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 Unit 1-Why Myth?
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Paragraph Summaries

Summaries vary in content and emphasis according to the purposes they serve. The chief purpose of the summary for our course, however, will be to provide essential introductory information in essays. The summary condenses important points of other arguments into your own words and thus allows you to incorporate another author's position (claims and reasons) into your own essay, either to support your argument or to provide an opposing position.

THINGS A SUMMARY SHOULD HAVE/BE

THINGS A SUMMARY SHOULD NOT HAVE/BE
  • The author's main claim clearly stated.
  • The author's major reason(s).
  • The author's conclusions or suggestions.
  • Specific details, examples or facts (unless absolutely essential to the essay).
  • Logical connections between claims and reasons.
  • Unconnected statements about the essay.
  • Paraphrased in your own words.
  • Direct quotes from the essay (very short phrases may be quoted when necessary).
  • As objective as possible.
  • Subjective (you must be fair to the author).
  • Short (about 100-150 words or less).
  • As long as the original (the purpose of a summary is to condense).

Procedure for Writing Summaries

  1. Read the material quickly to get an overall impression and understanding of the topic.
  2. Reread the material more closely, annotating as you go along. On a separate sheet of paper, list the main points. Pay special attention to the first and last sentence of every paragraph. Key words which often introduce claims are:
    • Words that enumerate: first, second, initially, finally, another, subsequently.
    • Words that express causation: accordingly, as a result, because, consequently, therefore, thus.
    • Words that express comparisons and contrasts: although, by the same token, despite, different from, furthermore, in contrast/comparison, in addition, unlike.
    • Words that signal essentials: basically, best, central, crucial, foremost, fundamental, leading, major, principal, significant.
  3. Collect your notes and main points and organize them into a rough draft. For the first draft, do not edit. It's best to get all your notes and thoughts down on paper first; editing will come later.
  4. Read through your rough draft and delete items which seem secondary or irrelevant.
  5. Rewrite the summary into your own words. Be sure to identify the article you are summarizing, and use sufficient attributive tags and "because" words to make clear the author's claims and reasons.

Sample Paragraph Summary

A Summary of David Moberg's "Suite Crimes"

According to David Moberg, American irresponsibility is the product of a culture controlled by corporations which become irresponsible in the quest to benefit their stockholders. They do so because America is a society of people who, though hardworking, are fundamentally self-centered. Moberg notes that although the "bottom half" of society usually gets accused of social irresponsibility, the "top-half" of society (those who run the corporations) is just as irresponsible; in fact, although they control more of the country's wealth, these business leaders do less to help those in need. Corporations also are irresponsible because they use their power over the general population and many politicians to control our laws in ways that benefit themselves. However, Moberg argues, people overlook this behavior because corporations have an extreme influence on society. Therefore, we must increase corporate responsibility in order to bring about significant growth in personal responsibility.