“Her Point of View”

 Writing only your own opinions with no mention of the person or article you are summarizing is not a good summary.  Writing only a summary with no “voice” from the summarizer is not a good summary.

 Balance what the original author is saying with the your own focus.  Must be true to what the original author says while emphasizing aspects that interest you, the writer of a summary.

 Balance is being respectful of the other while summarizing in light of your own perspective.  Summarizing is a demonstration of respect.

 You suspend your own beliefs for a time to listen to the other.  This is the “believing” stage.  Try to see who the other is and what she believes.  The reader of your summary should not be able to tell whether you agree or disagree with the ideas of the author.

 A good summary tells the reader enough about the article, so that he can discern the ideas of the article independent of you.

 leads to a weak summary.  leads to expressing a cliché and not the ideas of the author.  leads to writing something that you have already heard or read.  leads to perpetuating biases and preconceptions.

 A summary has your slant or spin to it as well as doing justice to the author.  When writing a summary, you have joint custody of the article with the author.

 demonstrates walking in the shoes of the author while reflecting your own voice.  is a delicate balance that takes practice.

 Use verbs that fit the action.  “he says” “it talks” “he discusses” are just boring with no action  Action verbs are  argue, assert, believe, claim, observe  verify, support, agree, acknowledge  advocate, demand, urge, recommend

 Present major points, omitting details  A summary sentence begins the summary paragraph, a topic sentence.  No opinions just your “voice”  Cite the source being summarized in MLA format  Maximum – 125 words

 Graff, Gerald, Cathy Birkenstein, and Russel Durst. They Say, I Say. New York: W.W. Norton & Company,  Ramage, John D. et.al. Writing Arguments; A Rhetoric with Readings. Third Edition. New York: Pearson Education,  Coyner, Sandra. Professor Emerita, Southern Oregon University