Write a summary
Aburee
the_skill_of_summarizing.ppt“Her Point of View”
- Writing only your own opinions with no mention of the person or article you are summarizing is not a good summary.
- Writing only a summary with no “voice” from the summarizer is not a good summary.
- Balance what the original author is saying with the your own focus.
- Must be true to what the original author says while emphasizing aspects that interest you, the writer of a summary.
- Balance is being respectful of the other while summarizing in light of your own perspective.
- Summarizing is a demonstration of respect.
- You suspend your own beliefs for a time to listen to the other.
- This is the “believing” stage.
- Try to see who the other is and what she believes.
- The reader of your summary should not be able to tell whether you agree or disagree with the ideas of the author.
- A good summary tells the reader enough about the article, so that he can discern the ideas of the article independent of you.
- leads to a weak summary.
- leads to expressing a cliché and not the ideas of the author.
- leads to writing something that you have already heard or read.
- leads to perpetuating biases and preconceptions.
- A summary has your slant or spin to it as well as doing justice to the author.
- When writing a summary, you have joint custody of the article with the author.
- demonstrates walking in the shoes of the author while reflecting your own voice.
- is a delicate balance that takes practice.
- Use verbs that fit the action.
- “he says” “it talks” “he discusses” are just boring with no action
- Action verbs are
argue, assert, believe, claim, observe
verify, support, agree, acknowledge
advocate, demand, urge, recommend
- Present major points, omitting details
- A summary sentence begins the summary paragraph, a topic sentence.
- No opinions just your “voice”
- Cite the source being summarized in MLA format
- Maximum – 125 words
- Graff, Gerald, Cathy Birkenstein, and Russel Durst. They Say, I Say. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2006.
- Ramage, John D. et.al. Writing Arguments; A Rhetoric with Readings. Third Edition. New York: Pearson Education, 2004.
- Coyner, Sandra. Professor Emerita, Southern Oregon University
