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Write a summary/strong response essay that includes: (a) a short summary of an identified and selected article (1-2 paragraphs), (b) a strong response to the article (either in support or in opposition to its ideas) in which you speak back from your own critical thinking, personal experience, and values. As you formulate your response, consider both the author’s rhetorical strategies (see Everyday Writer ch. 3 and 10a-d) and the author’s ideas. Think of your response as your analysis of how the text tries to influence its readers rhetorically and how your wrestling with the text has expanded and deepened your thinking. Some advice: When you write a response essay that uses a single source, you must be careful to balance the writer’s ideas with your own. Imagine yourself in partnership with the author, using his/her ideas and arguments as a base from which to launch your own. Overall, though, it is your voice that should dominate your draft. Your thesis and the points that support it should be based on your own opinions and written in your own words.