SUMMARY GENRE MODULE FIRST YEAR SERIES WRITING CENTER UNIVERSITY OF NORTH FLORIDA

WORKSHOP OVERVIEW  Define summary  Review academic summary  What vs. how and why

DEFINE SUMMARY  General: Per the OED: “Containing or comprising the chief points or the sum and substance of a matter”  Academic: Depends on the discipline: Lab report abstract, book review, executive summary, etc.

SUMMARY AS ORGANIZED “WHATS”  Summary identifies the whats:  Who’s written the text?  What action is/are the author(s) taking?  What kind of text is it?  What are the major points/parts of the text?  What are the key terms/examples?  CComprehensive  AAccurate  BBrief  IIndependent  NNeutral The “Whats” Considerations

WORKSHOP SUMMARY  Define summary  Review academic summary  What vs. how and why

GUIDED PRACTICE  Let’s practice summarizing a text.  View Réné Magritte’s “The Human Condition” (1933) and summarize it one sentence and list its parts (inventory of “whats”):

ARTIFACT-BASED PRACTICE  Now, let’s look at a writing assignment you have for one of your courses. Choosing one of the two texts you’ve read for your ENC 1101 or ENC 1143 class so far, write a one-sentence summary of that text.

COMMON OVERSIGHTS  Is not in MLA format (e.g., double spaced, 12-pt font, indented paragraph)  Exceeds one paragraph or is briefer than 6 sentences (or longer than 260 words)  Has short-sighted topic sentence or starts with too-specific information  Don’t review the summary rubrics: Summary Mastery & Evidence, especially  Relies on past-tense verbs or 1 st - and 2 nd -person pronouns (e.g., I, you, we)  Quote too much: complete sentences or more  Fails to name the text or authorial information fully  Includes personal opinion/connections/analysis