Summary

A summary, according to Diana Hacker in A Writer's Reference, "answers the question of what a text says" (A1-c).

Your goal is to "state the work's main ideas and key points simply, briefly, and accurately" (62).

Write a summary after reading a text (reading, rereading, annotating, applying critical thinking skills), outline the text: First, what is the thesis or main idea? Second, what are the key points or central points?

Hacker also lists "Guidelines for writing a summary":

In the first sentence, mention the title of the text, the name of the author, and the author's thesis or the visual's central point.

Maintain a neutral tone; be objective.

Use the third person point-of-view and the present tense.

Keep your focus on the text. Don't state the author's ideas as if they were your own.

Put all or most of the summary in your own words; if you borrow a phrase from the text, put it in quotation marks and give the page number in parentheses.

Limit yourself to presenting the text's key points.

Be concise; make every word count. (63 6th ed.; 72-73 7th ed )

Hacker, Diana. A Writer's Reference. 6th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2007.

Hacker, Diana and Nancy Sommers. "Summarize to Demonstrate Your Understanding." A Writer's Reference. 7th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2011. 72-73. Print.

The attachments, below, provide examples of summaries and, except for the King summary, provide examples of a response - annotation - as well.

Additionally, the rubric that is used for grading the summary-annotation assignments is attached.

Note that a bibliographic citation is included for each selection from From Idea to Essay.