Running head:

SUMMARY ASSIGNMENT

1

 

Summary

Assignment

 

[Your Name Here]

 

[Your Institution Here]

 

Summary Assignment

 

The purpose

of the following assignment is to effectively summarize and

attribute information from

a source.

 

Use the library databases to retrieve an article from the Course Theme

Reading

List on the topic you selected last week. If

you are

considering a new topic,

confirm your

choice

with

your

professor. Once

you retrieve the article,

print

it or

save a

local copy of the

full text article to

your

hard drive so

that

you can refer to

the contents of the

article offline.

 

Read the

source

carefully,

noting the

thesis,

topic sentences, headings, supporting

details, and conclusion. To become more

skilled

at summary

and paraphrase, you

will practice

writing

summaries of

different

lengths

on the same

assigned

source.

 

For each

part of the assignment, follow the instructions provided. When

you are

finished, save the document as

<your

last

name.Wk2 Summary Assignment> and

submit it to

the Dropbox by the end

of the week.

 

TEMPLATE FOR

SUMMARY

ASSIGNMENT

2

 

Source Summary

Prewriting

 

Include specific information as it pertains

to your

chosen source below.

 

Theme:

(Choose: Education, Technology,

Family, Health and

Wellness.)

 

Topic:

(Choose one

of the Course Project topics listed under

the

column

for each theme.)

 

Title:

(List the

title

and what the

title tells you about the point of view of the author.)

 

Intended audience:

(Based on what you can

tell about the publication, who

do you think is the

 

intended audience?)

 

Writer background:

(What kind of authority

does the author have to write on the topic?)

 

Writer's angle

: (Write one to two sentences

on whether the topic presents an

arguable claim. Is

 

there more than

one

side?)

 

TEMPLATE FOR

SUMMARY

ASSIGNMENT

3

 

Part 1:

The one-sentence summary

 

In your own words

and

in just one

sentence

, summarize the

overall main

point of the

source.

 

Frame your summary using a signal phrase. See Chapter 26, pp. 496-500 for examples.

The

 

signal phrase

indicates to a reader that you are preparing to

introduce source information.

 

Part 2:

The one-paragraph

summary

 

Using the same source, write a

full-paragraph

summary in

your own

words. In this version, state

 

the main point but also key supporting points that are

used in the source material. Use

a signal

 

phrase to present the

source. In the paragraph, you can emphasize a key point that

the author

 

makes. You can also rephrase the

main point of the source material in simpler

terms. Do not

add

 

your opinion or reactions.

 

Part 3:

The multiple-paragraph

summary

 

Using the same source, in your own words write

two

to

three paragraphs

to

state

the

main

point

 

and supporting points. In this version, you may

use selective quoting,

additional

paraphrase, and

 

in-text

citations for any quoted material.

Note the way the source material is organized

for

ideas

 

on how to divide the

paragraphs of your summary. Do not

add

your opinions

or reactions.

 

Part 4:

Your

reaction

 

In this section,

provide

your positive or critical reader reaction

to your source. The purpose is to

 

respond directly to the published issue, story, or opinion. Your

reactions

should be

specific,

 

precise, and well-supported. State your

purpose, which is typically to

agree, disagree, analyze,

 

interpret, or clarify

an idea

in the

original (i.e., "I

agree with

[topic/issue/author] because..." OR

 

TEMPLATE FOR

SUMMARY

ASSIGNMENT

4

"I do

not agree with [topic/issue/author] because..."). Avoid errors in logic

and monitor

your

tone to avoid seeming biased in your presentation of the information.

Use the bullets below

as

considerations

to

further develop your reaction section:

•

Is the

author

persuasive in arguing the main point?

•

How does the

publication meet

the

needs of the intended audience?

•

Do you trust the author(s)?

Why or why not?

•

Are there statements of fact

and

specific

examples? Are these persuasive?

•

Do you detect any appeal to your emotions such as fear,

anger,

or contentment?

•

How is the document

designed?

Does it use

headings? Does

it use graphics? Are

these effective?

Part 5:

References

Type the APA

Reference information for your source at the end of your assignment.

Refer to

the APA

formatting information in the

syllabus and resources in Doc

Sharing. Points will be

deducted for APA formatting this week because the

Reference citation already

models correct APA

citation format for you.