Check the Course Schedule for information about which text to summarize and when and where to submit your summary for grading. The following criteria will determine your summary score:
Summary | Proficient (A/B) | Adequate (C) | Needs Improvement (D/F) |
|---|---|---|---|
Summary includes original text's title and author | | | |
Summary introduces relevant information about when and where original text was published | | | |
Summary identifies the original text's thesis or main idea | | | |
Summary includes enough support for thesis/main idea without being as detailed as a paraphrase | | | |
Summary is objective; the only opinions or claims included are those of the original text's author | | | |
Summary meets minimum length requirement listed in assignment requirements or is approximately 1/3 the original text's length | | | |
Summary is written in third-person point of view | | | |
Summary includes attributions | | | |
Summary includes correct MLA in-text citations if the original text's pages are numbered | | | |
Tips:
Quoting the original text is not required, but if you include quotes, make sure they are
chosen appropriately (see course materials on quoting for guidance)
very short
"sandwiched” (see course materials for an explanation)
include attributions, quotation marks, and correct MLA in-text citations.
To decide whether you’ve included enough support for the original text’s thesis/main idea, ask yourself, “What do readers need to know to fully understand the main idea?”). If the main idea needs explanations, examples, or evidence to be understood, include them; if not, leave them out.