3.5: Writing a Paragraph Summary

While a one-sentence summary serves to introduce only the most essential aspects of a source, a paragraph summary includes a bit more information.

A. Characteristics of a Good Paragraph Summary

A strong paragraph summary

• includes the main idea of the article.
• includes the supporting details of the article (the ideas that prove the main idea).
• paraphrases the original article.
• has transitions between main ideas, details, and examples.
• frequently refers to the author by last name.
• identifies how the original article is organized.
• is concise (for this class, about 150-200 words in length).
• does not include any additional information from other sources or your opinion.

B. Structure of a Paragraph Summary

Use your annotations to compose your summary paragraph. Here is an outline to help you:

1. FIRST SENTENCE - ONE SENTENCE SUMMARY/OVERALL MAIN IDEA

Introduce the author, title, & thesis (main idea). For example:
In "(title of article)," (name of author) argues that (thesis).
**See One-Sentence Summary Templates and Signal Phrases: Saying vs. Doing for additional templates.

2. MIDDLE SENTENCES (approximately 4-6)

First, demonstrate the organizational pattern(s). For example:
(Author’s last name) outlines (three differences between ___ and ___ /two causes and an effect of ___ / the problem of ___ and two possible solutions).

Next, introduce the main supporting details using the organizational pattern. For example:
\(\qquad\) points out (the pros) of \(\qquad\) . For example...

Optional: If there is more than one organizational pattern, introduce those main supporting points next. For example:
\(\qquad\) points out (the cons) of \(\qquad\) . For example ...

Remember to use transitions to show how ideas are connected to each other. For example:
\(\qquad\) goes on to say that .../___ adds that .../ \(\qquad\) uses the example of \(\qquad\) to explain ...
**See Recognizing Patterns of Organization for help.
**See Using Precise Reporting Verbs for additional examples.

3. CONCLUDING SENTENCE

Restate the thesis or the conclusion of the article. For example:
The author concludes that .../ In short, the article recommends that ...
REMEMBER to use different ways to refer to the author throughout the summary paragraph, including their last name and appropriate pronouns. Try not to use "the author."-

C. Using Precise Reporting Verbs

A reporting verb is a word which is used to talk about sources or to attribute an idea to someone. Reporting verbs can be very effective in conveying meaning, but the difficulty with using them is that there are many, and each of them has a slightly different and often subtle meaning.

It is repetitive and boring to write Smith says... over and over again. Fortunately, there is a wide choice of reporting verbs in English. Reporting verbs can indicate:

• the author’s personal viewpoint
• your viewpoint regarding what the author says
• the author’s viewpoint regarding others’ ideas

To interpret the writer’s ideas accurately, however, you will need to use a verb with the correct nuance (sense of meaning). Use an English learner’s dictionary to check that you have the right verb for the right context.

Choosing accurate reporting verbs to reflect both the function that the author is performing and your feeling about it (or to conceal your feeling with a neutral reporting verb) is an important skill to develop. Consider the following:

|l|l|l|l| MOVE / FUNCTION & WEAKER POSITION & & STRONGER POSITION
addition & & adds &
advice & & advises &
agreement & admits, concedes &

accepts, acknowledges,

agrees, concurs, confirms,

recognizes

&

applauds,

congratulates,

extols, praises,

supports

argument

and

persuasion

& apologizes &

assures, encourages,

interprets, justifies,

reasons

&

alerts, argues, boasts,

contends, convinces,

emphasizes, exhorts,

forbids, insists, proves,

promises, persuades,

threatens, warns

believing &

guesses, hopes,

imagines

&

believes, claims, declares,

expresses, feels, holds,

knows, maintains,

professes, subscribes to,

thinks

&

asserts, guarantees,

insists, upholds

MOVE / FUNCTION	WEAKER POSITION	NEUTRAL POSITION	STRONGER POSITION
conclusion		concludes, discovers, finds, infers, realizes
disagreement and questioning	doubts, questions	challenges, debates, disagrees, questions, requests, wonders	accuses, attacks, complains, contradicts, criticises, denies, discards, disclaims, discounts, dismisses, disputes, disregards, negates, objects to, opposes, refutes, rejects
discussion	comments	discusses, explores	reasons
emphasis			accentuates, emphasizes, highlights, stresses, underscores, warns
evaluation and examination		analyzes, appraises, assesses, compares considers, contrasts, critiques, evaluates, examines, investigates, understands	blames, complains, ignores, scrutinizes, warns
explanation		articulates, clarifies, explains
presentation	confuses	comments, defines, describes,estimates, forgets, identifies, illustrates, implies, informs, instructs, lists, mentions, notes, observes, outlines, points out, presents, remarks, reminds, reports, restates, reveals, shows, states, studies, tells, uses	announces, promises
suggestion	alleges, intimates, speculates	advises, advocates, hypothesizes, posits, postulates, proposes, suggests, theorizes	asserts, recommends, urges

Example Sentences

Remember that in MLA style, reporting verbs should be in the present tense, and you should include the page number if there is one.

Boynton warns the reader that ordinary chocolate is too frail to withstand heat, moisture, and proximity to baked beans (p. 79).

Hanks defines an idiom as an expression whose "meaning...is distinct from the sum of its parts" (p. 257).

Smith disagrees with Frye when she maintains that many students have trouble with reporting verbs.

Some people subscribe to the idea that chocolate is unhealthy, but Boynton’s book refutes this claim.

This paper investigates the effects of alcohol on memory and stresses that further research be done as a matter of urgency.

? =0

⁷

??=0

⁸

D. Going Beyond List Summaries

i. What are "List Summaries"?

You may have learned to write a list summary in previous English classes. This type of summary involves paraphrasing topic sentences (the first line of each paragraph) from a text and adding "list" transitions between them.

"List" transitions include: first, second, third, finally, next, also, then, additionally, in addition, moreover, furthermore

ii. The Problem with List Summaries

For longer academic texts, list summaries are inefficient. They are often excessively long and full of unnecessary details. They also fail to adequately show the relationship between the ideas in the text.

iii. Summarizing by Organizational Patterns

One way to avoid long summaries with unnecessary details is to summarize by organizational pattern. Think about how the author is developing their argument. Are they presenting the effects of a cause? Contrasting two things? Outlining a problem and offering a solution?

PRACTICE 1: Reviewing Organizational Patterns
Brainstorm 3-4 examples of organizational/rhetorical patterns that authors might use in their work and what signal phrases may indicate that pattern.

|c|c|

Organizational

Pattern

&

Signal Phrases

(that help me identify the pattern)

\(\bullet\) & \(\bullet\)
&

See this chart from earlier in this chapter for key words that signal different organizational patterns.

PRACTICE 2: Evaluating Sample Student Summaries

Below are two student summaries of an article titled "The Deadly Noodle" by Michael Hastings, Stefan Thiel, and Dana Thomas. Consider the pros and cons of each summary, then decide which you think is more effective and explain why.

Summary 1 (172 words)
In their article "The Deadly Noodle," Hastings, Thiel, and Thomas explain that the spread of the American diet and lifestyle has caused health crises in countries around the world. The authors note that both developed and developing countries are experiencing negative effects because of the spread of these habits. The authors explain that one effect is that these nations are experiencing a more sedentary lifestyle. For example, people work on assembly lines, ride in cars, and watch television. In addition to physical activity, the authors also show the ways in which food is being affected. They write that foods are becoming less healthful because of increased use of carbohydrates, oil, and sugar, which all cause an increase in calories. Finally, the authors explain that because of the lack of physical activity and a healthful diet, obesity is rising, and, as a result, health care costs rise as well. The authors conclude that the popularity of the American diet and lifestyle internationally may be attractive, but are also causing an obesity epidemic worldwide.

Summary 2 (268 words)
In their article, "The Deadly Noodle", Hastings, Thiel, and Thomas write that greasy burgers and processed food are making the world fat. First, they write that France has resisted American cultural imperialism in the area of food, but it is still influenced by America’s junk food. A sign of this is that France’s children are gaining more weight in recent years. Then they write that the problem of the spread of American food is even more obvious in developing countries. Urbanization is causing people to move less and foods in these countries are becoming more processed, which makes them higher in calories and unhealthier. The authors state that nobody thought it would be easy to resist the American diet, but it’s even more difficult than people thought it would be. Derek Yach says that people can blame globalization and major brands like

Coca-Cola or McDonald’s for this issue. Next, the authors say that the number of overweight people in the United States has doubled, and that Asia and Europe are also seeing increasing numbers of overweight people. For example, diabetes has been rising in China and India more than in any other country. Then the authors say that cooking oil is causing a problem because it’s so cheap, so Indians use it too much. After that, the authors say that sugar is another part of the problem. Another problem is that people aren’t moving around and are becoming couch-potatoes. Finally, the authors say that this is all a problem because healthcare costs are rising. Popkin says, "It’s a very attractive lifestyle, but it’s killing people all the same."

E. Summary Review & Additional Practice

Now that we’ve covered one-sentence summaries and paragraph summaries, check your understanding of what makes a summary effective. Try to be as specific as possible when providing feedback in Practice 2.

PRACTICE 1: Recognizing the Elements of Good and Bad Summaries

Download and open up the interactive PPT and follow the directions on slide 1.

PRACTICE 2: Evaluating One-sentence Summaries
Provide feedback for these three one-sentence summaries of an article by Zeynep Tufekci titled "The Machines are Coming." What does each do well? How can each be improved? Use the comment feature to add your ideas.

According to the article, the abilities of robots will be improved constantly. What people need to do to solve this problem is to learn more useful skills in order to improve ourselves.

According to the article "The Machines Are Coming," Zeynep Tufekci states how in the coming age of robots, people should reflect on their progress.

In the article" The Machines Are Coming," Zeynep Tufekci states that robots can collect customers’ preference information to benefit employers. She also mentions that we need to think about the relationship between humans and technology.

PRACTICE 3: Evaluating Paragraph Summaries

Provide feedback for these two paragraph summaries of the article "The Hidden Epidemic of Teen Hunger" by Laura Bliss. What does each do well? How can each be improved?

Summary 1

In her article "The Hidden Epidemic of Teen Hunger," Laura Bliss describes a recent study by Susan J. Popkin that analyzed the causes and effects of teen hunger, as well as presented some possible solutions. Bliss points out that teens in the U.S. are more likely to experience food insecurity than younger kids because programs that fight poverty focus on little kids, while older teens "take on adult-like responsibilities, feel powerful social pressures, and engage in impulsive behavior." Because teenagers can be embarrassed by being poor, many of them shoplift, sell drugs, or even sell their own bodies in order to get food. Ironically, Bliss points out, obesity and food insecurity are two sides of the same coin; fast food is cheaper than healthy food. Popkin’s team also suggested some possible solutions to the problem of food insecurity and the negative ways in which teenagers try to deal with it, including giving teenagers more SNAP benefits to get food, making better teen job programs, and getting teens involved in organizations that fight food insecurity.

Summary 2

First, Bliss writes about Susan J. Popkin, a housing and poverty researcher who did a study on teen hunger. Next, she describes how little kids are different from teenagers because teenagers experiencing hunger are overlooked and also feel stigma about being hungry. Bliss says that teenagers undertake risky behavior, like stealing, selling drugs, or using sex to get food. Then, she writes that food insecurity has become "normal." Bliss describes Popkin’s study that gathered 200 teenagers from 13 to 18 in 10 communities across the United States to talk about their experiences with food insecurity. First, the study found that teenagers suffer problems just as much as little kids do from food insecurity. Second, the study found that teenagers are totally aware of the problem; they understand that healthy food is expensive and that their families make sacrifices so that all the kids can eat. Third, the teenagers in the study talked about how
they find ways to get food, from staying at a friend’s family’s house to engaging in criminal activities like shoplifting. Finally, Popkin’s study talked about federal policy implications and about how teenagers are capable of solving the problem of teen hunger if they work together in organizations.