1. Laura Sims ENG 1320 Spring 2015 SUMMARIES

2.  Why should I summarize the articles in my essay?  To give context for your ideas  To give the authors credit for their ideas  Good summaries are...  Accurate  Focused  Fair  Objective WHY SUMMARIZE?

3. Good summaries are accurate.  Don’t put words into other people’s mouths! Make sure that you pay close attention to what the author is really saying. Don’t give them credit for views they don’t specifically support.  Make sure that you clearly indicate where your ideas end and the author’s ideas begin (and vice versa). ACCURACY

4. Good summaries are focused.  Don’t list details from the text; instead, restate the author’s main point.  Don’t simply state what the author talks about. Instead, explain what the author argues about the topic.  Know where you are going—your summary should lead up to your response. FOCUS

5. Good summaries are fair.  Don’t let your own opinion keep you from giving the text a fair reading.  Don’t write a hasty, judgmental summary. This can lead you to distort the original meaning of the text. Instead, ask yourself how the author might summarize his or her own views. FAIRNESS

6. Good summaries are objective.  Summarize the text objectively first. Then, follow your summary with your own interpretation and opinion.  Giving an objective summary can show your readers that you are open-minded and willing to listen to both sides of an argument. OBJECTIVITY

7. Directions: In a group of two or three, critique each of the summaries listed below. Then, write a better summary of “I h8 txt msgs: How texting is wrecking our language.” Remember to write all group members’ names at the top of the page. 1.John Humphrys reports that the Oxford English Dictionary has removed hyphens from thousands of words. Supposedly, the hyphens were removed because no one has time to type them. Humphrys blames texters for the change, and says that the abbreviations they use are often ambiguous. He ends by saying that texting may lead people to forget “how to write.” 2.John Humphrys believes that any changes in the English language will result in the downfall of civilization as we know it. He whines that the popularity of texting lingo will make children too stupid to know when it’s not appropriate. 3.Texting is supposed to help people save time, but it is really ruining the English language. We should protect our language by practicing proper spelling, capitalization, and punctuation in all kinds of communication. SUMMARIES PRACTICE