Effective academic writers know how to summarize. In this prompt, use Greene and Lidinsky's categories to practice summarizing one of the assigned articles
from Ch. 14. Create a post that does all of the following:
Describe the key claims of the text. To understand the shape and direction of the argument, study how paragraphs begin and end, and pay attention to the
author’s point of view and use of transitions. Then combine what you have learned into a few sentences describing the key claims.
Select a representative quotation to illustrate the author’s argument. Find one quotation that illustrates the "flavor" of the article, and that illustrates
the author's most important ideas.
Present the gist of the author’s argument. Describe the author’s central idea in your own language with an eye to where you expect your argument to go. (Hint:
to ensure that you are using your own language, try to present the argument in a different order than the writer does. In other words, don't try to summarize
paragraph by paragraph. Instead, try to explain his position as simply and clearly as you can.)
Contextualize what you summarize. Cue your readers into the conversation. Who is the author? Where and when did the text appear? Why was the author writing?
Who else is in the conversation?