Count the number of letters in your last name. If it’s an odd number, write about “Why Women Aren’t Welcome on the Internet.” If it’s an even number, write about “The Egg and the Sperm.” Your task is to write a one-paragraph summary of this text. Compose

Count the number of letters in your last name. If it’s an odd number, write about “Why Women Aren’t Welcome on the Internet.” If it’s an even number, write about “The Egg and the Sperm.”

Your task is to write a one-paragraph summary of this text. Compose it as a Word document and attach it. Do not attach any other format of document, whether Pages, Google Docs, or anything else. It must be Word.

You must lead with a statement of the text’s thesis. It should be a one-sentence summary modelled precisely on this sentence:

In his essay “A Fair Deal on Climate Change,” Peter Singer argues that climate agreements should both treat all people in the world equally and give developing nations an incentive to limit their emissions.

In other words, just use the exact wording of that sentence with the details for your assigned text filled in.

The rest of your short paragraph (about three or four sentences total) should do the following things:

            *          summarize the text

            *          describe the author’s reasons and evidence

*          include at least one direct quotation, using MLA format for citation (do not use a dropped quotation! Make sure to use a signal phrase)

            *          include at least one paraphrase, using MLA format for citation

Do not include a Works Cited page.

The following resources will be helpful:

http://www.groundsforargument.org/drupal/evidence/sidebar/addquotations

http://www.groundsforargument.org/drupal/evidence/sidebar/paraphrase

https://rampages.us/vcuwrites/citation-guide/mla/quoting-and-paraphrasing/

THE CHALLENGE:

            In order to pass this challenge, you must demonstrate that you can:

                        - accurately summarize the claim of a reading

                        - use MLA-format in-text citation correctly

                        - set up a quotation using a signal phrase

                        - paraphrase a citation in your own words

If you miss the mark on any of these, the challenge goes back to you, and you must resubmit. You get one freebie, then your grade will start going down for each submission. You cannot attempt Challenge #2 until you’ve succeeded at Challenge #1.