Instructions:
For this assignment, you will annotate an article. Please read the instructions and follow each
step carefully. There are three steps. Turn on Track Changes under the Review tab in Word
before you begin. Be sure your Track Changes shows All Markup not just a Simple Markup.
Step 1: Predict and preview
After reading the title and glancing over the text and author’s biography (below), what do you
think the text will be about? What do you understand about the text from the title? What do you
know already about this topic? What questions do you have about the text? Enter your response
to the preview here:
Reading the title and skimming through the article, I predict this reading will be about
different tips that any reader who is summarizing a text should use to execute a successful
summary all while grasping important concepts. The author will give their ideas that they think
would be a great use ensuring that the reader is understanding the main ideas and points that are
Implied in different types of readings, essays, and articles.
Step 2: Read, summarize, and annotate
As you read the article, use the Track Changes function to annotate the text.
1. Double click the last word of each section, and then click the New Comment button
under the Review tab to add a comment box. Type your one sentence summary
(paraphrase) of the paragraph in the box. Summarize every paragraph in the essay. Group
short paragraphs of the same topic together for summarizing.
2. What words do you not understand? Define them directly in the text next to the word.
Only put the definition for the word in its exact context (not all the definitions).
3. Annotate the text. Use the functions in Microsoft Word to highlight sections or words and
underline sentences or sections that are important, just like you would if you were
annotating a hard copy of the essay. Use the following key to annotate your text:
 Highlight the main ideas of paragraphs, including the thesis
 Underline supporting details or interesting quotes/facts/ideas
Step 3: Vocabulary words
As you read the text, you need to list and words that you do not know here with their definitions.
If you know all the words, you need to find and define at least TWO words that you think other
students might struggle with. You should have a minimum of TWO words with definitions
listed below:
 Objective- (of a person or their judgment) not influenced by personal feelings or
opinions in considering and representing facts
 Subjective- based on or influenced by personal feelings, tastes, or opinions.
Step 4: Answering questions about the text (after you read it!)
1. After reading these tips, do you have a better understanding of what is expected of
you? Summarize what you think is the most important tip or idea in this handout?
After reading this article I can definitely say that the author did a great job explaining the
steps that are associated with summarizing different types of pieces of writing. I think the most
important tip to keep in mind would be ensuring that you write in an objective style through out
your summary and always cite the author including the title of the article so readers can identify
that you are writing a summary of an author’s ideas.
2. What is your response to this handout? What knowledge or new understanding
have you gained after reading it?
Before this article I would not have been able to write a concise summary. I feel
confident after having read this article and the important tips that are needed to be successful in
drafting a summary, would be able to execute a summary of future readings. Overall, now that I
know what is expected of me, I am mindful that practice makes perfect and with time and
hundreds of written summarizes later, will be then, that I am able to deliver concepts and key
ideas that authors make in their writings, in a direct and objectively manner.
Ten Tips for a Successful Summary
Created by the English Faculty at Richland College for the English Corner
Summarizing is an important skill you will use in college. Many students believe a
summary is one of the easier college writing assignments you will face; however, writing an
effective summary can be quite difficult. You might be asked to summarize your textbook or a
research study. Whatever it is that you are asked to summarize, the steps for writing a good
summary are the same.
1. Begin with the title, author’s name, and overall thesis of the text.
Your summary should begin with the title of the work and the author’s full name followed by
his/her main idea or thesis. That way, your reader immediately understands that you are writing a
summary of someone else’s ideas. There are several ways you can introduce an author. Here are
a few sentence starters examples you may use:
According to Stephanie Coontz’s article “The Myth of Male Decline,” (claim)
In “The Myth of Male Decline,” Stephanie Coontz argues (claim)
As you continue through your summary, refer to the author to remind your reader that you are
writing a summary. Use tags like “the author continues…” or repeat the author’s name to help
your reader follow your summary and understand the point of the text.
2. Write in a direct, objective style.
To be objective means that you must withhold judgment or bias. In other words, write exactly
what the author intends without explaining or hinting at your own views on the topic.
Objective: In “Who Does the Talking Here,” Deborah Tannen asserts that recent studies
to determine if men or women talk more do not help us better understand which gender
does more talking.
Subjective: Deborah Tannen does an excellent job of explaining how recent studies to
determine if men or women talk more do not help us better understand which gender does
more talking.
Notice how the objective example above simply reports on what the author has said. It does not
let the reader know how you feel about the essay or the topic. The subjective example makes a
judgment about how well the author explains her point. Judgements and opinions should be
avoided in effective summaries.
3. Focus on main ideas, avoiding details.
Summaries can vary in length, but they must be shorter than the original. One rule of thumb is
that a summary should be no more than one third of the original work. Since a summary must be
shorter, you should avoid describing specific examples, illustrations, or background information.
Instead, focus on what the author is trying to prove overall and not small details.
4. Do not quote in a summary.
Do not use direct quotes in a summary. The point of summarizing is to show that you understand
a text and can retell it in your own words. Putting information into your own words requires that
you not only change the vocabulary, but that you also change the structure of the sentences.
5. Write your summary in the third person, present tense.
A summary is a report over someone else’s words, so never use I statements in a summary.
Everything needs to be in third person.
Using you is inappropriate in an academic essay. Instead of using you, try to figure out exactly to
whom you are referring and then replace the you with that word. For example, you in a summary
might refer to society, Americans, or simply readers. It might refer to students, men, or women.
Use the present tense when retelling what an author has written about. “The author describes” is
present tense while “the author described” is past tense. Ideas never die, so use present tense to
explain them.
6. Maintain the balance of the original work.
This skill can be tricky to understand. To maintain balance means that you must pay close
attention to how much emphasis the author puts on each point. Make sure to provide the same
emphasis in your summary.
If the author spends 25 % of the essay on one point, you should spend 25% of your summary on
that point. You should not dedicate half of your summary to one idea, even if it’s the one you
understand best, unless the author dedicates half his article to that idea. In order to maintain
balance, you have to fully understand the article and organize your summary to represent the
author’s ideas.
7. Use precise, accurate verbs.
Avoid always using weak, boring verbs with no depth to introduce ideas. Verbs like talks about,
says, states, tells, or shows should be avoided. “States” is vague and doesn’t tell your reader
accurately what the author is trying to say. Instead, use precise verbs to introduce what the
author is writing about. Does she argue? Observe? Note? Assert? Disprove? Discredit?
Describe? Warn?
Here are some common signal verbs. See the English Corner Handout Signal Verbs for more.
Argues
argues
contradicts
criticizes
disagrees
negates
denies
Agrees
admits
agrees
emulates
concurs
supports
grants
Suggests
advises
analyzes
asserts
affects
assesses
concludes
Neutral
acknowledges
illustrates
Believes
comments
points out
Writes
Unfavorable
belittles
laments
bemoans
complains
charges
discounts
8. Use clear transitions to guide your reader.
Transitions help readers move from thought to thought—from sentence to sentence, paragraph to
paragraph. Transitions can be used to show causes and effects, to show comparisons, to show
contrast or exceptions, to show examples, to show place or position, to show sequence or
addition, to show time, to elaborate, to concede, or to signal a summary or conclusion.
Even in a summary, it is important to use solid transitions to help your reader understand how
ideas connect to each other and across the whole article.
Here are a few transitions to help you get started. For even more transitions and their purposes,
see the English Corner handout Transitions.
Cause and Effect
accordingly
as a result
because
consequently
hence
then
Comparison
also
in the same way
like
likewise
similarly
along the same
lines
Contrast
although
however
in contrast
instead
nevertheless
even though
Example
for instance
indeed
specifically
after all
as an illustration
to take a case in
point
Addition
furthermore
moreover
in addition
indeed
in fact
finally
9. End your summary with the author’s take-away.
Your final sentence should help the summary feel complete, and your readers should feel
confident that they have reached the end. You can use a transition to signal the end of the
summary. Transitions like “overall” or “ultimately” work well in the final sentence.
The last sentence should share the ultimate or main goal of the text but remember to avoid
putting your own judgment in, even in the final sentence. Just provide the author’s final words or
point in the last sentence.
10.Use MLA citation and style.
Avoid plagiarism by citing with MLA, in-text and with a Works Cited page following your
essay. Even a summary needs a citation at the end and a Works Cited entry.
See the handout MLA Quick Tips and Style Guide, eCampus, your book’s section on MLA, or
Purdue OWL for more help with citations.
Created by the English Faculty at Richland College for the English Corner