1. Summary- Women’s work and Chicano Families.
Patricia Zavella. 1987. Women’s work and Chicano Families. Cornell University Press. P xi-
17, 69-71, 130-161. • Stone, Pamela. Opting out?: Why women really quit careers and head
home. Univ of California Press, 2007.. If there is more than one reading in your assignment,
you want to write a single summary about both pieces. The pieces usually speak to each
other, however in the second and third paragraphs (see below) you are welcome to focus on
the piece that interests you most. Instructions for writing a summary Summaries should be
about 1 single spaced page, approximately three paragraphs. The first paragraph must
contain the following information: • Author and title (Eg. Dorothy Roberts, Killing the Black
Body) • One sentence on the topic of the piece (eg. Roberts looks at how we have treated
Black motherhood historically). • One sentence on the data used, or about what is used
instead of data (e.g. Roberts uses a wealth of legal cases, but it is not clear what her
sampling method is). • One sentence on a central concern or main argument (e.g. Roberts
argues that as a society we have denigrated Black motherhood and blamed Black poverty on
Black women’s fertility). • One aspect of the article that struck you. It does not have to be
something the author cared about or made central; this is about what struck you. Use the
second paragraph to elaborate on some example of the author’s analysis. For example,
Roberts has a typology of the images of African American women we as a society hold. You
don’t have the opportunity to summarize the whole piece if you only get three paragraphs,
and I’d suggest focusing on an example that you found either convincing or unconvincing.
Your final paragraph should contain some discussion, including any connections you can
make between the reading and the course questions or section topic (e.g., does this piece
make you think there is a united feminist movement?). It is fairly easy to get a pass; you
only need to follow the above instructions, convince me that you read the piece, and get the
author’s argument mostly right. To get a high pass, your description of the reading needs to
be accurate, and your final paragraph has to be interesting and intelligent. Over time, you
should be developing your own arguments on a set of issues you care about.
