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1060 summaries instructionsWhy Summarize? Summarizing is an activity that forces one to study a piece of writing closely in order to grasp its essential proposition or argument. It asks you to dissect a piece of writing in order to:
You will find that you are called upon to summarize more often than you think. Many of your writing assignments in college courses, as well as the design or project presentations during studio reviews, will require you to summarize. You will find yourself having to summarize arguments – your own and others' – and then evaluating their respective merits. Think of summarizing as a useful technique that will stand you in good stead as you learn to tackle and use various opinions in order to enhance your own argumentation and critical thinking and writing skills. The ability to summarize well will set you apart from others as you advance in your academic career. COA 1060 and Summary Writing The Research Project and other Reading Assignments will confront you with a broad range of issues and writing styles. Writing summaries will not only help you read and write better (and faster), but will sharpen your critical thinking skills as well. They are an integral, and required, part of the Research Project you will compleete. Summarizing the articles you are asked to read should also help you prepare for the Final Exam. Summary Template for 1060 The template below should serve as both a scaffold and as a checklist: it tells you what to look for and how to organize what you find. The 4-point template below outlines a structure and a sequence for your summary. In addition it suggests a set of phrases in red that may help you keep the writing simple, clean, and straightforward. 1. What broad issue, general topic or debate does the author take on or contribute to by writing this article? In this article, the author takes on/focuses on. . . 2. How does the author structure his/her discussion or argument (the primary mechanism or device that organizes the argument and the article)? She does this by reviewing/contrasting/opposing/pairing. . . 3. What is the sequence through which the author plays out her argument, from the opening shot of the argument to its conclusion/resolution? She begins by/first she . . . Next she. . . She ends with. . . 4. What are some of the important terms, concepts, and constructs that the author introduces and deploys in the article? Some of the important terms etc. are. . . (list and define them) For the first few summary writing assignments we would like all of you to follow, closely, the template given below. After a few weeks, when you feel more comfortable extracting and distilling the requisite information in clean, clear, and simple English, you may try out a less scripted strategy. At that point you may wish to flesh out the structure and sequence that the template lays out to produce more fluid writing. Grading Criteria Both the quality of the summarizing and of the writing will be taken into consideration when grading summaries. If you follow the template, using it both as a scaffold and as a checklist, you should be fine. Each summary will be assigned a grade, from 0 to 4 (1=D; 2=C; 3=B; 4=A) as follows: 0. Summary not turned in. 1. Summary not turned in on time but posted within 24 hours of time due. 2. Sloppy writing and sloppy summarizing. Does not follow the template structure or does so carelessly. Does not address adequately three or more parts of the template. Writing is sloppy: spelling errors, misquotes, disconnected sentences, etc. 3. Follows the template but does not address adequately all 4 parts (misses the main point, does not play back the sequence, does not identify important terms, etc.). Writing is adequate. 4. Follows the template and covers all 4 parts well. Writing is coherent and grammatically correct. Additional Grading Information
Speculation, Analysis Sometimes a Reading Summary assignment may ask you to speculate upon the issues raised in the reading by either relating these to issues raised in other readings and lectures, or applying its terms and constructs toward an analysis of a particular issue or situation. This speculation and/or analysis will be graded separately from the summary. Essential Writing Tips
Additional Resources
REMEMBER! Careless writing will be penalized. Get into the habit of proof-reading each essay or summary. Read it out loud; use spell-check. We strongly suggest that you compose your essay or summary in Microsoft Word before copying and pasting it into your Assignments Page. Links to this Page
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