Reflection/Analysis of Readings for Scholarly Texts: Habits of Mind and Writing Skills

Learning objective for the assignment

Reflection/Analysis of Readings: summary/critique worth 15%. A learning objective identifying and practicing the ‘habits of mind’ that give you control, as a reader, over scholarly texts, and the power to express ideas clearly and succinctly in writing. The assignment will consist of a summary of 1 -2 pages of any reading in the course and is due by Oct.28th, 2020. No direct quotes from the original article should be employed. This assignment provides a sample of your reading and writing skills. To plan your summary, try to answer these questions while reading the text. Please note that these questions are only guides. This type of assignment does NOT ask you to answer them directly. 1. What is the MAIN point or points the writer is trying to express? 2. What logical steps in the article's argument help the writer make his/her main point(s)? 3. What kind of evidence does the writer offer to back up his/her main point? Is this evidence compelling? 4. Are there any flaws you can detect in the author's argument? 5. What might the author be omitting from their argument? Grading Criteria 1) effective reading strategies evidenced by selection of appropriate key points from the reading; 2) accurate and precise statement of key points – neither lost in the details, nor over-generalized, and re-stated in your own words (direct quotes from the reading are not permitted in this exercise); 3) coherent transitions between main points – these tie the main points together in an organized and logical exposition; 4) stylistic elements such as spelling, grammar, syntax, and citation style (there should be a full citation to the reading,). Any complete and consistent citation system is acceptable; Tips "Active reading" means reading slowly and carefully, with a dictionary beside you and a pencil in hand, underlining key points in the text that are relevant to the questions above, and noting the steps of the argument in the margin. It also means marking points you don’t understand or wish to explore further, looking up terms for which the meaning is unclear to you, and following up unfamiliar references to events, figures, ideas, and so on. Active reading is a time-consuming process, requiring focus and alertness, and probably solitude and silence. A good way to generate an accurate and useful summary (and to avoid plagiarism) is to follow these steps: a) Read (actively) the text, underlining and making marginal notes. Make sure you end up with a good sense of what it is trying to say. b) Put text aside and try writing a point-form outline from memory. c) Check your outline against the text and your mark-up of the text and revise as needed. d) Pick the most important points from your outline, and paraphrase them in complete sentences in your own words. e) Compose transitional sentences that tie the main points together into a coherent, well-organized discussion. f) put your summary aside for a day or two, then reread it to see whether it makes sense, makes its points in a coherent order, and provides logical transitions between points. g) Make final changes to your draft summary and attach course, tutorial, date, and your name.