Summary work cite

Use “quotation marks” for the title of an academic journal article, magazine article, newspaper article, essays within a book, article from a website, or report.

Use italics for the title of a book.

In her/his/their ________________________ “_______________________” ______, _________________                (type of text: article, speech, etc) (title, capitalized)      (date) (author’s full name) _______________________________________ ____________________________. (active verb: argues, demonstrates, critiques, etc)              (main idea/argument)

In her article “Birth, Belonging and Migrant Mothers: Narratives of Reproduction in Feminist Studies” (2009), Irene Gedalof argues that transnational and migration studies could benefit from feminist scholarship on motherhood and reproduction.

Examples of other beginning sentences. Note that it may take more than one sentence to introduce the text, the author, and the publication date:

1. According to ___________________ (year), ________________________________________.             (author’s name)                      (main argument) 2. In her article “________________,” _________________ argues that _____________________. (title of article)      (author’s last name)                       (supporting argument)

3. _______________’s  article on ______________ (year) argues ____________________.

(author’s name)                      (main topic) (main argument)

Rest of paragraph:

· Provide details about the main arguments and main ideas of the work.

· Use the annotation matrix to fuel the writing.

· Represent the text accurately and precisely

· Use your own words

· NO personal opinion

· Set up your argument: how is this summary laying the foundation for your evidence and analysis?

· Use active verbs:

Summary Checklist

Sample Summary#1 (strong):

In Irene Gedalof’s “Birth, Belonging and Migrant Mothers: Narratives of Reproduction in Feminist Studies” (2009), she argues that transnational and migration studies could benefit from feminist scholarship on motherhood and reproduction; she recounts how migration studies often privileges the male/masculine experience of movement, change, renewal, and rootlessness, and thereby problematically frames the domestic experience as a fixed, “mere” passive repetition of inherited cultural values. Migration studies theorizes these passive spaces of migrant motherhood as hinging on a juggling act between a supposed “here” and “there,” which problematically stratifies sites of identity formation and belonging as fixed and stable. The language of “juggling” obscures the power relationships between different cultural sites, and ignores how the preservation of one culture and assimilation into another are not experienced on equal footing. Gedalof thus calls for a reframing of migrant women’s agency: when we theorize spaces of motherhood as fixed and static (as opposed to the dynamism of masculine movement), we risk reifying traditional Western modes of thought. According to Gedalof, this kind of thinking even pervades White feminist work on motherhood as well, wherein the domestic space passively preserves and maintains cultural meaning through reproduction. Therefore migration studies could also benefit from the work of Black feminists, for example, for whom reproduction is always about active reinvention and struggle within and beyond sexist and racist social structures.

Strong Sample Summary#2 (strong):

In “Homeless in America, Homeless in California” (2001), John M. Quigley argues that the cost and availability, or lack thereof, of low-income housing plays a significant role in the variation of homelessness rates in different metropolitan areas. Quigley begins by showing that homelessness in the US increased in the 1970s and 1980s, and has not since gone back down. The common sense view, even accepted by many scholars, is that mental illness and increased drug abuse is the primary cause for this change. Quigley offers an additional explanation: in the article, he compiles and analyzes data from a variety of sources and finds that there is actually a relationship between the housing market and income distribution with homelessness. The data shows that the higher the housing vacancy rate (an indicator of how available new homes are), the lower homelessness is. Homelessness is also positively associated with median rents and rent-to-income ratios. Quigley concludes by arguing that small reductions in median rent/rent-to-income ratios in addition to an increase in the housing vacancy rate can significantly reduce homelessness.

Sample Summary #3 (needs revision):

In groups, make revision suggestions for this summary. Use the checklist as a guide.

In the Article Sexual Orientation and Psychological Distress in adolescence: Examining Interpersonal Stressors and Social Support Processes the author Koji Ueno says that sexual minorities experience greater exposure to stressors then heterosexuals. In his argument Koji says that victimization is the most visible of the stressors faced in schools. Ueno also reveals that social isolation is a frequent stressor that sexual minorities face due to constantly having to hide their sexual orientation. Ueno discusses that friendships in schools help sexual minorities more than outside friendships. Koji gives details on his experiment of exposing sexual minorities to stressors in which he illustrates the differences between Sexual majorities and sexual Minorities such as number of friends. based on the results of his test Ueno concludes that sexual minorities do in fact experience higher levels of psychological stress then sexual minorities and are emotionally less attached.

Sample Summary #4 (needs revision):

In groups, make revision suggestions for this summary. Use the checklist as a guide.

A Smuggled Girl’s Odyssey of False Promises and Fear by Damien Cave and Frances Robles explains the life of sixteen year old Cecilia. Cave and Robles demonstrate how her aunt felt when paying for smugglers to take Cecilia, and the road it took for her to get to the United States. They also suggest that the market is a billion dollar market and is a more cruel and ruthless. The authors also highlight on the fact that when family members take the trip to freedom they leave their families in debt and in harm’s way when they cannot pay the amount. In the article they also reveal the fact that if the money was not paid they would force them in to the sex trafficking ring. That’s the risk they take when trying to get smuggled in and the debt is not paid they are sold and put in to the sex ring, forced to have sex to pay their families bill.

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