Chapter 1—“Critical Reading, Summary and Paraphrase”
Research and Composing in the Disciplines

1. What is Summary? __ A summary is a brief restatement, in your own words, that focuses on the main idea or point of a passage. ___

2. From this chapter, what are the 3 qualities of an effective summary? _brevity______, _completeness __and __objectivity____.

3. Why is objectivity difficult in summary? ___Objectivity is difficult in a summary because, in a summary you have to select certain content that you think is an important part of the passage. _

4. What factor affects the nature and quality of your interpretation? _prior knowledge of a subject.__

5. What else may affect your interpretation in writing a summary? _your personal or professional frame of reference. _____

6. Why does summary have a bad reputation? _Summary has a bad reputation because many student have summarized books that they were supposed to review critically. ______

7. What types of writing involve summary (4)?

Academic Writing: • Critique Papers, Synthesis Papers, Analysis Papers, Research Papers, Literature Papers, Argument Papers, Essay Exams.

Workplace Writing: • Policy Briefs, Business Plans, Memos, letters, and reports, Medical Charts, and Legal briefs.

8. In what 3 ways are summaries useful (4-5)?

First, a summary is a form of academic study. Writing a summary can help you understand what you read, because you have to write the summary in your own words. Summaries also help improve your writing habits.

Second, summaries are useful to readers because it gives the reader a view of the main idea of the story or passage, before they even read the actual context.

Third, summaries can help you demonstrate your understanding of certain material.

9. Briefly summarize the 8 critical reading elements that go beyond summary. • Examining the context. When writing a summary, it is important to identify the author’s perspective of the issue they are addressing (6). • Noting the title and subtitle help to reveal how the author feels about the issue he or she is addressing. • When writing a summary, it is important to identify the main point of the piece of writing so that you are able to have an understanding of the passage. • When identifying the subordinate points, it is important to make sure that they relate to the main point of the passage. • Breaking the reading into sections can help to identify the author’s subordinate points, which could help when you are trying to write a summary about the main point of the passage. • Distinguishing between points, examples, and counterarguments is important because, while you are reading, you have to pay close attention to what they author says and what he or she is doing, and points they use to support the topic they are addressing (6). • It is important to watch for transitions within and between paragraphs because it helps to distinguish between points and examples that the author uses in their passage. • Read actively and recursively. When reading a passage, ask questions of the text and engage yourself with the writing. Also, take notes about things that you may have found confusing as you were reading.

10. Briefly summarize the 7 guidelines for writing summary. • When writing summaries, read the passage carefully, identify the author’s point, and take notes of important points the author makes in the passage (7) • Reread the passage to have a clear understanding of main point of the passage. • Write one sentence summaries of each thought. • Write a thesis that addresses or states the main idea of the passage. • Write the first draft of your summary by combining your thesis with the one sentence summary and other important details from the passage. • Check your summary with the original passage to make sure that your summary is accurate. • Revise your summary by checking for mistakes, and adding additional information needed in the summary.

11. What is paraphrase and why is it preferred to summary in certain cases?
A paraphrase is a recasting of a passage in you’re your words, and in order to paraphrase, you have to understand the material. It is preferred to a summary in some cases because you can express the main idea of a passage that is abstract or difficult in your own words, which can help you understand what the passage is about.

12. Condense the 3 steps to writing paraphrases?
When writing paraphrases: • It is important that you understand the source passage. • You should substitute the words in the passage with your own words by using synonyms that have the same meaning as the original words. • Rearrange the sentence structure and the sentence order so that the sentences read smoothly.

Works Cited

1. Brehens, Laurence; Rosen, Leonard “Research & Composing in the Disciplines” (p. 6 & 7).0