Precis Assignment

Precis rubric

Timetable: Due in class on November 13, 2007 . Since you'll have to turn in a printout of the article you chose, you will not turn in an electronic version of this assignment.

Length: Approximately 1-2 typed, double-spaced pages

For this assignment, you’ll write a précis on a journal article or book chapter that relates to the topic for your second paper.

Guidelines:

• You should consult the MLA Bibliography, not merely ProQuest, Project Muse, JStor, or another online database, in choosing your article.
• You’ll receive extra credit for using a book or journal that is not online, such as Western American Literature, ESQ, The Edith Wharton Review, or American Literary Realism.
• You must hand in a printout or photocopy of the article with your précis.
• The précis should be formal in tone, although you may use “I” in the second paragraph as you evaluate the work.
• For those of you keeping weblogs, the précis may be posted to your blog to satisfy the “response to a journal article” assignment.
• Although reading this article may help you in writing your second paper, you aren’t required to use the article in your paper. You may discover that the article is not as useful as you might have hoped.

Form:

A précis is a summary and critical evaluation of a piece of scholarly work. It will typically take the following form:

1. Full bibliographic citation in MLA format of the article or book chapter.
2. First paragraph: an objective summary or abstract of the article. This paragraph should present the information as objectively as possible. You’ll have a chance to critique the argument in the second part of your précis. You should not use the abstract published with the journal article or book chapter. The first paragraph should contain the following information:
1. The overall argument that the author is making, including the author’s thesis, the logical thread of the argument, the kinds of support provided, and so forth. If the author invents or uses special terms to argue the case, mention and define them.
2. The context for the argument. What critics or points of view is the author attempting to refute? Where does the author’s argument fit into the larger critical discussion of the issue? Is the author attempting to overturn certain assumptions about the work, and, if so, what are those assumptions?
3. Second paragraph: a critical analysis of the article. In this paragraph, you’ll assess the strengths and weaknesses of the article and discuss the implications of its reasoning for future study of the work. These questions may help you get started:
1. What parts of the article were especially strong or insightful, and why?
2. In what parts of the essay (if any) did the author make claims that were not supported by the evidence? Were there any flaws in the logic of the piece?
3. In what ways is this article useful for understanding the novel? How significant is it?

You may use more paragraphs if you need to, but you should follow this basic format.

The précis will count for 5% of your “Quizzes/in-class writings/class participation” grade (see syllabus). It will not receive extensive comments; instead, it will be graded using the following rubric:

Links:

http://www.cgu.edu/pages/905.asp
Paraphrase, Summary, and Precis from the University of Kansas