Summary:

• No general opening line
• It’s usually good to start your summary paragraph with a sentence that follows a set format:

In Author’s article, “Title,” published in Publication in YEAR, one-sentence-summary.

According to Author in his/her article, “Title,” published in Publication in YEAR, one-sentence-summary.

Author, in his/her article, “Title,” published in Publication in YEAR, argues/presents the idea/discusses one-sentence-summary.

(we can develop other templates)

• Check your grammar in that first sentence!
• Include the author’s name, the title of the article, the source and year, if not in that first sentence then in the next one.
• Identify the main idea, if not in that first sentence then in the next one.
• Include three or four supporting ideas in the summary.
• For the purposes of writing a summary for the final exam, use one (or two) quotations in the summary.
• For the purposes of writing a summary for the final exam, make your summary one paragraph.
• Refer to people with their full name initially, then with their last name only in subsequent references.
• Do not call attention to what you’re writing (In this summary, or Since this is a midterm, etc)
• Keep it impersonal. Avoid using I, me, my, etc in the summary.
• Get the facts right!
• Don’t refer to paragraph number or page number in the text—use a parenthetical citation instead (Paragraph 2).
• Feel free to follow the order of the article, but know that you can re-sequence the order if it makes sense to do so.
• This is not the place for your creativity.
• Don’t end with something that’s more commentary than summary.

Essay:

• Include an opening line that is not too general. Start with your topic and move narrower to your thesis statement
• You probably want a sentence similar to the first one in the summary (see above).
• Establish your claims in the first paragraph
• Find the right balance between general and specific—it takes work!
• In your thesis statement, avoid general terms such as different or similar or various ways, etc, rather than specifying what those are.
• There are three main points you need to make in your midterm or final exam:
  • What the article claims about the specific topic
  • What you think/know/have experienced/have witnessed/have heard about the specific topic
  • A comparison of the article’s claims and yours
  • These can be addressed in a few different orders (block vs. point-by-point).
  • Notice that your goal for writing about the article is different than writing a summary. In the summary, you’re summarizing the whole article; in the essay, you’re focusing on a narrower part of the article.
  • You can use personal pronouns here (I, me, my), but do so sparingly, since it should be clear that anything you’re writing that doesn’t come from the article is your idea.
  • Include quotations from the article to support what you’re saying it claims.
  • Do not refer to the quotation as a quotation—in the article, it’s not a quotation, unless it’s something the author quoted. The author didn’t write a quotation; you’re making what the author wrote into a quotation.

Let’s look at a few opening sentences:

In “The Tunnel Rats of Atlantic Avenue.” written by Yonette Joseph talks about Bob Diamond and his experience with history.

Different methods of learning about history can reveal different ideas and understandings to the reader or viewer.

I am going to be talking about different ways of learning about history and if I agree with those ideas in the article.