Assignment: Critical Summary

This exercise will give you practice in critical reading, summary writing in its objective and critical forms, and evaluation of an article focusing on Canadian literature and culture.

The following is a list of articles published in Canadian Literature related to The Rez Sisters. Selectone journal article from the list and write a critical summary. See Writing a Critical Summary for help.

• Denis W. Johnston’s Lines and Circles: The Rez Plays of Tomson Highway.
• Renate Usmiani’s The Bingocentric Worlds of Michel Tremblay and Tomson Highway.

Keys to Remember

• Summarize the thesis of the article.
• Evaluate the article’s strengths and weaknesses.
• Take a position for or against the argument presented in the article.
• Keep your summary concise without distorting the meaning of the original paper.

Works Cited

• Highway, Tomson. The Rez Sisters. Saskatoon: Fifth House, 1988. Print.
• Johnston, Denis W. Lines and Circles: The Rez Plays of Tomson Highway. Canadian Literature 124–25 (1990): 254–64. Print. (PDF)
• Usmiani, Renate. The Bingocentric Worlds of Michel Tremblay and Tomson Highway: Les Belles-Soeurs vs. The Rez Sisters. Canadian Literature 144 (1995): 126–40. Print. (PDF)