Directions: You have now performed a college-level English assignment. Now, please answer the following questions: Have you ever written a summary or a paraphrase before? How does this assignment compare? How do you think you will use these skills in your future papers (in this class and your future college classes)? Do you have any questions about summary and paraphrase before we move on? (On this last question, if I get a lot of the same answer, we will review in class, rather than me providing you with an individual answer.)
You can respond in paragraph or list form. 200 word maximum.
Due before 5pm on September 11th.
Its been a while since I have taken a English class but in the past I have written a couple summaries and one or two paraphrases. Compared to this assignment though they were different. In the past the summaries I wrote were to a much simpler and shorter article and didn't have a limit on them such as a word count. I also didn't have any knowledge about writing a summary so they were easier because I rambled on for a long time talking about what the article said, unlike this time where I knew what key ideas I had to say and how to sum it up properly. The paraphrasing for this assignment though was the same as others I have done in the past. I feel the skills I learned for this assignment will come in hand for future classes because I now have a better understanding about what goes into a well written summary and paraphrase. The only question I might have would be do you have any suggestions about ending a summary better and more completely? For my summary that is what I had most difficult on and I'm not sure why.
ReplyDeleteI haven't written a summary in years and definitely needed the practice. With this particular assignment, I wrote and re-wrote it 4 times and I am still having a hard time with condensing in particular. I felt like Davidson had a very good argument and I wanted to summarize each experiment in particular and found it very hard to do so within the one page allotted for the assignment. The paraphrase, while not as difficult, is also trying because I find it hard not to use any of the same words as the author while also not embellishing or simplifying to much. It's difficult to find a balance in both assignments but I am also learning to stick to the key points a little better. As far as questions for the assignment, one that I have is how to better speak objectively and not use the words "you" or "one" so much.
ReplyDeleteI have written a summary and a paraphrase before, and it was mostly just reading what happened in the book, to then type up what I read in a shorter form. When I was in middle school, my teacher had me read a book almost every other week, summarize it, and then tell her what I liked most about the book in my own words (kind of like paraphrasing). I have also summarized things when talking to my friends. This assignment has been a lot of the same basic concept. This task and others like it can help me in later papers because it teaches me how detailed or vague I should be when I summarize. For example, if I am writing a paper to my professor, and he asks me to sum something up in as few words as possible, I will know how and be able to do it. As for having a question, I’m really kind of stuck on how not to make the end of my papers or summaries seem like I’m leaving my reader at a cliff-hanger and not have anything to follow it up with. Do you have any solutions for me to try?
ReplyDeleteUnit 1 Reflection
ReplyDeleteStarting in the 11th grade, there was a continuous cycle of essays that were taught to be annotated and summarized. At first, it was very hard because after one sentence I couldn’t summarize any of the materials found in the essay. My first semester of college (last spring), I was taught to take out the main points and thesis of an article. This assignment that I’ve just completed compares to all the other because like the others, though great, could use more work. The summer left quite rusty and I could improve significantly in my work. While there is work that needs to be done, I have gained a few new skills. I’ve just successfully did a simple work cite by myself and I’m very proud of that accomplishment. During the semester, I’m sure I will learn new skills that will make me an exceptional writer.
I haven’t had an English class since 2010, but I may have done some summaries and paraphrases then. I don’t really remember. This assignment was a bit of a shock to me. Writing a summary showed me just how unprepared I was for writing essays after such a long time. I had forgotten all of what I knew about citing and all of the things that confuse me about it. It’s nice to have the refresher on it and have a resource to reference when I have to make citations on future assignments. I think I more or less understand summaries but I’m still unsure about paraphrasing.
ReplyDeleteI am sure that I have written a summary and or a paraphrase before but it has been so long that I do not really remember. This assignment I feel was like a refresher on what to do and on how to do it. I know I will use these skills in my future papers in every class because it has brought to light on how to write certain types of papers and in different ways. With that being said, now knowing the skills I now posses I have better confidence that I will be able to handle future papers like this and know how I could correct any mistakes I find. I do have one question that the writing center helped me realize that I was doing wrong. My question is I know a summary is just the gist of what I have read and what I need to talk about but I am a very detail person I don’t know how to keep it to the point. How do I keep the fluff out of my summary?
ReplyDeleteI have written a hand full of summaries for several classes in high school. They have all been pretty similar to this assignment, although the instructions for this assignment helped me write a better summary than before. Now I can take these skills and apply them to other papers and better, less opinionated papers with no plagiarism. I don't have any questions about summarizing or paraphrasing.
ReplyDeleteI wrote different type of summary last semester, but the problem I had is how to start the whole point. You provided sufficient information to make the article easy to summarize, and it really helped me to have the idea of Davidson article. These skills will be useful in the future especially being a nursing major. These skills will help me summarize my patients care plan and document what happened on my shift. I have never paraphrase before, and it is hard for me to paraphrase a quote. I struggled with the quote I selected, but the context of the article really helped me to translate the original quote to my word. The MLA formatting was challenging, I don’t think I formatted any of the paper I wrote in the past. I need more explanation on citing and formatting academic papers.
ReplyDeleteI haven’t had an English class since 2012 so I forgot many things upon writing although during high school I wrote many summaries but never a paraphrase. My summaries from high school from what I remember were very easy. I don’t remember ever having any trouble before but with this assignment I had so much trouble writing a summary without giving away spoilers. I feel like I have learned a little more about my weaknesses in writing. I hope I can learn from this experience to better help me in future writings. I have a lot of trouble being able to pull out only the main ideas without giving to much detail. How can I tell what is a good main idea without giving too much away?
ReplyDeleteUnit I has been very helpful for me. Writing on a blog is new for me. I think it's great getting input from peers. I feel less anxious hearing criticism from my fellow students than from an instructor. I have taken 121 in the past but it's been almost 10yrs. I don't recall writing a summary or a paraphrase. This assignment has caused me to read with a deeper understanding. I plan on taking the knowledge from this unit and using it with all future assignments. As of now I don't have any questions. I feel comfortable I can perform all skills demonstrated in Unit I.
ReplyDeleteI haven’t written a summary in a very long time so the refreshment on summarizing is nice. This was my first time paraphrasing and it is a nice way to put things in your own words to help create your own ideas. I wrote my summary over and over again until I came up with something that I liked. I think that if I keep working on my summarizing skills that it will defiantly help me in all my other classes and I will be able to summarize an essay without thinking twice about it in the future. My only question is do you have any suggestions on effective ways to begin and end summaries better? I struggle with coming up with ideas on how to start and end what I write all the time.
ReplyDeleteHave you ever written a summary or a paraphrase before? -Yes i have done summary and paraphrasing before in my reading class in spring we covered both topic in two different essays.
ReplyDeleteHow does this assignment compare? -The comparison to what i did in the spring and what we did now was basically the same reading a article and summarizing what happened without using our opinion and talking about key events.
How do you think you will use these skills in your future papers (in this class and your future college classes)?- I can use these skills when i have to write a paper on those specific topics with a better understanding so i can have good quality paper.
Do you have any questions about summary and paraphrase before we move on?-No i don't really have anything questions about the two skills we used in this past paper i feel that i am on point with what we have done up till now
signed Darius Stephens