1. CONTEXT
Subject
Writer
Reader
Text

2. Writer Who is the writer? What is the writer’s expertise?
What is the writer’s relationship to the audience?
What is the writer trying to do? (Why write this piece?)
You can find answers to some questions easily; others, you might need to infer from the text itself; still others, you might not be able to answer at all.

3. (or, as best you can tell, the “target audience”)
Reader
(or, as best you can tell, the “target audience”)
Reader
What does the reader know?
What does the reader probably think or believe?
How is the reader likely to respond to the text?
To what extent does the reader affect what the writer can (or will) write?

4. Subject What is the MAIN POINT of the text?
Which parts are claims and which are evidence?
What graphic features (font, layout, images, etc) help you identify what’s important?

5. Text tone structure complexity forum genre graphics length register
conventions

6. CONTEXT What’s the situation: time? place? reason for writing?
In what publication does the piece appear?
(book? magazine? newspaper? blog? advertisement?)
What is the apparent purpose of the piece?
(report news? sell something? persuade someone? rant?)
To what extent might the context limit what the writer can say?
To what extent might the context affect what “counts” as reasonable evidence to support the writer’s claims?

7. Reading Strategies
Consider the writer, target audience, subject, and context as you read the text.
Look for graphic features that help you identify main ideas.
Separate main ideas from claims, and separate claims from evidence.
Evaluate the kind and quality of the evidence, and who well it supports the claims.
Test your conclusions: talk with someone else about the text and your reading of it.

8. Writing your summary: The opening line
Title:
Author:
Date:
Publication:
Genre:
Writing your summary: The opening line
As a general rule, it’s a good idea to include some information about the text you are summarizing.

9. Title: “Darkness Too Visible”
Author: Meghan Cox Gurdon
Date: June 4, 2011
Publication: Wall Street Journal
Genre: commentary (in “Life and Culture” section)
Title:
Author:
Date:
Publication:
Genre:
In “Darkness Too Visible,” Meghan Gurdon says …
In “Darkness Too Visible,” a commentary in The Wall Street Journal, Meghan Gurdon says …
In her Wall Street Journal commentary, “Darkness Too Visible,” Meghan Gurdon says…
In a June 4 commentary in the “Life and Culture” section of The Wall Street Journal, Meghan Gurdon says …
Meghan Gurdon’s “Darkness Too Visible,” a June 4 commentary in The Wall Street Journal’s “Life and Culture” section, says …

10. Title: “Darkness Too Visible”
Author: Meghan Cox Gurdon
Date: June 4, 2011
Publication: Wall Street Journal
Genre: commentary (in “Life and Culture” section)
Title:
Author:
Date:
Publication:
Genre:
In “Darkness Too Visible,” Meghan Gurdon says …
In “Darkness Too Visible,” a commentary in The Wall Street Journal, Meghan Gurdon says …
In her Wall Street Journal commentary, “Darkness Too Visible,” Meghan Gurdon says…
In a June 4 commentary in the “Life and Culture” section of The Wall Street Journal, Meghan Gurdon says …
Meghan Gurdon’s “Darkness Too Visible,” a June 4 commentary in The Wall Street Journal’s “Life and Culture” section, says …

11. Conventions you need to know and follow:
Use italics for a “big” work, such as a book or newspaper
Use quotation marks for a “small” work, such as an article, a short story, a song, or a poem
Use an author’s first and last name ONLY the first time you mention the name; afterwards, use only the last name
Once you’ve used the full title of a work, it’s OK to use only the first word or two in subsequent references
When writing about a text, use present tense: “The author says”; “The article claims”