Assignment task:
The Basics: An Annotated Textbook Chapter Summary (ATCS) is a concise summary of a chapter or section of a course textbook. It can serve several purposes in a course: (1) milestones helping you pace your pre-reading for the class sessions; (2) solidifying your understanding of the reading as you process the material and consider how best to summarize it; (3) assist with retrieving material you may use in class discussions, writing course papers, and even after the course is completed; (5) provide insight for the professor into areas which may require more clarification in class sessions.
Elements: There are 4 components for each ATCS entry: Thesis Sentence, Main Ideas, Application, and Questions
Thesis Sentence: The first sentence is the thesis sentence-what the chapter is about. This sentence should be general enough to cover the entire reading yet specific enough that someone who has not read the reading would have a decent idea of the content and that if you came back to read it 2 years from now you would have a good idea of the content. This must be a single sentence without semi-colons-although colons, dashes, and even parentheses are allowed. Learning to express yourself succinctly is an important skill in our cultural context.
Main Ideas: Following the topic sentence is a bullet point listing of the 4-6 most important or interesting concepts found in the reading. If you have less than 4 points, go back and see if you can break one of the points into multiple smaller points to use instead. If you have more than 6 consider how you can combine two or more or decide which points to cut. Each point should have 1-3 sentences explaining the idea. Use citations within square brackets (e.g., [13]) so that you can easily go back later and find the location of these main ideas.
Avoid large, explicit quotations from the reading-but you will often find you are lifting words directly from the text, especially technical terms and phrases. These terms and phrases do not need to be placed within quotation marks. Doing the Main Ideas is as much of an art as it is a science. Notice in the example below that in the first point a general statement is made covering pages 8-10, but the next sentence goes back and provides two additional details. The next entry, however, has two sentences that follow the page order. And the last three all are single, complex sentences. All are fine-it is just a question of what makes more sense to you and will help you recall the material when you go back to re-read it.
Application: For the application write 1-3 sentences regarding how an idea or a concept from the reading might impact your individual life or that you could build a sermon around. If you choose the sermon option, please include the primary biblical text you would use.
Questions: Finally, you will ask 2-3 questions regarding the reading, again arranged as bullet points. These can directly relate to understanding the material, implications raised by the reading, questions regarding the relative strength, etc. Each sentence in this section should end in a question mark-you are asking questions here, not making comments. Provide a citation-this will help the professor have a better idea of what you are asking about.
Example ATCS: Note I have indented the margins and changed the font to make it stand out from the rest of the page:
Thesis: Argues for the priority of grace over alternative starting positions for theology.
Main Ideas:
? Doctrine of the Trinity is the foundation, taking the inter-trinitarian love of the Father and the Son as the essence of God [8-10]. The author uses Augustine's idea of the Holy Spirit as the mutual love of the Father and the Son [9] and the social model of the trinity as proposed by Richard of St Victor [10].
? Grace as the extension of God's trinitarian essence (love) to creation [13]. Grace precedes all other relations between God and his creation including being sovereign or creator [15-17].
? The priority of grace demonstrated through biblical examples: the calling of Abraham [18], the exodus preceding the giving of the law [19], and most crucially the incarnation [20-23].
? Distortions when alternative starting points are utilized: sovereignty [23-24], power [24], free will [25], tolerance [26], and rationality [27].
? Pentecostal positions are explained in terms of grace including the nature and distribution of spiritual gifts [28-9], prophecy [30-32], and physical healing [34].
Application: I tend to see sovereignty as the thing that makes God "God," so Christianity is reduced to obedience to God's commands. But if God is essentially love, then God's commands are based in love (not just divine power) and my obedience is a loving response to a loving command-this has a totally different feel to it.
Questions:
? Why isn't the Father's love for the Son part of the Father and the Son's love for the Father part of the Son instead of being a distinct person who is neither Father nor Son?
? Does starting with grace reduce God's role to "God for me" compared to other starting points like God's sovereignty or glory?
? Does the author's pentecostal background, with its emphasis on "gifts" cause the author to be more inclined to the idea of the importance of grace?
As you can see in the example, grammar is not the highest priority; instead, economy of expression in communicating the content takes precedence. Even so, intelligibility, including spelling, is still expected for the entries.
Assessment: Annotated Textbook Chapter Summaries are graded generously as long as it is clear to the professor a good faith attempt has been made and all requirements are met-typically in the 85 -90% range.
Scores below usually occur from not including an element (like forgetting citations) or failing to meet the minimum or exceeding the maximum requirements-for example having 8 main ideas or having only one question. Points may also be deducted for a late ATCS. Typically, ATCSs will not receive credit if they are submitted after the class session where those readings are being discussed. Talk to the professor if a situation arises that causes a problem submitting an ATCS on time.