1. Articles, Books, and More

2.  Purpose  Why reading?  Will you be expected to discuss the reading in class or with teacher?  Will you incorporate reading into an informal writing assignment (journal response) or formal one (essay)?  Being tested on the reading?

3.  Visual queus  Look at title  Look at opening and closing paragraphs  Look at TS of each paragraph  Look at headings throughout selection (or chapter titles)  Note italicized and bold-faced words  Look at lists (bulleted and numbered)  Look at graphics  Look at boxed info or info in color

4.  Look for certain words (verbal queus)  Most important, primary reason, etc.  Repeated words or phrases  Transitional words  Words that show comparison or contrast (likewise, however)  Look for words that narrow meaning of author (in fact, specifically)  Words that show summaries

5.  To preview newspapers, periodicals  Identify part of newspaper article appears in (news, business, sports)  Headlines  Boldfaced headings; info boxes; graphs  Words like editorial, commentary, or opinion  Note first sentence (usually gives the who, what, why, where, when, how)  Dateline (city and date)

6.  Active reading vs. passive reading  Active reader participates in the reading process  Passive readers read without thinking about purpose, without paying close attention to reading  No notes or highlighting  Do not question what they read

7.  Be critical  should constantly wonder, comment, question, or judge as you read  Highlight and take notes

8.  Use this for key ideas to make connections between author’s main ideas  Be selective  Pick information to highlight through identification of verbal and visual queus.

9.  How to highlight  Underlining  Marker highlighting,  Special marks (asterisk, check mark)  Circle  Arrows connecting ideas  Number supporting points  Question mark by ideas you need to look up

10.  Note questions, reactions, reminders, and ideas to discuss  Usually make notes on the text itself (on the side or between lines)

11.  What is the author’s message?  Why is the writer writing this?  Who is the audience?  What are the support points? Facts? Expert Opinion? Supporting details and examples?  Is the writer reasonable? Informed? Fair?  How strong is the writer’s point? (strong enough support? Enough support?)  Do you understand the vocab and ideas?  Do you agree with the author?  Are the ideas similar to a different reading selection?

12.  Formal or informal outline  To do this:  Put main idea (THESIS) or concept at the top  Under main idea, main point of body paragraph  Indented, list some primary supporting points  The more specific, the more indented  Continue with remaining body text

13.  The main idea and key supporting points  Information in summary should be in the same order as information in the original text  DO NOT include your own ideas and opinions, nor should you necessarily include many examples and details

14. A summary is a general restatement, in your own words, of the main ideas and points of someone else’s writing. Summaries, by definition, should only include the ideas of the source, not your opinions or analysis.

15.  Generally, much shorter than original work  Specifically  Précis  Paragraph  Essay

16.  Definition:  One to two sentences  Conveys main idea of the writer  Précis is very general—leave out specific details or exhaustive lists

17.  At least 4-5 sentences  Briefly restate main idea IN YOUR OWN WORDS  If you quote the author (use his or her exact words), must put that section in quote marks  Example: As Hamlet begins his soliloquy, “To be or not to be…”  Briefly summarize key points from the original source

18.  Summarizing, in more detail, a long work  Book reports  Summarize main idea  Summarize key points or events with details from the original (still restate IN YOUR OWN WORDS!)

19.  Draft your summary, starting with a statement of the main idea/POV presented  Depending on assignment length, continue by briefly summarizing key points, events  Remember to document your source

20.  Include information about source within the summary  Generic structure of article précis: In the Title of Work article “Article Title,” Susie Author proves/argues/points out main idea of work (page number of where work appears).

21. In the Time article “The Thesis in an Essay,” Christina Sullivan postulates that all essays need a thesis statement that presents a main idea that the author will support in the body of the essay (30). Title of Work/ publication Title of Article Name of author Page article appears on Summary of article

22.  Documentation of source information can be in parenthetical citation  Summary of main idea/key point + parenthetical citation

23. According to writing experts, an essay should include a thesis statement that provides the main idea that the author will prove in the body of the essay (Sullivan 30). Why point/summary is relevant Summary of main idea Parenthetical citation: Author last name and page number Sullivan, Christina. “The Thesis in an Essay.” Time Oct. 2009: 30-31.

24.  SHOULD BE WRITTEN IN YOUR OWN WORDS (don’t look at work as you summarize)  Consult your outline to restate the main idea and the key support points  After summary is done, reread the original to be sure you did not miss anything

25.  When to use summaries in other classes  Research papers and any writing that incorporates facts and content written by another individual  Incorporate summaries in your essays and research  Will need a works cited page (text pages 671- 674)

26. Citation: Gray, John. Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus. Writing First, with Readings. Comp. Laurie Kirszner and Stephen Mandell. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2009. 622-625. Re-read this text, highlighting and annotating as you read. Then, complete the worksheet.

27.  What are your goals in college?  Write for 10-15 minutes about what you hope to achieve by graduating with a college degree. This is your last topic!