Formal Academic Summary Directions

Formal Academic Summary Directions
Spring 2011 WR 121 Handout - Prof. Cora Agatucci

1. Assignment Topic: Write your Formal Academic Summary on one of the following essays:

Robin Tolmach Lakoff, "From Ancient Greece to Iraq, the Power of Words in Wartime" (in Muller pp. 7-9)
Benedict Carey, "Judging Honesty by Words, Not Fidgets" (in Muller pp. 9-12)
Mortimer J. Adler, "How to Mark a Book" (in Muller pp.13-16)

2. Assignment Length: No longer than 1 word-processed and double spaced page using standard margins, fonts & point sizes--e.g. Times New Roman 12 point or Arial 10 point or Calibri 12 point. NOTE: Grade penalty will be exacted IF Formal Academic Summary, including required MLA style header and double-spaced correctly formatted MLA-style bibliographical entry, exceeds length limit of one (1) double-spaced page.

3. Assignment Genre and Manuscript Form Requirements: Review Cora's Example Formal Academic Summary, including these features:

Label your assignment with an MLA Style Header (may be single spaced or double spaced) in the upper left-hand corner of your document:

Juanita Student
WR 121, Prof. C. Agatucci
Formal Academic Summary
7 April 2011

Next provide an MLA-style bibliographical entry, which must be double spaced & correctly formatted, for the source summarized. Here's one MLA style entry for Adler (but see the end of this handout for Lakoff and for Carey):

Adler, Mortimer J. "How to Mark a Book." The McGraw-Hill Reader: Issues across the Disciplines. Ed. Gilbert H. Muller. 11th ed. Boston: McGraw-Hill, 2011. 13-16. Print.

Then provide your summary paragraph of the source, following these requirements:
--your summary must be double spaced and formatted as one single paragraph.

--the first sentence/s of your summary paragraph should:
- formally reintroduce the author’s full name and the article’s full title,
- present the topic focus and identify thesis of the essay being summarized.
--your summary paragraph should integrate occasional author tags and use appropriate active verbs, but do NOT refer to an author by first name only in formal academic writing (instead refer to author/s by last name/s, full name/s, title + last name/s, appropriate synonym or clear pronoun reference:
- Examples:

According to Lakoff, in Lakoff’s opinion, Robin Tolmach Lakoff claims that . . .
Carey states, Lakoff asserts, Adler contends, asks, observes, maintains, explains, questions, objects . . .
Adler points out, Carey compares, Lakoff contrasts, confirms, calls for, denies, concedes, counters . . .
The author believes, emphasizes, supports, argues, affirms, contends, counters . . .

4. Assignment Content & Coherence Requirements:

Be selective. Summarize the argument's thesis and ONLY major supporting points, and do NOT include minor points, details, specific examples.
Remember the double-spaced 1-page limit! The author's thesis/case claim should be presented in the first sentence/s of your summary, and then remaining space you are allotted should be devoted to representing the major supporting points of the text that you consider most important to the author's essay thesis.
Do NOT quote extensively from the author's text. Use your own words to summarize and paraphrase the author's thesis and main points. (See also "Paraphrasing" and "Summarizing" in our Muller textbook, pp. 23-26.)
Be accurate when you summarize and paraphrase, and be careful NOT to misrepresent the author’s main points, purpose, emphases. Please read and re-read the essay, be sure you understand it (or ask questions if you don't), before you prepare your Formal Academic Summary.
Be objective: Do NOT give your own opinions on the author's ideas, and do NOT analyze or evaluate the writing quality of the essay. Stick to representing, accurately and objectively, the essay's main content points in your Formal Academic Summary.
Be concise and clear: Do NOT be wordy or repeat points unnecessarily or quote extensively, BUT do NOT sacrifice clarity for conciseness in the process.
Be organized & coherent. Do NOT slavishly follow the author’s order of presentation in the argument being summarized if it deviates from the requirements of this assignment (e.g. your summary is supposed to present the author's thesis/case claim in the first sentence/s and then represent the major supporting points within the length limit). Do use appropriate transitions to indicate relationships among author’s main points represented in your Formal Academic Summary.

5. Assignment Clarity & Correctness of Written Expression will also be considered in grading, so please proofread and edit your final draft carefully before submitting for grading.

MLA-style bibliographical entry, which must be double spaced & correctly formatted, for Lakoff:

Lakoff, Robin Tolmach. "From Ancient Greece to Iraq, the Power of Words in Wartime." [New York Times 18 May 2004.] The McGraw-Hill Reader: Issues across the Disciplines. Ed. Gilbert H. Muller. 11th ed. Boston: McGraw-Hill , 2011. 7-9. Print.

MLA-style bibliographical entry, which must be double spaced & correctly formatted, for Carey:

Carey, Benedict. "Judging Honesty by Words, Not Fidgets." [New York Times 12 May 2009.] The McGraw-Hill Reader: Issues across the Disciplines. Ed. Gilbert H. Muller. 11th ed. Boston: McGraw-Hill , 2011. 9-12. Print.

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Last Updated: 29 March 2011

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Humanities Department, Central Oregon Community College
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