Writing an Objective Summary

See if you can tell what the difference is between this slide: In “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone”, Harry Potter is the most miserable, lonely boy you can imagine. He’s shunned by his relatives, the Dursley’s, that have raised him since he was an infant. He’s forced to live in the cupboard under the stairs, forced to wear his cousin Dudley’s hand-me-down clothes, and forced to go to his neighbour’s house when the rest of the family is doing something fun. Yes, he’s just about as miserable as you can get. Harry’s world gets turned upside down on his 11th birthday, however. A giant, Hagrid, informs Harry that he’s really a wizard, and will soon be attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Harry also learns that, in the wizarding world, he’s a hero. When he was an infant, the evil Lord Voldemort killed his parents and then tried to kill Harry too. What’s so amazing to everyone is that Harry survived, and allegedly destroyed Voldemort in the process.

And this slide: ''Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" is a red-blooded adventure movie, dripping with atmosphere, filled with the gruesome and the sublime, and surprisingly faithful to the novel. A lot of things could have gone wrong, and none of them have: Chris Columbus' movie is an enchanting classic that does full justice to a story that was a daunting challenge. The novel by J.K. Rowling was muscular and vivid, and the danger was that the movie would make things too cute and cuddly. It doesn't. Like an "Indiana Jones" for younger viewers, it tells a rip-roaring tale of supernatural adventure, where colorful and eccentric characters alternate with scary stuff like a three-headed dog, a pit of tendrils known as the Devil's Snare and a two-faced immortal who drinks unicorn blood. Scary, yes, but not too scary--just scary enough.

Why do we summarize: Sometimes when we read, there is so much information in the text that we have to decide what is most important and worth remembering. This is an important skill to have for writing essays and research papers. This is also a good skill to have to help us break down and understand more difficult material. Remember, what is most interesting is not always what is most important.

After we determine what is most important: List the key points, important events, and the main idea of your story or article. We then have to decide how to put the information into a format that is concise and clear. In your own words, you will summarize the story or article in a paragraph. You should have a topic sentence and a concluding sentence which will state the main idea of the article.

How to write a summary: Focus on the central ideas from the text Omit supporting or minor details Write only enough to convey the central idea (4-5 sentences maximum) Organize the information clearly Restate the information in your own words- DO NOT COPY FROM THE TEXT-THIS IS PLAGIARIZING Do not include any opinions or personal thoughts

Step #1: 3-Part Topic Sentence A. Name it: identify the title of the text and the author B. Verb it: use one of the following “summary” verbs- shows, describes, explains, discusses, lists, explores, illustrates, teaches, compares, states C. Central Idea (CI): identify the central idea, or thesis, of the text

Step #2: 3-5 Essential/Key Ideas If the article does not have subheadings: Pick 1-2 essential details from the beginning, middle, and end of the text If the article does have subheadings: Pick 1-2 essential details from the introduction section and from each subheading.

“Stomp Out Bullying” Article Let’s read the article and then discuss how we would summarize it. How would we write the topic sentence? What would our essential/key ideas be?

3-Part Topic Sentence for “Stomp Out Bullying” Name It Verb It Central Idea “Stomp out Bullying” by Jennifer Dignan shows Why bullying is a problem and how it can be solved

Key Details: Thousands of teens are bullied every day. Many schools and organizations have established anti- bullying programs to stop this problem. To stop bullying, individuals should speak up when they are bullied or when they see bullying happen. (Notice I wrote these statements in my own words.)

Summary example: The article “Stomp Out Bullying” by Jennifer Dignan shows why bullying is a problem and how it can be solved. The article discusses how one out of four teens is bullied. In fact, many schools and organizations have established anti-bullying programs to address this problem. To help stop bullying, students should speak up when they are bullied or when they see bullying happen. (I added transitions to make my ideas flow together in a logical manner that makes sense for my reader.)