1. Basic Writing 2 w/workshop
February 24, 2011

2. • Remember when writing a
paragraph I told you to think of
the table top as the main idea,
the legs as the supporting
sentences and the concluding
paragraph as the lovely
tablecloth…

3. •Well, get ready to get
the legs (and the
tablecloth) pulled out
from under you!

4. • When you write a summary, you
want ONLY the main idea from the
paragraph! You want ONLY the
table top from our table.
• This will prepare you for your next
major assignment; creating an
arsenal (3) of article summaries!

5. Page 234
• “A summary condenses and presents
information, often from a single source.
When you write a summary, your goal is to
concisely present information from an essay,
article or book so that your reader
understands the main points. A summary
ordinarily presents the author’s ideas
objectively, without criticism or evaluation”
(Arlov 234).

6. 234
• “At the end of the summary, if the
assignment calls for it, write a brief
evaluation of the essay or article you are
summarizing” (Arlov 234).

7. • First realize that “good readers distinguish
the most important ideas in a passage and
summarize them according to an appropriate
organizational pattern” (name #).
• “…it is (your) responsibility to bring meaning
to the text” (name #).

8. EMQA•E
•Q
•M
•A 1. Explanation
2. Modeling
3.Questionin
g
4. Application

9. • Explanation- you need to put the key concepts of
the article in your own words and omit personal
opinion. Be objective.
• The source of information should come from
context textbooks or periodicals but…
We are going to use the
Great Big Book of Oprah

10. • We must remember to
– Delete minor and redundant details, remember
how hard we worked to create those details!
– Combine similar details into categories and
provide a label, then
– Select main idea sentences when the author
provides them
– Invent main idea sentences when the
author is not explicit.
This rule is
applied most
successfully
These 3
rules
require
more
thought.
You must
move from
the general
to the

11. • Modeling-this must be done both verbally and
in writing.
– I will articulate my though process. You read
silently while I read aloud.
Questioning-you must be involved in the
questioning; too may college students are passive
learners.
You easily ask product questions; these are related
to the finished product…

12. “Is my
paper
correct or
incorrect?
”
“Does it
have the
correct
number of
pages?”
“Should it
be typed
or hand-
written?”

13. You need to ask process questions
“What details
did my
summary
miss?”
“What point do
these details
serve in my
summary?”
“If I delete
these
details, will
it improve
my
summary?”

14. • Application-Find 3 articles to summarize.
Go find the article, Can
New Shoes Make You
Happy? It is by Valerie
Monroe

15. “Go to the RACC homepage.”

16. Yocum library-quick links

17. “Online databases-all subjects”

18. “Click ‘continue’”

19. Type in the article title
• Can New Shoes Make You Happy
• Author, Valerie Monroe
• O Oprah magazine

20. Too many titles? (1396)

21. “Let’s narrow it down”
Click the
Publications
tab

22. “Click the letter ‘O’”
Find O: The Oprah
Magazine: New
York

23. “Now type in the title”

24. There it is!

25. Let’s read an EMQA!

26. • Remember, summarize first and then you can
impart your personal opinion. This is hard
sometimes, especially if you vehemently
disagree with the topic.