Essay Instructions on Summary/Critique #1 on "Computers and the Pursuit of Happiness"

Your Summary/Critique should have three paragraphs:

Paragraph 1

The 1st paragraph summarizes the argument. The summary should briefly state the author's thesis and describe the arguments and evidence the author uses to defend that thesis. A good summary will also give the reader some sense of how the argument is organized. The summary should be as fair and objective as possible; try not to give away your judgment of the argument in the summary.

Note that good paragraphs have the same organizational qualities as good essays: they are unified around a single, clearly stated thesis; they develop all important parts of that thesis; and they arrange those parts into a coherent whole by making clear how different parts of the argument are related. Therefore, your summary paragraph should try to reflect, in a condensed form, the logical organization of the author's thought.

Paragraphs 2 and 3

The 2nd and 3rd paragraphs critique the argument: one paragraph will focus on the argument's strengths, the other paragraph on its weaknesses. Among the questions to consider in critiquing any argument are:

Does it provide strong and logical arguments?
Is the evidence credible, correctly interpreted, and sufficient to support the argument?
Does it define and use important terms consistently?
Are all reasonable objections to the argument anticipated and answered?
Are the organization and style effective, given the audience the author is trying to persuade?
Does the author appear reasonable, credible, and well-informed about the topic?
Your critique paragraphs should refer to specific parts of the argument mentioned in the summary. You decide in which order the two critique paragraphs will appear (i.e., first strengths then weaknesses, or vice versa).

Finally, somewhere in the summary/critique you must state your thesis: a single sentence stating your overall judgment of the argument. Your thesis will be the result of weighing the arguments' strengths against its weaknesses. You decide where to place the thesis.

Please use the PDF that is being add to this for this Summary/Critique.

http://researchkorner.blogspot.com/2014/02/essay-instructions-on-summarycritique-1.html