History of Leadership Precis

Handout Instructions HLS 301-Precis Due March 1, 2012 Dr. Melvinia T. King 15-20 page paper Precis- Explains the main point, logical support, and structure of the original work but in condensed form. The précis is objective, unlike a critical analysis, which evaluates the argument and use of evidence within an article. Thus, the précis does not offer evaluations about a text, nor does it include personal reaction to a text. How should a writer begin to write a précis? The process:

• Read and annotate the article or other text.
• Reflect on the author’s purpose.
• Consider the kinds of evidence the author uses.
• Restate the author’s thesis in your own words.
• Write a one or two sentence summary of each section or subdivision of the article.
• Reread the article to compare it with your summary notes.
• Begin writing, using your paraphrase of the thesis and your one or two sentence summary statements.
• Review your précis to confirm that you have explained the main point of the article, identified the supporting evidence that the writer uses, and have used the same logical structure as the text.
• ~Finally, check for clarity, coherence, and correctness. The approved format:
  * Introduction:
      * Style one- Offer a hook; explain the author’s broad topic; and then restate the author’s thesis,
      * Style two-open with a restatement of the author’s thesis and then explain the broader framework of the subject.
  * The restatement of the thesis should include the name of the author, the title of the article, and the date of its publication, as the following illustrates:
      * “In his influential 1936 essay, “Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics,” J.R.R. Tolkien criticizes scholars of this day for mining Beowulf solely for historic evidence about the Anglo-Saxon period, rather than reading the poem as a great and inspiring work of literature.”
  * Body paragraphs:
      * Generally, each body paragraph should explain a... [continues]

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