Find an article on a topic connected in some way to Louise Erdrich’s novel
The Round House
. This topic
could be a passing reference, or it could be something deeply integrated into the book. Here are some
possibilities: tribal sovereignty, tribal courts, Major Crimes Act (1885), allotment, Public Law 280, Indian
Reorganization Act, Indian Child Welfare Act, termination, missing and murdered indigenous women
(MMIW), post-traumatic stress disorder, blood quantum, sweat ceremonies, Indian boarding schools/
mission schools, Ojibwe clans, Ojibwe language, wiindigoo, Louis Riel/Batoche, Metis, etc. You may
choose another topic as long as it is related in some way to
The Round House.
I recommend that you use the Inver Hills Community College Library’s online databases to find your
article. A chapter in a book could work, but avoid book-length sources for this assignment. Credible web
sites are acceptable.
Wikipedia
is not. Also, the article should NOT be an abstract or a book review.
Once you find an article, follow these steps:
1.
READ THE ARTICLE TWICE
. Identify the main point of the article as well as the key
supporting points.
2.
WRITE A ONE-PARAGRAPH SUMMARY
of the article. Follow the “Guidelines for Writing
a Summary” at the bottom of this page. The first sentence of your summary paragraph MUST
include the title of the article, the author’s name, and the author’s thesis (main point).
3.
Then,
WRITE A ONE-PARAGRAPH EVALUATION
of the article. The first sentence of this
paragraph MUST clearly express your overall evaluation. See “Evaluation Paragraph Tips” below.
4.
CITE YOUR ARTICLE
at the end of your paper by using up-to-date MLA format.
The final paper for this assignment should be about 1 ½ to 2 pages long, two paragraphs in length, with
one source citation.
This should NOT be a full formal essay with introduction and conclusion paragraphs.
FORMAT: Standard MLA manuscript format. Times New Roman, 12-point font.
Guidelines for Writing a Summary:
(from
Rules for Writers
, ninth edition, by Diana Hacker and Nancy Sommers, Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2019)
In the first sentence, mention the title of the text, the name of the author, and the author’s thesis.
Maintain a neutral tone; be objective.
As you present the author’s ideas, use the third-person point of view and the present tense.
Keep your focus on the text. Don’t state the author’s ideas as if they were your own.
Put all or most of your summary into your own words; if you borrow a phrase or a sentence from
the text, put it in quotation marks and provide the page number in parentheses.
Limit yourself to presenting the text’s key points.
Evaluation Paragraph Tips:
Your first sentence must clearly express your
overall
evaluation of the article. To support your evaluation,
you should critique any or all of the following using specific examples:
The author’s credentials and any possible bias
The accessibility of language used
The usefulness or relevance of the information
How current the information is
The quality of the author’s sources
This paragraph should also make a direct connection to
The Round House
Last Completed Projects
| topic title | academic level | Writer | delivered |
|---|