Summary Checklist Go through the sample summary and identify all the required elements. Then use the checklist to ensure that this sample summary meets all the criteria for a passing grade. Does the summary have a title that is different from the title of the article? yes no Does the summary have the author’s first and last name, article year and title and a reporting verb in the summary’s first sentence? yes no Does the first sentence include the topic and the main idea of the article? yes no Are all the main ideas of the article included in the summary? yes no Is the author’s family name (last name) and a reporting verb repeated at least two times in the summary? (e.g., Smith (1998) further argued that...) yes no Is the entire summary written in the own words of the writer? (Did he/she paraphrase appropriately?) yes no Does the summary include only the original author’s ideas/opinions? yes no Are clear and appropriate transitions and connectors used? yes no Grammar: Did the writer edit the summary to fix errors in capitalization, grammar (verbs, word form), spelling, sentence structure, and word choices? yes no Did the writer avoid plagiarism? yes no Culture Shock Adapted from an article by Kalervo Oberg First published in Psychology Today, January 2003 A few days after Xiaowei Zhu, a friendly, outgoing Chinese student, arrived in Toronto, she suddenly became very depressed. She didn’t want to eat the food. She felt helpless because she had great difficulty communicating. Every evening she phoned her parents to share her feelings of frustration, anxiety, and loneliness. The only time she felt comfortable was when she met with some of her Chinese classmates in Chinatown. Xiaowei’s situation is not unusual. Culture shock is an illness suffered by many people who suddenly arrive in a new country. Although individuals differ greatly in the degree in which culture shock affects them, all people go through the same stages in dealing with their new situation. At first, most individuals are fascinated by the newness of their surroundings. They find themselves surrounded by new friends, new foods, new customs, a new language, and a new lifestyle. They feel excited and interested in exploring a different environment. This honeymoon stage may last from a few days or weeks to six months, depending on circumstances. But this mentality does not normally last if the foreigner remains abroad and has to seriously cope with real conditions of life. It is then that the second stage begins, characterized by a hostile and aggressive attitude toward the new country. This hostility grows out of the genuine difficulty that the newcomer experiences in the process of adjustment. There are house troubles, transportation troubles, shopping troubles, communication difficulties, and the fact that people in the new country are largely indifferent to all of these. They help, but they don’t understand the great concern .

1. Summary Checklist
Go through the sample summary and identify all the required
elements. Then use the checklist to ensure that this sample
summary meets all the criteria for a passing grade.
Does the summary have a title that is different from the title of
the article?
yes
no
Does the summary have the author’s first and last name, article
year and title and a reporting verb in the summary’s first
sentence?
yes
no
Does the first sentence include the topic and the main idea of
the article?
yes
no
Are all the main ideas of the article included in the summary?
yes
no
Is the author’s family name (last name) and a reporting verb
repeated at least two times in the summary? (e.g., Smith (1998)
further argued that...)
yes

2. no
Is the entire summary written in the own words of the writer?
(Did he/she paraphrase appropriately?)
yes
no
Does the summary include only the original author’s
ideas/opinions?
yes
no
Are clear and appropriate transitions and connectors used?
yes
no
Grammar: Did the writer edit the summary to fix errors in
capitalization, grammar (verbs, word form), spelling, sentence
structure, and word choices?
yes
no
Did the writer avoid plagiarism?
yes
no

3. Culture Shock
Adapted from an article by Kalervo Oberg
First published in Psychology Today, January 2003
A few days after Xiaowei Zhu, a friendly, outgoing Chinese
student, arrived in Toronto, she suddenly became very
depressed. She didn’t want to eat the food. She felt helpless
because she had great difficulty communicating. Every evening
she phoned her parents to share her feelings of frustration,
anxiety, and loneliness. The only time she felt comfortable was
when she met with some of her Chinese classmates in
Chinatown. Xiaowei’s situation is not unusual. Culture shock is
an illness suffered by many people who suddenly arrive in a
new country. Although individuals differ greatly in the degree
in which culture shock affects them, all people go through the
same stages in dealing with their new situation.
At first, most individuals are fascinated by the newness of their
surroundings. They find themselves surrounded by new friends,
new foods, new customs, a new language, and a new lifestyle.
They feel excited and interested in exploring a different
environment. This honeymoon stage may last from a few days
or weeks to six months, depending on circumstances.
But this mentality does not normally last if the foreigner
remains abroad and has to seriously cope with real conditions of
life. It is then that the second stage begins, characterized by a
hostile and aggressive attitude toward the new country. This
hostility grows out of the genuine difficulty that the newcomer
experiences in the process of adjustment. There are house
troubles, transportation troubles, shopping troubles,
communication difficulties, and the fact that people in the new
country are largely indifferent to all of these. They help, but

4. they don’t understand the great concern a foreigner may have
over these difficulties.
It was at this point that Xiaowei began phoning her parents. She
was in a homestay with a Canadian family where she where she
was frequently served pasta and salad instead of the rice and
vegetables that she was used to. In addition, although the family
was very friendly and really wanted to help her improve her
English, her communication skills were so limited that she felt
isolated even though she wasn’t alone. Because of those
troubles, the foreigner may get together with others from his or
her country and criticize the new country, its ways, and its
people. This criticism, however, is not objective; it often
becomes the source of stereotypes. For example, when Xiaowei
met with classmates in Chinatown, she complained about her
unhealthy diet and the coldness of Canadians. The second stage
of culture shock is in a sense a crisis in the disease. If the
newcomer comes out of it, he or she stays. If not, they leave
before they reach the stage of a nervous breakdown. Studies
have shown that on average, thirty percent of international
students return home within one year of arrival, not having
completed their studies.
If foreigners succeed in getting some knowledge of the language
and begin to get around by themselves, they are beginning to
open the way into the new cultural environment. They still have
difficulties, but they have accepted the fact that these are
problems they have to deal with. Usually in this stage, they take
a superior attitude to residents of the new country. Instead of
criticizing, they joke about the people and even crack jokes
about their own difficulties. They are now on the way to
recovery.
In the fourth stage, the adjustment is about as complete as it can
be. The foreigner now accepts the customs of the country as just
another way of living. They generally operate within the new

5. surroundings without a feeling of anxiety. Although they will
probably still need a long time before feeling completely at
home in the new culture, they will in the end actually begin to
appreciate what makes the new culture different from what they
are familiar with. Happily, when Xiaowei returned to China for
summer vacation, she was surprised to discover how much she
missed her lifestyle in Canada.