Short Written Assignments: Summaries, Quotes, or Analyses

You'll sometimes be asked to write something short on what you've read. (This is usually done as an alternative to my giving you a quiz on the reading—although I won't promise you that they'll be no quiz if there's a short written assignment.) Here are the "types" of things I might ask for:

• Summary. If I ask you turn in a summary of a reading, I'm asking for a short synopsis of the article's main point. Tell me what the author is saying. Don't tell me whether you agree or disagree; just summarize, cogently, what you think is the most important belief that the author puts forward. The right way to write a summary is to read an article in its entirety, put it aside, and then explain what it says. However, you may wish to quote a sentence or phrase in your summaries. Please do not provide me a bulleted list of notes in abbreviated English; I want to read a brief but thoughtful piece of prose.
• Quotes. If I ask you turn in a quotes from a reading, I'm asking for a list of interesting short quotes from the reading. Choose about five quotes. Give the page reference. I am looking for particularly well-written and insightful statements. You can redact a sentence for clarity or concision; use an ellipses. If something elided needs to be put in for understandability, put it in brackets. You should choose your quotes with care; if you grab "random" sentences I won't be pleased.
• Analysis. If I ask you to turn in an analysis of a reading, I'm asking for your own, personal take on it. Do you agree or disagree? With what? Is the author trying to deceive with rhetoric? Is the author an idiot? A genius? A jerk? How does it relate to other things you have read or know? What is the fundamental value, or lack of value, in the work?

Unless told otherwise, summaries, quotes, and analyses should be about one page. Please make sure to typeset what you turn in. Note that I definitely do care about the quality of your writing even when it's just a short thing you're turning in. Remember too, from the course information sheet, that I'm always happy for things to be in LaTeX (but this is not a requirement), and you really should not use Arial font or anything else comparably ugly. (Be nice; I have to read 45 of these things).