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Summary
Paper #1 For your first paper, you will summarize “Opinions and Social Pressure,” by Solomon E. Asch (p. 309-316). A summary should include
the thesis of the article being summarized, the main subordinate ideas, and
important details. A summary should
NOT include editorial commentary; this is the one essay for which I’ll ask
you to keep your opinions to yourself. There are two main purposes of a summary essay. 1) To inform a reader who has not read the
article what it’s about, so the reader can determine if it’s an article he or
she would wish to pursue further. 2)
To help a reader who has already read the article understand it, particularly
if the article is difficult to understand or its main points are hard to
determine because of length, poor writing, or poor organization. If
an article is confusing or poorly organized, it’s up to you to bring order
and coherence to it in your summary.
Remember—don’t mention that the article is hard to understand (that’s
the kind of editorial commentary to be avoided). However, if you have to present the points of the article in a
different order than the author does, feel free. What
I will evaluate: q
Accuracy—this is the most
important quality of a good summary.
You must reflect the article accurately. If you don’t, then your summary will not fulfill either purpose
of a summary. Inaccuracies in
reporting the article result in an automatic “C,” so read carefully. q
Clarity—summaries should be easy
to understand. One of the purposes of
a summary is to shed light on a difficult piece; you will negate this purpose
if you make it difficult for the reader to follow your summary. q
Brevity—summaries should be free
from clutter, unnecessary words and details.
Use concise language. Discuss
only the most important parts of the essay.
Leave the minutiae for another day and another essay. q
Thoroughness—although you’re trying to
be brief, you want to make sure you cover all major points. For example, Asch develops important
conclusions from each variation on the main experiment. It’s important to include those findings. q
Style—summaries are tedious
reading at best, and I’ll be reading about 10-15 summaries of each article if
students choose evenly among the four.
Furthermore, since this a summary assignment, each essay should cover
approximately the same material. The
best essays will stand out by virtue of the quality of their writing, not
just by what they say. In addition to
being grammatically correct and concise, you should try to work on creating
effective variety in sentence length and structure. Subordinate.
Coordinate. Since you don’t
have to worry about creating brilliant thoughts for this essay, you can work
on demonstrating your ability to create effective prose. This does NOT mean using big words for the
sake of using big words. Nor does it
mean you should try to be vague and/or abstruse for the sake of looking
intelligent. Above all, be clear and
concrete. Other: 1)
In your introductory paragraph, you should at least introduce
the author and title of your essay.
The reader needs to know what article you’re summarizing. The reader should also know the origin of
the article, particularly if it’s a chapter from an author’s larger study. 2)
Even though the only source you’ll use is in the textbook, you
should cite it as you would any source, including both parenthetical
citations and a works cited page. 3)
Your essay should be about 750-1000 words. 4)
Authors, both male and female, are referred to by their last
names, i.e. “Asch points out that the subject responded…” 5)
Spell check and proofread.
Sloppiness, although not my primary concern, detracts from your
authority as a writer and my enjoyment of your essay. Due: Wednesday, January 14
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