Thursday, February 2: Summary and Paraphrase

Good afternoon, all!

Here's the link to today's presentation: Lesson 3.

I hope that those of you who have come down with the flu begin feeling better soon! Please email me if you have any further questions not answered in today's post.

We covered the basics of summary and paraphrase in class today, meaning we discussed (1) the differences between the two and (2) how each are used in academic writing. We looked at what makes a good summary/paraphrase and what makes a bad summary/paraphrase. If you missed class, make sure to review the presentation posted above, as well as your readings that were due today (these include guidelines/checklists that you should look over before and after composing a summary or paraphrase).

Remember:

• A summary is when you condense a text. Summaries can be different lengths depending on what you're using them for, but they generally should encompass the entirety of the original author's message. Make sure that you understand the text so that you can present it accurately.
• A paraphrase is when you restate an author's words to put them in your own words. Remember that a paraphrase will be as long or longer than the original text, and you should make sure that you are accurately representing the original's message.

Homework:

• Readings:
• FYW: Ch. 4 (pgs. 69-100)
• St. Martin's Handbook (pgs. 124-139)
• BA2

Brief Assignment #2: Please do both parts and clearly label each.

Part One, Article Summaries

Your instructor will tell you which article from your First-Year Writing textbook you will use for your summaries. 

(Pick one of the three articles: Dillon's "What Corporate America Can't Build," Cangialosi's "Healing through the Written Word," or Pipher's "Writing to Connect." (All are in Ch. 23 of your FYW textbook). Start thinking of which article you would like to write your rhetorical analysis over and work with that article). 

You will write two different summaries of the assigned article. The first summary will be a single sentence in length. The next summary will be five sentences in length. Strategies for completing both will be discussed in class. Before turning in your summaries, please make sure you label them as either "One Sentence Summary" or "Five Sentence Summary."

Part Two, Paraphrase

After you’ve completed your summaries, you will paraphrase a brief passage selected by your instructor. 

(Paraphrase paragraph six of Atul Gawande's "A Lifesaving Checklist"--pgs. 99-100 in FYW.)

Your goal in this portion of the assignment is to restate the ideas of the passage in your own words and do so in a way that is readable and understandable. Label this final portion of the assignment as "Paraphrase." If your instructor gives you more than one passage to choose from, make sure you add the author's name and page number of the passage to your label.

As always, BA2 is due on Tuesday night, before 11:59pm.

That should be it for now! Should you have any questions, email me or come by office hours.