SUMMARIZING,
ANALYZING, AND
SYNTHESIZING
How to write a reader
response paper
Academic
Business
Critique papers
Policy Briefs
Synthesis papers
Business Plans
Analysis papers
Memos, Letters
Research Papers
Reports
Literature
Reviews
Proposals
Argumentative White Paper
Papers
Steps to summarizing:
1.
2.
3.
Read the text
Annotate (take notes on) the text
Only summarize the important
elements
4. Put the author’s important points
in your own words
5. Use APA citation at the end of the
paragraph
When and what do you analyze?
Academic
Examinations
Essays
Text Books
Lectures
Practice
Situations
People
Information
Products
When and Where
Everything you do in business requires synthesis
• Marketing
• Accounting
• Production
• Information systems
• Economics
• Human Capital
• Logistics
The Working Poor: Writing Assignment
(All Options): Analyze your beliefs
AND
(Option 1) Summarize and respond to a current
event topic article
OR
(Option 2) Attend, summarize, and respond to
one of the presentations
OR
(Option 3) Read, summarize, and respond to
the book
Analyze your beliefs (Section 1 – All Options)
This is the introduction and you may begin this
introduction by the following:
My father has always instilled in me the value of hard
work. He and my mother both worked hard, and they
instilled into my sister and me that hard work is the
key to success. While I have known poor people in
my life, I have always thought that they were poor
because they didn’t work hard or that they were not
able to manage their money. I believe that in order to
be successful, you must study hard in school and then
work hard at the job that you get and that will insure
your success and keep you from being poor.
Current Event (Section 2 – Option 1)
While I have strong opinions about how people succeed, I was
shocked by what one journalists, John Doe, from the NYT reported. In
his article, “Professional People on Skid Row.” Doe claims that 32% of
people on skid row are there because of their jobs being outsourced.
Once these men and women lost their jobs, they were unable to get
new ones because of the economy. Many lost their homes, their cars,
and in some cases their children. What surprised me the most is that
many have been on skid row for over ten years, which means they are
not likely to find an employer who will take a risk on them after being
out of the work force for so long. Doe suggested that more social
programs gear their efforts toward assisting the long-termunemployed in resume writing skills, providing interview clothes for
him or her to wear, and maybe the government could provide tax
incentives to companies that hire long term unemployed. I haven’t
thought that people who are unemployed are not unemployed by
choice. Jobs are scarce and the tables are stacked against minority
groups, long term unemployed, and people who are really, really old.
Sometimes the government has to step in and do something.
Presentation (Section 2 – Option 2)
I have never considered that finding work involved more than a
good resume and an education, so when I attended the
presentation, “Re-entering the Job Market,” by Dr. Smith, I
found that there are circumstances that make job searching
difficult for some. Smith’s purpose was to educate everyone
about the plight of the long-term-unemployed. He explained
that there are thousands of people who were laid off because
of various reasons such as outsourcing, plants closing, sickness,
and many other reasons. Evans wants everyone to get
involved in our communities so that we can not only provide
services like resume writing to the unemployed, but that we
should put pressure on our local and state governments to
provide incentives to businesses that hire long-termunemployed. After attending the presentation, I realize that
there are numerous reasons for being unemployed and
sometimes you can be a really hard worker and unforeseen
occurrences like outsourcing and a bad economy can put you in
a situation that becomes almost impossible for you to get out
of without government and community intervention. I realize it
can happen to anyone.
The Book (Section 2 – Option 3)
The third option is for you to match your own “world
view” with what the author writes in his book. You
might begin your second paragraph with the following:
In David Shipler’s book, The Working Poor, I
learned that people who work hard are still
poor. This is antithetical to what I believe. I
realize that there are certain jobs that…
Responding to a Text
•What was the response—usually emotional
1. Sadness
2. Fear
3. Empathy
4. Disbelief
5. Happiness
6. Relief
How to create a foot note
To insert a foot note, follow the instructions:
• Click on the word where the foot note will be used
(even if the foot note is for the entire sentence, you
will click on the last word
• Click on References
Footnote
• After you click on References, you will see Insert Footnote, click
Type the information in footnoted space at the
bottom of the page.
First you must
• Read
Next you must
• Annotate
~Paraphrase
~Summary
~Quotation
Summary
An overview
of a larger
work,
encompasses
main ideas,
but does not
go into
detail.
•What is the thesis of The
Working Poor?
•What are the main
arguments to back that up?
•Are there any major
examples without which
the text would fall apart?
•What is the final
conclusion?
Paraphrase
Explaing
ideas and
evidence
from another
source in
your own
words.
1. Read
2.Restate in
your own
words
3. Compare
•
Quotations
~Copying
material
word-forword.
~Always use
quotation
marks
around a
direct
quotation
“The migrants, so essential
to America, journey along
its edge, touching its
wealth as a tangent
touches a circle, never
penetrating, never looking
out from inside.” (Shipler,
p.120).
Transitions
Move through the evidence by using
transitions:
For example
In addition to
Moreover
Also
First
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