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 Walton College Writing Center