This assignment asks you to write a summary/response essay of 3-5 pages (no more than 5, no less than 3).
You may choose from one of the following TED Talks to do your summary/response.
The dangerous ways ads see women – Jean Kilbourne
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uy8yLaoWybk
Your essay should have at least 4 distinct parts: 1) Introduction: Make sure you have a clear thesis what do you want the reader want to know about this TED Talk and the speakers ideas and your thoughts on it? Thesis statements should be in your introduction. The point of your paper particularly your response is to use examples to prove your thesis. 2) Summary: Summarize the TED Talk. Note all the important points and themes the speaker uses. You may even (if you can) quote the speaker (for those talks without a transcript, try using the CC Closed Captions on YouTube) if they
2said something you find important or profound. You will be graded based on how well you have summarized what the speakers talk was about. You have to assume the reader has NEVER seen the TED Talk. You are in effect introducing it to them with your summary. Your summary should really NOT be more than a page long in a 3-5 page paper. 3) Response: Your response should be the heart and soul of your paper. While your summary is just a restatement of facts your response is how you viewed the Talk. This is where your thesis comes in and where you elaborate on it. What is the point you want to make about the talk? GIVE EXAMPLES from the Talk itself in your responses. You can any of the critique styles cited in Allyn/Bacon Chapter 6 (rhetorical/presentational, ideas critique, reflection critique or a blend of all three), just be sure to give specific details on how the Talk influenced your thesis. 4)Conclusion: Your conclusion should summarize YOUR thoughts/responses based on the examples you have given. It should be your final reflections on your original thesis and on the TED Talk you have chosen. SOME TIPS: They say the Devil is in the details and so is in a A. This is NOT your film review. You should NOT withhold information and the more specific your response points and how they tie into your TED Talk of choice will go a long way in advancing your grade! Remember to use the present tense, especially in your summary, AND throughout the paper. For instance, you would never say X said that but instead X says this, in your response. You dont say that I believed (past) or I will believe (future) but I believe that X…. (present). Is and are are the present, was and were are the past, will be is the future. ALWAYS use present and be consistent about it throughout your paper. Consistency is king in any essay. If you italicize something (a name or title) it should always be (and should be by MLA format rules) throughout the paper. In terms of TED Talks, it should always be in quotation marks when you mention the name of the talk (not the speaker) for instance: Getting Your Ideas to Spread. On Canvas, a note on how to cite in MLA format TED Talks will be posted in the essays learning module. It would be easy to go with a TED Talk that you agree with in every measure, but it may not produce an interesting or creative paper. Going AGAINST the Grain by taking on a speaker you have disagreements with may produce a more argumentative but forceful thesis and paper. You may even go with a speaker you both agree and disagree with and present in your response both points of view.
3REMEMBER: Use specific examples from the TED Talk in your response, have a CLEAR thesis that is the point of your paper/argument, and try to use the paper to explore that one thesis. Your summary/response essay is not a report. It is a response to something that made you think and reflect. You are including a factual summary (which is not the entire paper) so when the reader reads your response to the TED Talk they know where you are coming from when they get to your response.
