Writing Project 1: Summary and Analysis of “A Brothers Murder”
Overview of this assignment:
For this assignment, you will summarize and respond to one of the following:
the short story handed out in class
OR
A Netflix movie or series
OR
a particular YouTube video or Ted Talk that you like very well.
The body of your paper will describe, summarize, and respond to what you are referring to by title and other description.
Description requires that you identify the core reading (or movie, etc.) by title and the author by his/her full name the first time you write it within your paper. After that you may refer to the author by last name only. That way, if you are referring to a character within the book, movie, etc. that person’s first name could be used but not the author’s first name. You will also briefly identify the genre or purpose of the core reading (that is, identify whether it is an essay, a short story, a poem, a report, an editorial, biography/memoir, instructions, persuasion, movie, podcast, etc.).
Your summary should state what the story [or theme, thesis, etc.] was about. Point to significant details of the text that support this interpretation. For many essays the interpretation goes into the “Response” section of the paper, but that depends upon how you are shaping the paper. I will expect details such as when it was made, written, etc.
It could be that after you have described the piece, your response section should expand on your understanding of the core reading and the surrounding issues, and may incorporate your own ideas and experiences as they relate to the reading. In this part you can also expand into the rhetorical analysis if you already know about this author, time period, etc.
Your thesis statement should indicate your overall response to the core reading—whether it is your reasons for agreeing or disagreeing with key ideas, or your insights interpreting and reflecting on the meaning of key ideas. Your ideas should be supported with evidence from the reading and possibly from your outside reading or experience. Cite specific quotes from the core reading to back-up your interpretations or use as touchstones for your responses. Your overall objective is to contribute to the conversation about this core reading (watching, listening, etc.) and to engage your readers in your ideas—ideally, helping them to understand some aspect of the reading more fully. To do this effectively, you’ll need to consider your readers/audience carefully as part of the collecting and shaping phase. [See the section on Audience Analysis below, and think about what they may or may not already know about this subject. If we have talked about it in class or in discussion boards comes into play here]
