Summary and Response Your first paper for the class will be a summary of an article related to language – specifically, the article will have to do with how language works. This is a pretty straightforward assignment. The paper should be 2-3 pages long, and in it you should you should concentrate on making the summary complete, concise, and objective. Make sure you are representing the article accurately and fairly, and try to focus on the most important information in the article. After writing the summary, you should also include your own response to the article: what did you find interesting? What did you agree with or disagree with? Interact with the text in some way; enter the conversation - bring your own perspective to it. Please use times new roman, 12 point font, 1 inch margins, double space. You do not need a title page, but please include your name on the first page. I will post a number of articles on Isidore for you to choose from. You only have to read and summarize one of the articles. First Draft: due September 19 (peer review) Final Draft: due September 26 Writing Summaries Where do we see academic written summaries? Critique Papers Synthesis Papers Analysis Papers Research Papers Argument Papers Essay Exams Where do we see workplace written summaries? Policy Briefs Business Plans Memos, letters, and reports Medical Charts Legal Briefs How do I approach writing a summary? Examine the context Who is the author? Where was it published? What are the credentials? Pay attention to the title and subtitle Identify the main point/main claim Identify the subordinate points Break the reading up into sections How do I approach writing a summary? Distinguish between points, examples and counterarguments Watch for transitions between paragraphs Determine the article’s structure This will help you distinguish more and less important information Write a thesis: a one or two sentence summary of the entire passage Write a draft of the summary by combining the thesis plus significant supporting details What makes a good summary? Concise Focuses on the main ideas Complete Accurately represents the entire article, not just a part of it Objective Doesn’t include your opinion of the text, but represents it fairly How should I start my summary? Begin with a ‘thesis’ – a one sentence summary of the entire article After this ‘thesis’, include the most important supporting information What words/phrases can I use to begin? In the article, __________, the author Claims Asserts Argues Shows Emphasizes Observes Reminds us Suggests What words/phrases can I use to begin? According to ______________, in the article _________ … In her book/article ___________ , X maintains that… Writing in the journal _________ , X argues that… Example Summaries "Race, Rock and Elvis," (Book Review) by Pete Daniel In his ambitious Race, Rock, and Elvis Michael Bertrand poses a central question: "Did rock 'n' roll represent an experience capable of ...

1. Summary and Response
Your first paper for the class will be a summary of an article
related to language – specifically, the article will have to do
with how language works. This is a pretty straightforward
assignment. The paper should be 2-3 pages long, and in it you
should you should concentrate on making the summary
complete, concise, and objective. Make sure you are
representing the article accurately and fairly, and try to focus
on the most important information in the article. After writing
the summary, you should also include your own response to the
article: what did you find interesting? What did you agree with
or disagree with? Interact with the text in some way; enter the
conversation - bring your own perspective to it.
Please use times new roman, 12 point font, 1 inch margins,
double space. You do not need a title page, but please include
your name on the first page.
I will post a number of articles on Isidore for you to choose
from. You only have to read and summarize one of the articles.
First Draft: due September 19 (peer review)
Final Draft: due September 26
Writing Summaries
Where do we see academic written summaries?
Critique Papers
Synthesis Papers
Analysis Papers
Research Papers
Argument Papers
Essay Exams

2. Where do we see workplace written summaries?
Policy Briefs
Business Plans
Memos, letters, and reports
Medical Charts
Legal Briefs
How do I approach writing a summary?
Examine the context
Who is the author? Where was it published? What are the
credentials?
Pay attention to the title and subtitle
Identify the main point/main claim
Identify the subordinate points
Break the reading up into sections
How do I approach writing a summary?
Distinguish between points, examples and counterarguments
Watch for transitions between paragraphs
Determine the article’s structure
This will help you distinguish more and less important
information
Write a thesis: a one or two sentence summary of the entire
passage
Write a draft of the summary by combining the thesis plus
significant supporting details
What makes a good summary?
Concise
Focuses on the main ideas
Complete

3. Accurately represents the entire article, not just a part of it
Objective
Doesn’t include your opinion of the text, but represents it fairly
How should I start my summary?
Begin with a ‘thesis’ – a one sentence summary of the entire
article
After this ‘thesis’, include the most important supporting
information
What words/phrases can I use to begin?
In the article, __________, the author
Claims
Asserts
Argues
Shows
Emphasizes
Observes
Reminds us
Suggests
What words/phrases can I use to begin?
According to ______________, in the article _________ …
In her book/article ___________ , X maintains that…
Writing in the journal _________ , X argues that…
Example Summaries
"Race, Rock and Elvis," (Book Review) by Pete Daniel
In his ambitious Race, Rock, and Elvis Michael Bertrand poses
a central question: "Did rock 'n' roll represent an experience

4. capable of affecting the ideology of race?" (p. 47). The black
influence on rock 'n' roll was no secret, yet becoming a fan
rarely signaled support for integration. Many white southern
youth growing up in the 1950s embraced rhythm and blues and
rock 'n' roll music—and segregation. The black roots of this
music and the accompanying style invaded all levels of southern
society, provoking both adoration and condemnation. Bertrand
has examined ideology, politics, and consumerism in seeking
the connection between music and social change. (he then goes
on to critique the book)
Example Summaries
The Okies were more accurately Southwestern, for they came
not only from Oklahoma but also surrounding states. According
to historian James Gregory in his definitive study, American
Exodus: The Dust Bowl Migration and Okie Culture in
California, by 1950, four million people or nearly a quarter of
all persons born in Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas, or Missouri,
lived outside that region. A third of them settled in California
while most of the others moved to Arizona, New Mexico,
Oregon, and Washington. The best known period of this trek
westward is the period of the Dust Bowl, the 1930s, when the
majority of the migrants first camped, and then settled mainly in
the agricultural valleys of California. During the Second World
War many of the Central Valley Dust Bowl migrants moved
nearer the defense plants, particularly around Los Angeles, to
work. And a half-million more Southwestern migrants, dubbed
"defense Okies," arrived for wartime jobs.
Example Summaries
"Psychedelic music," as created and played in San Francisco in

5. the 1960s, drew far more heavily from the folk revival that
preceded it than has been previously acknowledged. The
revival's influence on San Francisco psychedelia can be seen in
its ideology, repertoire, instrumental techniques, vocal
harmonies, critique of politics and society, inclusion of female
vocalists and penchant for playacting. In 1966, folklorist Ellen
Stekert identified four groups of people involved in the revival:
traditional singers, utilizers, imitators (she later preferred
emulators), and creators of a new aesthetic (Stekert 1993:96-
100). Traditional singers learned their music orally in their
early years. They inspired the emulators, such as the New Lost
City Ramblers, who immersed themselves in traditional
Southern musical and cultural milieus while aiming for a purity
of intention and presentation referred to as "authenticity."
Utilizers, such as the Weavers and the Kingston Trio, made folk
music commercial by freely changing tunes, texts, and styles to
fit an existing urban aesthetic. The fourth group, which included
Joan Baez, Judy Collins, and Peter, Paul, and Mary, belonged to
the new aesthetic, which created new artistic traditions out "a
merger of vocal and instrumental folk, classical, jazz, and pop
styles" (Stekert 1993:99).The psychedelic music of San
Francisco may be viewed as one stream of these new traditions;
it emerged from a group of artists who had participated in the
folk revival as emulators and utilizers.