ENGL 1130 Summary Paper #1

CHAPTER 2 Responses Paraphrases, Summaries' and Quotations

ldentifi mairr idcas'

Delete Unimportont Detoil, lrrelevont komples' ond Redundoncy

Cioss out or label ,, ,-ro,-'."t'-'tial arll' material that is repetitive' excessivel)' detailecl'

or .nrelated to the main iclea. Acacierric sources are often highly redundant because

,rrttrnls repeat or illustrate cornplex concepts ir-r order to give the rcader more than one

chance to understand thern.

F,lirrrirrate details'

ldentify ond lmitote the Orgonizotionol Pottern of the Source

On page 22, we ld.rtlfi"J ir-,. orgr,.irrtio,',al plai-,s fo-r academic *,riting: (1) time order,

,rrr",lzr,, pro..rr, (z) a.teccclc.t-co.sequent, causc-effect; (3) clescription; (4) statctlent-

response; (5) compariso,,/**rrrt; (6) example; (7) anaiysis/classificatio,; (8) definition;

(c)) analogv. Rarel,v clo ,.,,itor, t"rt,i.i themselves to a single plan; thel' usualll' use these

plans i'r combi.atio'r. iilh".r yoti iclentif the orga.izatio.al pattern, you can follow it as

the skeleton lor your stlrlmaryl Organization tJ''t"1 ' mearling' so votl will be helping

your reader to follorv the train of thor-rght'

,.Aial*iiii

Construct a GraPhic Overview A .rr.f.,l technique for icientifi,ing the principal ideas and detern-rining -h9-w

they tie to-

sether is to create a 'isual clisplai Yo., ,oay ciroose frorn among *ran1' different\'p.es

of

ilir;;:t".i."r,,rg'4"u, cirarts, spicler .raps, Ven. cliagrar]]:, .l::t.-t cliagra,rs, fis1rbonc

diagrar.ns, sequence charts, .oi,'r-r',rr ctr:rrts, :rnc1 ladcleis. We will focus on the graphic

oren1en,. A graphic r;;;i"* is a diagram that represertts the centr.al ideas itt a reading sollrce.s/roris /rou, tl-Lei,t, are related, ani it-rlicates tlte outhor's overall

pLt'tpose' It is a blr-re-

print chartitlg the text's main icleas'

Visual displai: graphic oven'ietr

\\-e $il1 $alk through the process of constructirlg a graphic overvier'v' First' revierv

Vour ur-rderlining. notes. and annotation.. ;rnd select kev riorcls and concepts' Deterrnine

the overall organizational :tructure of the tert arld iderltifi' subsidiary organizatiolal pat-

i.r,.r. 1.h.r., depict the relationships among the ideas b)' drar'ving boxes or circles con-

nectecl by lines or arlo\\ s. Label theboles to sho$. hor'i'the VarioLts points are interrelated'

Be cieative! The graphic or,,en'ie$'sho$.n itt Figure 2-l rvas constrtrcted by one of otrr students

to represent the principal content of_RJrtr'ra Varrcierslicc's "Whcn I Was Young, a. A

Was an A: Gradc l'rflrtiorr in Higher Ed,cation," wl-ric6 appears on llagcs 7-6_77 ' Reread

the articie beforc yotr stuclr,the s-tudent's graphic ovewiew.5:"P i" I'iind tl-rat creating a

graphic ol'erview t, ^

t,igt,iy inclir iclual prJt""' A single' dcfi.itii'e graPhic overvi*v docs

,lrni."irt for each text. Countless i'ariations are possible'

i

Summarize 5t

PROBLEM

In institutions of higher leaming, grade inflation has increased over the years and ths pattern continues.

1 969: 7 percent students received A- or higher; 25 percent received C or lower 1993: 26 percent got As: 9 percent C or lower

CAUSE

EFFECTS

Transcript doesn't tell employers which

students don't get accurate picture of their own abilities.

It's unclear how grades reiate to leaming.

and which are not

SOLUTION: Universities must make explict reforms because grade inflation has become a routine practice.

Use an indexing system of 2 grades, grade lbr class and average grade of all students in class: a public grade for the registrar and a private grade for students to see how they stand in relation to others in class.

Reassess the practice of using student evaluations for personnel decisions. Instructors will raise standards if they are not pressured to give high grades in exchange for positive teaching awards.

Review grading practices to make academic programs more rigorous.

Emphasize academic preparation when recruiting students.

Show that you care about your teaching by actively inslsting that academic standards are of paramount importance: Reward excellence rather than mediocrity.

Figure 2-l Sample Graphic Overview

The graphic overview forces yor-r to think about the big picture. You have to manipu- late clrunks of information like pieces tn a pu,zzle and determine how they best fit together. The graphic overuiew allows you to visualize relationships among main ideas and perceive the text's web of meaning. Notice that the ovewie\r' of Vanderslice's article highlights the central organizational pattern of problem-solution as well as the secondary pattern of cause-effect. You should find it easy to surnmarize this source after vou have seen its rnain ideas diagrammed on a single page.

You can m:lke a graphic overyiew of a text of any length-a single paragraph, sequence of paragraphs, or complete article-but the strategy works best if you fit the