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How to Write an Effective Summary Summary is an important part of introduction paragraphs and academic writing in general

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How to Write an Effective Summary Summary is an important part of introduction paragraphs and academic writing in general. When you are reconstructing the “conversation,” it is necessary to accurately and succinctly say what “They say.” In this activity, you will be tasked with writing a short summary of an article of your choice. Below is an example from one of our readings. You may not choose this article to summarize. Outsourcing the Mentally Ill to the Police In an article titled “Outsourcing the Mentally Ill to the Police”, published in the National Review, columnist Rich Lowry recounts tragic stories of mentally ill people being killed by the police. He claims the police have become “defacto front line-mental health workers” that often do not have the training to properly deal with the problems that should be the purview of mental health professionals. To highlight the scope of the issue, he contrasts the small number of beds in psychiatric hospitals with the shockingly high number of mentally ill people in our prison system. He acknowledges that police could be better trained to avoid unnecessary killings, but he also laments that police are put in this position in the first place due to the mental health industry’s lack of resources for the ill and their families. Let’s note some important elements of this summary. 1. Establishes author, title, and publication. “In an article titled 'Outsourcing the Mentally Ill to the Police' published in the National Review, columnist Rich Lowry […]" 2. Uses attributive tags and active verbs. “Rich Lowry recounts” “He acknowledges” 3. Conveys author’s purpose objectively. Tells what he or she did, not just said. “To highlight the scope of the issue, he contrasts the small number of beds in psychiatric hospitals with the shockingly high number of mentally ill people in our prison system.” The summary may not cover all the points of the article, but it covers the major ones it needs to accurately convey the author’s main points, especially the ones needed to construct the conversation that you want to enter. Here are some other tips on writing an effective summary: • Read the article(s) multiple times before you try to summarize them: By this point in the course you will have probably read your chosen "They Say" article(s) at least once (hopefully twice!), but it's important to get into the habit of reading any article with which you are working as many times as you can because each "exposure" to it will allow for the article's more subtle points to be more easily understood increase your overall comprehension. The more familiar you are with the "They Say" argument, the more clearly and concisely you'll be able to make it, so be sure to read, read, READ! • Annotate while you read: Annotating—writing down notes, questions, and comments to yourself in the margins of the page as they arise is another effective strategy for composing focused summaries. By taking these notes, you can more easily find the parts of the article which are most relevant to your "I Say" contribution. See section W-14a in The Little Seagull Handbook for a quick discussion on annotating while you read or take the time to read the following link. • Only focus on the most pertinent details: This tip is a continuation of the one above. After introducing the author(s) and title of the They Say article(s) you should summarize the points which are most relevant to your own argument. Not every idea in the article will be useful in constructing the conversation you want to enter, so think about what you need before you summarize. • Don't assume those reading your summary will have read the article too: This may seem a bit obvious, but because we will be working so closely with our “They Say” articles it's easy to take for granted that those reading your work will know which article you're referring to. As such, it's important to introduce the full title of the article and to name the authors as well before you jump into the summary of it; you could even do so in a sentence in which you quickly state the overall purpose of the article itself, which would serve as a good jumping off point for the more focused summary that follows. • Adopt an objective tone and remain neutral in telling us what the author says: Because a summary is meant to simply reflect the ideas and points made by the author in a more condensed space it is important to not "interject" our own opinions, feelings, or "takes" on the concepts being summarized. The entire Body of the paper represents your chance to explore your own argument, so be sure to be objective in tone with the goal of accurately reflecting what the author is saying. • Use direct quotes judiciously: The purpose of a summary is to use your own words to re-state what the author's point is but in a more condensed fashion, and as such you should only use direct quotes for ideas that you feel can’t be articulated without the exact wording of the author. See sections R-4c and R-4d in The Little Seagull Handbook if you need some help with summarizing and paraphrasing. • Use "active" verbs to accurately describe what the author "does": One common fate of many summaries is falling a bit flat because the writer gets stuck using the same one or two general verbs to describe what the text does. Verbs like says, tells, writes, and states aren't necessarily wrong, but they don't really convey any "action" or description, and because a summary needs to be concise, using active verbs is useful, as they convey more specific "direction" than the ones above. • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • List of Active Verbs Acknowledges • Differentiates Amplifies • Discusses Analyzes • Dissects Argues • Distinguishes Articulates • Establishes Asserts • Evaluates Blends • Exemplifies Challenges • Explains Clarifies • Forecasts Compares • Gathers Compiles • Generalizes Concludes • Identifies Constructs • Illustrates Contrasts • Incorporates Debates • Inspects Deconstructs • Integrates Defends • Interprets Defines • Introduces • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • Justifies Models Navigates Organizes Outlines Persuades Predicts Presents Proposes Proves Qualifies Questions Substantiates Suggests Summarizes Theorizes Traces Uses • Vary your sentence patterns: If the use of active verbs helps to make the summary more alive to readers, using a variety of sentence patterns helps the summary to "flow" well and not feel a bit clunky. For example, starting each sentence of your summary with "[Author's name or Pronoun] + [verb] will make the summary read more like a bullet-pointed list of ideas rather than a cohesive overview of the author's argument. Visit the following link from the Writing Center at UNC-Chapel Hill for some further help with varying your sentence patterns.