Lesson 2
In your summary response essay, you have two parts. The first part is the summary. The second part is the response. For this lesson, we are going to talk about the summary.
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. "Damon argues that ..." or "Goodman also points out that ... "). The summary should take up no more than one-third the length of the work being summarized. (https://writing.colostate.edu/guides/teaching/rst/pop5i.cfm)
Summary Writing and Answering the Prompt
Summary:
Read the article to be summarized and be sure you understand it. Underline or highlight key sentences. In the margins, write notes in your own words summarizing the main stages of thought in the article.
On a separate piece of paper, outline the major points of the article, referring to your marginal notes and using entirely your own words. Do not skip this step, or you will find yourself inadvertently plagiarizing!
Reread the article with the purpose of reminding yourself what the main idea is. Devise a topic sentence which expresses in a nutshell this main idea. Revise this sentence to include the article title, source, date, and author’s name.
Example In “Note to Selfie” (Slate, December 17, 2013), John Dickerson argues that digitally documenting personal experiences in no way detracts from these experiences and in fact enhances them.
Write a first draft of the summary using only your outline/notes, without looking at the article.
Always use your own words when writing a summary. If you do copy a phrase from the original be sure it is a very important phrase that is necessary and cannot be paraphrased. In this case put "quotation marks" around the phrase.
Do not put your own ideas, opinions, or interpretations into the summary.
Write using "summarizing language." Periodically remind your reader that this is a summary by using phrases such as the article claims, the author suggests, Dickerson points out that (contends/notes/observes/describes/explains/shows/proves, etc.)
Be aware of special conventions that apply to summary writing:
Use present tense to represent the author’s claims or statements:
Dickerson describes/shows/explains. . .
Use a combination of present tense and past tense when you need to refer to both the author’s statements and a past event that the author is recounting:
Dickerson expresses his regret that he did not capture a photo of the lunch he had with his daughter after he picked her up from camp.
Use the author’s last name or full Do not use the author’s first name.
John Dickerson shows . . .
Dickerson describes. . .
Answering the Prompt:
Writing a Thesis to Answer a Prompt
The explanation below will provide you with some background information on how to write a strong thesis, so please try to read it before or immediately after our live class.
Writing a Thesis to Answer a Prompt
Most of us have read writing that makes us feel like we’re trapped in somebody else’s wandering mind with no way out. This kind of stream-of-consciousness prose eventually makes us stop and ask: “Okay, but what’s the point?” Such a reaction is understandable—there’s a lot to read out there, so when we start reading a new book, essay, or blog, we want to know immediately what the author’s purpose is and whether this work is something we’re interested in reading further.
That’s where your good friend, Mr. Thesis, comes in (if you’re not friends yet, you will be!).
So what is a thesis?
Simply put, a thesis is a focused statement that makes some kind of claim (also known as an argument). It sums up the point of the writing piece and explains why the author is writing it. Thesis statements should be limited to 1-2 sentences and should appear at the beginning of the writing piece, either as the very first sentence or the final sentence of the opening paragraph.
A strong thesis will usually be a statement that others can disagree with; it is a compelling claim that makes us want to continue reading in order to find out if we agree with the author. For example, if my thesis is, “Colorado is one of the fifty states,” there really isn’t much more to say about this fact and very few people are going to feel compelled to read any further; however, if I state, “Colorado is the best of the fifty states,” I’m more likely to capture my audience’s interest because now they want to find out how I will back up this claim.
Another way to think of the thesis is as your answer to a writing prompt question. Many writing prompts will touch on what is known in classical rhetoric as the 5 Topics of Invention:
Definition: How do I define X?
Comparison: How can I compare X and Y?
Relationship: What is the relationship between X and Y?
Circumstance: What are the circumstances of X?
Testimony: What testimony supports an argument about X?
Another great question for inventing a strong thesis is the “should question” (especially when it comes to writing about literature!). Should Dumbledore have been more honest with Harry? Should Achilles have let Patroclus wear his armor into battle? Should Hamlet avenge his father’s murder? If you try to answer any of these “should questions,” you will be well on your way to crafting a strong thesis.
The important thing to note is that a strong thesis can always be framed as an answer to a question. Let’s take a look at an example of a weak thesis and how we might improve it.
A Very Broad Writing Prompt: What is ‘beauty’?
(*Note: Which of the 5 Topics of Invention does this prompt correspond with?)
A Weak Thesis: Beauty is a word that means different things to different people.
Sure, beauty is a difficult word to define, but why is this sentence such a weak thesis? It answers the question, right? Kind of…but not really. This vague statement doesn’t provide us with a definition; rather, it claims beauty has no definition. So what else can the author really say? Why would anyone want to keep reading? Furthermore, such a statement is difficult for anyone to disagree with because if we try to come up with a different definition of beauty, the author of the thesis can merely say, “Sure, if that’s how you define beauty, then that works because beauty means different things to different people.” See how the conversation falls flat? The best writing creates conversation, but with this thesis there’s no point discussing the topic any further.
A Stronger Thesis: Although our opinions on art and music may reflect our own personal tastes, objective beauty exists and we can find it in the order and harmony of the natural world.
Maybe you disagree with the statement—that’s great! Now we can have an actual discussion! This thesis may not adequately answer the writing prompt question in one sentence, but it’s a focused start that tells the reader what the rest of the essay will focus on: how the harmony present in nature is a kind of beauty that human beings seem to be universally attracted to. As readers, we know from the very beginning of the essay what definition the author will try to support in his subsequent paragraphs.
As you start to practice crafting strong thesis statements, be sure to ask yourself the following questions:
Thesis Checklist
• Is my thesis a focused, declarative statement written as a complete sentence at the very beginning of my essay? Is it so clear and obvious that my reader will be able to pick it out in my opening paragraph?
• Have I provided a succinct answer to the question asked in the writing prompt (which I will elaborate on in the rest of my essay)?
• Is my thesis a claim that others might disagree with (meaning it’s a statement that will start conversations, not shut them down)?
• Do I have enough supporting arguments, examples, and evidence to be able to elaborate on this thesis given the word count requirements of the assignment?