Writing Homework Help

PCC Shut up About Harvard Casselmans Article Summary

 

Summarizing accurately is an important skill in college and everyday life. The ability to condense what you have read is the major goal in this assignment. This is not a paper in which you want to be overly descriptive or wordy; in fact, all sentences should be concise and to the point, each one containing as much information as you can put into it – but using as few words as possible. You only have a limited amount of space to complete the assignment. Your opinion of what has been presented must be included – in the summary or after it. Some students like to comment while they are summarizing; others prefer to comment after they have summarized. Either way will work. Your commentary, regardless of where you choose to include it, represents the “critical” part of the assignment. You should always be prepared to back up your opinions with facts, logic, and reason. Without these standards, an opinion carries no weight.

Consider what the author has written, why you think he chose to write about it, and what his opinion about the subject matter is. Ask yourself if you agree or disagree with the points he makes. Whether you agree or disagree, you must explain why you agree or disagree. This takes critical analysis, and without it, the assignment will be incomplete. You might find yourself agreeing with some of his points while disagreeing with other points. Be sure not to confuse facts with opinions. Is the author fair? Has he addressed all pertinent points necessary to make an informed decision? If not, what has he left out or failed to address? These are important questions that need to be answered in a critical summary.

A hint: this assignment requires you to assess informational points in order of importance. Some elements within the article are more important than others. The task is not to simply rewrite the article in fewer words; it is to critically summarize the most salient points made by the author and arrange them accordingly in a paper. Remember, a person who has not read the article should be able to get the gist of it from reading your summary. Ask yourself what that reader needs to know – and what that reader does not necessarily need to know in order to get the full impact of what was written.

Follow These Instructions:

Write an MLA citation for the article first. Beneath it, write a critical summary of what you read.

“Critical” means you should include your opinion in the summary. Support your opinion with evidence, reason, and logic, not emotion.

The maximum number of pages is 4. If you submit more than 4 pages, you will lose 1 point per word beginning on page 5. (Do not allow this to happen!)

The citation is worth 20 points.

The critical summary, formatting, grammar, and structure are worth 80 points.


Here is the link to the article https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/shut-up-about…