How-to-Write-a-Summary

HowtoWriteaSummarySix-StepProcessAsummaryisabriefrestatement--inyourownwords--ofthecontentofapieceofwriting.Whenyouwriteasummary,rememberyourpurpose.Youaredemonstratingthatyoufullyunderstandapassagethatyouhaveread.Agoodsummaryisbrief,complete,andobjective.Findtheauthor'smainideaandsubordinatingideasandshowyourclearunderstandingofthestructure.Beforeyoubegintowrite,dothefollowing:1.Readthepassagecarefully.2.Reread.Thistimedividethepassageintosectionsorstagesofthought.Labelonthepassageitself,eachsectionorstageofthought.Underlinekeyideasandterms.3.Writeone-sentencesummariesonaseparatesheetofpaperofeachstageofthoughtor,ifappropriate,ofeachparagraph.4.Writeatopicsentence--aone-sentencesummaryoftheentirepassage.Thetopicsentenceshouldexpressthecentralideaofthepassage,asyouhavedetermineditfromtheabovesteps.Youmayfinditusefultokeepinmindtheinformationcontainedintheleadsentenceorparagraphofmostnewspaperarticles--thewhat,who,why,where,whenandhowofthematter.Inthecaseofpersuasivepassages,summarizeinasentencetheauthor=sconclusion.Inthecaseofdescriptivepassages,indicatethesubjectofthedescriptionanditskeyfeature(s).5.Writethefirstdraftofyoursummarybycombiningthetopicsentencewiththeinformationfromstepthree.Eliminaterepetitionandcombinesentencesforasmoothandlogicalflowofideas.6.Reviseyoursummary,insertingtransitionalwordsandphraseswherenecessarytoensurecoherence.Checkforstyle.Avoidseriesofshort,choppysentences.Checkforgrammaticalcorrectness,punctuation,andspelling.Hints:(1)Writeinthepresenttense.(2)Introducetheauthorandtitleoftheworkintheopeningsentence.Refertoauthorsinsubsequentsentencesbytheirlastnames.Thefollowingisasampleessayyoucanpracticesummarizing.Exampleofsummaryisprovidedattheendoftheessayforfurtherreference.SoThatNobodyHasToGoToSchoolIfTheyDon'tWantTobyRogerSipherAdeclineinstandardizedtestscoresisbutthemostrecentindicatorthatAmericaneducationisintrouble.Onereasonforthecrisisisthatpresentmandatory-attendancelawsforcemanytoattendschoolwhohavenowishtobethere.SuchchildrenhavelittledesiretolearnandaresoantagonistictoschoolthatneithertheynormorehighlymotivatedstudentsreceivethequalityeducationthatisthebirthrightofeveryAmerican.Thesolutiontothisproblemissimple:Abolishcompulsory-attendancelawsandallowonlythosewhoarecommittedtogettinganeducationtoattend.Thiswillnotendpubliceducation.Contrarytoconventionalbelief,legislatorsenactedcompulsory-attendancelawstolegalizewhatalreadyexisted.WilliamLandesandLewisSolomon,economists,foundlittleevidencethatmandatory-attendancelawsincreasedthenumberofchildreninschool.Theyfound,too,thatschoolsystemshavenevereffectivelyenforcedsuchlaws,usuallybecauseoftheexpenseinvolved.Thereisnocontradictionbetweentheassertionthatcompulsoryattendancehashadlittleeffectonthenumberofchildrenattendingschoolandtheargumentthatrepealwouldbeapositivesteptowardimprovingeducation.Mostparentswantahighschooleducationfortheirchildren.Unfortunately,compulsoryattendancehamperstheabilityofpublicschoolofficialstoenforcelegitimateeducationalanddisciplinarypoliciesandtherebymaketheeducationagoodone.Privateschoolshavenosuchproblem.Theycanfailordismissstudents,knowingsuchstudentscanattendpublicschool.Withoutcompulsoryattendance,publicschoolswouldbefreertoouststudentswhoseacademicorpersonalbehaviorunderminestheeducationalmissionoftheinstitution.Askhighschoolteachersifrecalcitrantstudentslearnanythingofvalue.Askteachersifthesestudentsdoanyhomework.Quitethecontrary,thesestudentsknowtheywillbepassedfromgradetogradeuntiltheyareoldenoughtoquitoruntil,asismorelikely,theyreceiveahighschooldiploma.Atthepointwhenstudentscouldlegallyquit,mostchoosetoremainsincetheyknowtheyarelikelytobeallowedtograduatewhethertheydoacceptableworkornot.Abolitionofarchaicattendancelawswouldproduceenormousdividends.First,itwouldalerteveryonethatschoolisaseriousplacewhereonegoestolearn.Schoolsareneitherday-carecentersnorindoorstreetcorners.Youngpeoplewhoresistlearningshouldstayaway;indeed,anendtocompulsoryschoolingwouldrequirethemtostayaway.Second,studentsopposedtolearningwouldnotbeabletopollutetheeducationalatmosphereforthosewhowanttolearn.Teacherscouldstoppolicingrecalcitrantstudentsandstarteducating.Third,gradeswouldshowwhattheyaresupposedto:howwellastudentislearning.Parentscouldagainreadreportcardsandknowiftheirchildrenweremakingprogress.Sixth,thecostofenforcingcompulsoryeducationwouldbeeliminated.Despiteenforcementefforts,nearly15percentoftheschool-agechildreninourlargestcitiesarealmostpermanentlyabsentfromschool.Communitiescouldusethesesavingstosupportinstitutionstodealwithyoungpeoplenotinschool.If,inthelongrun,theseinstitutionsprovemorecostly,atleastwewouldnotconfusetheirmissionwiththatofschools.Schoolsshouldbeforeducation.Atpresent,theyareonlytangentiallyso.Theyhaveattemptedtoserveanall-encompassingsocialfunction,tryingtobeallthingstoallpeople.Intheprocesstheyhavefailedmiserablyatwhattheywereoriginallyformedtoaccomplish.ExamplesummaryRogerSiphermakeshiscaseforgettingridofcompulsory-attendancelawsinprimaryandsecondaryschoolswithsixarguments.Thesefalli