Week 2 · Readings & resources

Week 2 — Readings & Resources

English Composition Free sample edition

Your primary reading is Chapter 2 (in this module). Everything below is the optional, go-deeper layer — pick what helps, skip the rest.

How to use this page

This page has 10 items (4 readings and 6 videos). Allow 74–88 minutes for everything. Each group points back to the matching chapter section and class-session segment, so use the full menu when you want more practice, or take the quick path below.

Every video here has captions: turn them on with the CC button in the player. The chapter covers the same ideas in text.

Pick-one quick path (18–21 min total)

① How do I read a hard text on purpose? Critical reading and annotation

Chapter 2, Section “Annotate: make a map of the text” · Session 1, Segment 1, “Critical reading and annotation” · Remember: underline the claim, bracket the support, mark the turns, and question the margins.

Reading Assignments: Crash Course Study Skills #2 — CrashCourse — how to get through a heavy reading load by previewing a text, reading actively, and taking notes as you go. This builds on Week 1's work with the rhetorical situation: ask who wrote the text, for whom, and why before you dig in. (video, 10 min) (captions: creator)
How to Read Actively and Critically: Annotation Strategies — Tech meets Rhet: English Composition Resources — a short walkthrough of marking a text while you read, so a first pass turns into notes you can use. (video, 6 min) (captions: creator)
Tips for Active Reading — Writing Center Quick Guides — read the parts on varying your speed and on reading a text first as a believer and then as a doubter; that second pair is a good warm-up for keeping summary and response apart. Use it while working through the Week-2 module overview. (reading, 5–8 min)

② Who was speaking, to whom, and when? The farewell address in its moment

Chapter 2, Section “Read like a writer: the questions behind critical reading” · Session 1, Segment 2, “The farewell address in context” · Remember: run the five questions on a text before you look for its claim.

Eisenhower's "Military-Industrial Complex" Speech Origins and Significance — US National Archives — the archive's short account of how the address was drafted over a long period and why it is still read; useful for the context question. (video, 3 min) (captions: creator)
Eisenhower's Farewell Address — Guiding America — the televised address itself, so you can hear the concession and the warning in the speaker's own voice before you summarize. (video, 16 min) (captions: automatic)
Farewell Address — Eisenhower Presidential Library — the library's page of drafts, memos, and the reading copy behind the address; skim the list of documents to see that even a famous speech went through many drafts. (reading, 4–6 min)

③ What does it say, and what do I think? Summary first, then response

Chapter 2, Section “Write a summary, and keep the opinion out” · Session 2, Segment 3, “Summary and response” · Remember: a summary reports the whole text in your own words, and your judgment waits for the response.

How to Write a Summary — Smrt English — a quick list of what a good summary does and does not do, including keeping your own opinion out of it. (video, 3 min) (captions: creator)
Tips for Writing Summaries That Capture Key Points — Writing Better — read, find the main points, reread, check your facts, then write: a step-by-step routine for a complete summary. (video, 9 min) (captions: automatic)
Summary: Using It Wisely — Writing Center Tips & Tools — read the opening sections on when summary helps and how it differs from analysis; they sharpen the line between reporting a text and responding to it. Stop before the advice on building your own thesis-driven paper; Week 3 starts that work with the paragraph. (reading, 8–12 min)

Optional one-stop reference (free online reference)

President Dwight D. Eisenhower's Farewell Address (1961) — National Archives — the full transcript you summarize this week; read the whole address, and use your browser's find command to check any quotation against it. (reading, 10–15 min)

Heads-up (links rot): these point to outside sites that occasionally move or rename pages. If a link ever fails, tell your instructor and use the reference above in the meantime.

Provenance: Built with The Course Maker · samples.thecoursemaker.com