Fast Food Nation Summary Assignment

Length: about 250 words and a works cited entry First draft due: Friday, November 17th
Total Points: 100 points Final draft due: Monday, November 20th

Assignment
Write a coherent, unified, accurate, and objective summary of either chapter ONE OR TWO OR
THREE from Fast Food Nation. Select ONE of the three chapters and summarize the argument
Schlosser makes throughout that ONE chapter1. You must summarize the key details but also
summarize the different positions Schlosser establishes in the chapter. Your audience, of course,
includes your classmates and me. However, because summaries are usually written to let people
know about information with which they may not be familiar, think of your audience as also
including people who have not read the book. Your summary should include key points made by
the author but exclude minor details. Although you will be summarizing most of the chapter, you
may need to paraphrase specific brief passages or quote significant words and phrases. Avoid
quoting longer passages from the source. Keep in mind that you are not merely restating facts but
the argument Schlosser makes in the chapter.

Organization
In the first sentence or two, introduce the author of the source, the title of the source, and the
authors thesis. Remember that the thesis should help the reader predict the content of the rest of
the summary. The body and conclusion of the summary are thus determined to a great extent by
its thesis.

In-Text Citation and Works-Cited Entry

Include a works-cited entry for the source you summarized. In the essay, make sure to refer to
the authors and the title of the debate. Use a page number for anything you quote since it is from
a book. Also place a page number at the end of material summarized from a particular page. If,
for example, you have summarized material from page 3 in three sentences, put the page number
after the third sentence.

Submission Requirements
o Bring a rough draft to class with you on Friday. PRINT IT OUT BEFORE CLASS. DO
NOT TRY TO PRINT IT OUT DURING CLASS. How many times can I say this?

o Along with the rough draft, bring 5 Questions to use during peer revision.

o Email the final draft to me by the BEGINNING OF PERIOD on Monday. I must receive
it by the FIRST TEN MINUTES OF CLASS on Monday.

1
For some reason, there are always a few students who do not pay attention and summarize all the chapters together.
This will cause you to fail the assignment. Follow the directions.
Grading Criteria: Your paper will be graded according to the following criteria. Plagiarism will result in a failing
grade for the paper and perhaps for the course as well.
Criteria Points
INTRODUCTORY SENTENCES
___ The author and title of the source are introduced in a clear manner. /10
___ The authors thesis or governing idea is stated accurately.
___ The topic or central issue of the debate is briefly summarized.

SUMMARY: READING COMPREHENSION

___ The summary is faithful to the source. /20
___ The author's ideas are understood and expressed clearly.
___ The intended function of each paragraph or section is understood.

SUMMARY: COMPOSITION
___ The summary is objective. /20
___ Paraphrases and quoted material are used purposefully.
___ The summary includes key ideas and significant details but excludes minor points.

COMPLETENESS AND FORMATTING

___ Source material is cited according to MLA guidelines.
___ A works-cited entry is provided. /20
___ The paper is formatted according to MLA guidelines.
___ Submission requirements are met.
___ A peer-review has been completed.

PRE-WRITING AND RESEARCH

___ Notes taken prior to writing summary. /20
___ Notes show organization and planning.
___ Evidence can be shown of the use of the writing process

EDITING AND PROOFREADING

___ The writing employs words and sentence structures appropriate to the demands of the /10
rhetorical situation.
___ The essay is coherent and unified.
___ The essay is free of proofreading errors.

Review the following chapters in The Writers World:

apostrophe fragment pronoun-antecedent agr. semicolon
(17) (2) (5c) (16)
capitalization fused sentence pronoun reference subject-verb agreement
(21) (3) (5d) (4f)
colon modifier quotation marks verb form or tense
(16) (6) (18) (4a-c)
comma parallelism relating sent. parts spelling
(15) (9) (7d) (20)

TOTAL: The grade is based on the essay itself as well as your use of the writing process /100

Beware of the Seven Deadly Sins of Writing!!!