
the Wednesday of the week for which the text is listed in the addendum. In case this
is in any way confusing, the Assignments column of the weekly schedule includes
an indication of which text(s) you can submit a CS for each week, as well as a
reminder that these are due on Wednesdays.
4. CSs must be submitted in class (absolutely no drop box or email submissions),
and in the first 15 minutes of the class. In addition, if you simply drop off the
assignment and leave, it will not be marked; you need to actually be in class on the
day you hand it in.
5. No late CSs or make-up assignments will be accepted under any circumstances,
since if youre going to be late with an assignment, or cant stay for class on a given
day, you can simply leave the CS until a later week instead (and if you leave your
assignment until the final week for CSs, and then miss the deadline thats your
own poor planning; plan ahead so that this doesnt happen!)
Formatting:
Total length: 400-600 words
Typed, double-spaced, in 12-point Times New Roman font, with 1-inch margins.
No cover page. Follow MLA conventions and put your name, the course code, my name, and
the date in the top left-hand corner of the first page; your last name and the page number
should be a running header in the top right corner.
Avoid quotations except (sparingly and very briefly) if the precise wording that an author
uses is of central importance to a point youre making.
Any paraphrases (or quotations) need to be followed by in-text citations in MLA style.
Include a Works Cited entry for the text you are writing on, again formatted in MLA style.
(This does not need to be on a separate page, if there is space at the bottom of the last
page of your assignment.)

Assignments that do not follow the formatting requirements laid out above may not
be accepted at all. Following formatting guidelines may seem tedious or pointless,

ARW 250 : Critical Summaries

but it is easy to do, and help foster the mental discipline necessary to prepare an
assignment well and carefully.
What is a critical summary?
These critical summaries are designed to help you practice reading and analyzing
texts in a careful and thoughtful way. They have two parts:
I. Summary / Exegesis (200-300 words)
In this section, you will show that you understand the authors basic argument, by
identifying his or her main point (think of this as finding the authors thesis) and
outlining how he/she supports this main claim. Some texts are quite short, while
others are lengthy, but in no case will you be able to go into every detail the author
gives. Dont think of your task here as going step by step through everything the
author says; rather, look at the text as a whole to figure out what the main point is,
and (overall) how that point is supported and contextualized. If it helps, you might
imagine in a pre-writing stage that youre explaining to a friend who hasnt read
the text what your author says, and why.
II. Evaluation / Critique (200-300 words)
In this section, you will explicitly critique the argument youve just explained. To
critique it does not necessarily mean criticizing it! Your critique can include an
explicit evaluation of the strength and cogency of the argument (all that good YKC
100 stuff!), but can consider other points as well. For example, you might consider
what presuppositions the author makes; whether he has any biases or blind spots
which affect the argument; whether he is responding (implicitly or explicitly) to
some opposing view, and if so, how good his response is; what the implications of
the argument are (and for whom? For us as thinkers or as agents, for society as a
whole, for particular groups?); and so on.
Dont try to answer all of these questions! In fact, the best strategy is to again think
holistically, and look for one main point that you think its important to make in
response to the argument the author gives. There is quite a lot of freedom in this
section of the assignment, as long as you keep in mind that you have to:
1. stay focused enough (a) on the text, and (b) on whatever point youre making to
ensure that youre on topic and that you have space to go into enough detail on the
point youve chosen to make; and
2. support any claim that you make with evidence or explanation. You are, in effect,
creating a mini-essay with an argument here, so practice crafting a couple of nicely
unified paragraphs in support of your main point.
Good luck, and enjoy the assignments!
Questions or concerns? Just let me know. Dont leave questions until the last
minute!