How to Write a Summary Essay of An Article Text

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Washington ap gallaudet university's board of trustees chose the dean of the school's college of arts and sciences to become the first deaf president in the 124 year history of the school for the hearing impaired. King jordan, a popular campus figure, was chosen to replace elisabeth ann zinser, a hearing woman who resigned early friday after protests from students seeking a deaf leader had virtually paralyzed gallaudet's campus. School officials also announced that board of trustees chairwoman jane bassett spilman, who came under fire from protesters for handling of the crisis, has resigned. In a clean sweep for student protesters, bravin announced that the board of trustees would form a task force to study composition of the board, and institute a plan to ensure that a majority of the school's 20 member trustees panel is deaf. We know now the university is going to be ours, said gallaudet graduate student paul singleton, who is deaf.

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Jordan, a finalist for the position when zinser was selected, stunned protesters by endorsing zinser's presidency at a news conference wednesday, but gave protesters an emotional lift when he retracted his backing of zinser the following day. From the houston post march 14, 1988 summary: deaf president named according to a march 14, 1988 news article in the houston post. King jordan was a joyous event for the campus community, which had long sought a deaf university president for the college. jordan had at one point during the protest supported the selection of elizabeth ann zinser, a hearing woman originally chosen by the board of trustees as gallaudet university president. However, jordan reversed his position the next day in support of the protest. the summary: a summary is a concise paraphrase of all the main ideas in an essay.

It cites the author and the title usually in the first sentence it contains the essay's thesis and supporting ideas it may use direct quotation of forceful or concise statements of the author's ideas it will not usually cite the author's examples or supporting details unless they are central to the main idea. Most summaries present the major points in the order that the author made them and continually refer back to the article being summarized i.e. The summary should take up no more than one third the length of the work being summarized. Unlike the summary, it is composed of your opinions in relation to the article being summarized. It examines ideas that you agree or disagree with and identifies the essay's strengths and weaknesses in reasoning and logic, in quality of supporting examples, and in organization and style. A good response is persuasive therefore, it should cite facts, examples, and personal experience that either refutes or supports the article you're responding to, depending on your stance. two typical organizational formats for summary/response essays: 1.

Present the summary in a block of paragraphs, followed by the response in a block: intro/thesis summary two to three paragraphs agreement or disagreement disagreement or agreement note: some essays will incorporate both agreement and disagreement in a response, but this is not mandatory. Then, each body paragraph summarizes one point and responds to it, and a conclusion wraps the essay up. Intro/thesis summary point one agree/disagree summary point two agree/disagree summary point three agree/disagree a summary is a concise paraphrase of all the main ideas in an essay. the response: a response is a critique or evaluation of the author's essay. Present the summary in a block of paragraphs, followed by the response in a block: intro/thesis summary two to three paragraphs agreement or disagreement disagreement or agreement note: some essays will incorporate both agreement and disagreement in a response, but this is not mandatory. Intro/thesis summary point one agree/disagree summary point two agree/disagree summary point three agree/disagree the page you are looking for might have been removed, had its name changed, or is temporarily unavailable.

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read with the writer's purpose in mind

    read the article carefully, making no notes or marks and looking only for what the writer is saying.
after you're finished reading, write down in one sentence the point that is made about the subject.
    does this thesis correspond with the sentence you wrote down? if not, adjust your sentence or reconsider the thesis you selected.
look at the article again and ask yourself if your view is slanted toward one of the essay's minor points.

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If it is, adjust your sentence so that it is slanted toward the writer's major point.

underline with summarizing in mind

    once you clearly understand the writer's major point or purpose for writing, read the article again. This time underline the major points supporting the thesis these should be words or phrases here and there rather than complete sentences.
in addition, underline key transitional elements which show how parts are connected. note: you may need to go through the article twice in order to pick up everything you need.

write, revise, and edit to ensure the accuracy and correctness of your summary

writing your summary

    now begin writing your summary. Start with a sentence naming the writer and article title and stating the essay's main idea.

    Then write your summary, omitting nothing important and striving for overall coherence through appropriate transitions. Conclude with a final statement reflecting the significance of the article not from your own point of view but from the writer's. Throughout the summary, do not insert your own opinions or thoughts instead summarize what the writer has to say about the subject.

revising your summary

    after you've completed a draft, read your summary and check for accuracy.
    does your summary make the same point as the article?
have you omitted anything important? does your summary read smoothly with all parts clearly related? keep in mind that a summary should generally be no more than one fourth the length of the original. Write another draft still a draft for revision and ask someone to read it critically.
    can that person understand the sense of the article by reading your summary?
    correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors, looking particularly for those common in your writing.

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this page is brought to you by the owl at purdue . This handout is intended to help you become more comfortable with the uses of and distinctions among quotations, paraphrases, and summaries. This handout compares and contrasts the three terms, gives some pointers, and includes a short excerpt that you can use to practice these skills. contributors: dana lynn driscoll, allen brizee the following is a sample essay you can practice quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing.

Examples of each task are provided at the end of the essay for further reference. by roger sipher a decline in standardized test scores is but the most recent indicator that american education is in trouble. One reason for the crisis is that present mandatory attendance laws force many to attend school who have no wish to be there. Such children have little desire to learn and are so antagonistic to school that neither they nor more highly motivated students receive the quality education that is the birthright of every american.

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The solution to this problem is simple: abolish compulsory attendance laws and allow only those who are committed to getting an education to attend. Contrary to conventional belief, legislators enacted compulsory attendance laws to legalize what already existed. William landes and lewis solomon, economists, found little evidence that mandatory attendance laws increased the number of children in school. They found, too, that school systems have never effectively enforced such laws, usually because of the expense involved.

There is no contradiction between the assertion that compulsory attendance has had little effect on the number of children attending school and the argument that repeal would be a positive step toward improving education. Unfortunately, compulsory attendance hampers the ability of public school officials to enforce legitimate educational and disciplinary policies and thereby make the education a good one. They can fail or dismiss students, knowing such students can attend public school. Without compulsory attendance, public schools would be freer to oust students whose academic or personal behavior undermines the educational mission of the institution. Has not the noble experiment of a formal education for everyone failed? while we pay homage to the homily, you can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink, we have pretended it is not true in education. Quite the contrary, these students know they will be passed from grade to grade until they are old enough to quit or until, as is more likely, they receive a high school diploma. At the point when students could legally quit, most choose to remain since they know they are likely to be allowed to graduate whether they do acceptable work or not.

First, it would alert everyone that school is a serious place where one goes to learn. Young people who resist learning should stay away indeed, an end to compulsory schooling would require them to stay away. Second, students opposed to learning would not be able to pollute the educational atmosphere for those who want to learn. Third, grades would show what they are supposed to: how well a student is learning. Parents could again read report cards and know if their children were making progress. People would stop regarding them as way stations for adolescents and start thinking of them as institutions for educating america's youth.

Fifth, elementary schools would change because students would find out early they had better learn something or risk flunking out later. Elementary teachers would no longer have to pass their failures on to junior high and high school. Despite enforcement efforts, nearly 15 percent of the school age children in our largest cities are almost permanently absent from school. Communities could use these savings to support institutions to deal with young people not in school. If, in the long run, these institutions prove more costly, at least we would not confuse their mission with that of schools. They have attempted to serve an all encompassing social function, trying to be all things to all people.