Discussion Forum+ Writing Summaries

Prepare: As you prepare to write your first discussion for this week, take a few moments to do the following:

• Read the Portfolio Project assignment instructions and rubric in  the Module 8 folder (your outline is due Week 5 and your draft is due  in Week 6. Your final draft is due in Week 8).
• Review the Module 2 Content for this week.

Review: Section 2.1-3 (from Module 1)and take part in the activities associated with generating ideas.

Reflect: Take time to reflect on the techniques for  generating ideas discussed in the reading and course materials. Be sure  to think about the activities and quizzes in which you participated  utilizing the e-book Rhetoric and Composition, and tools from the interactive lecture. 

• Think about which techniques might be more helpful for you when choosing topics.
• Develop a shortlist of three to five possible ideas to write about  for your narrative or profile essay for the Portfolio Project.

Write:

• Provide your three to five ideas (in list format) for your final essay.
• Go to the CSU-Global Library and use the EBSCOhost database to find a  source that you might use with each topic.  Be sure to cite the source  in APA format, using the CSU-Global Guide to Writing and APA, and note why you think this source would work well to support your ideas.
• Write a paragraph and share what you think the key elements of a  narrative or profile essay should include and how you might incorporate  these elements into your essay.

Writing Summaries: Frederick Douglass’s “Escape from Slavery”

Summary is a natural place to start any writing activity that  involves reading other texts. Summary is often used as a prewriting step  to clarify the author’s actual message and purpose. Often this involves  active reading, highlighting passages, annotating in the margins, and  rereading. It’s very difficult to use someone else’s words and ideas  when you aren’t certain what is really going on in the text.

For this assignment, you are asked to compose an effective summary of  the Frederick Douglass essay, “Escape from Slavery.” To help you  compose an effective summary, please review the linked document “How to  Write a Summary.” Also, be sure to refer to the active reading  strategies you reviewed and practiced in Module 1.

Concepts to keep in mind when writing a successful summary:

• Summary Definition A summary provides a  concisely expressed explanation of the selection's content: what the  author's main points are, what particular methods the author uses, etc.  Your focus in summary writing is always on the primary and main  supporting points rather than on the details of the text.
• The text is objective: This means you should not  editorialize or evaluate the text either by reading between the lines or  judging the article as “masterful” or “insulting,” etc.
• The text is in third person: For a brief summary like this, there is no reason for any “I statements,” such as “I think he’s saying…” or “I believe…” etc.
• The author is the subject in most, if not all, sentences.  Remember: people, not articles, write, so avoid phrases such as “The  article is saying…” Instead, start most sentences with subject/verb like  this: “Heywood argues…,” “The author claims…,” “She supports her  assertion with…” etc.

Requirements:

• The summary is a minimum of 10 sentences long (maximum length is  two pages), not counting the title and reference pages, which you must  include.
• You have maintained objectivity and refrained from passing judgment.
• The author, designated by last name only, is included throughout the summary.
• The first sentence includes the title of the article and the author’s name.
• The text has been proofread for coherence, readability, and grammar errors.
• Your paper, including direct quotes, must be formatted according to APA format, using the CSU-Global Guide to Writing and APA.

Link: “My Escape from Slavery” - http://timtrask.com/amliti/escape.pdf