Each learning unit will begin with a map. This map is designed to present all the information youneed to be successful in that unit and serves as your assignment sheet. Think of this map as aguide that will help you chart your course through the material and the assignments. Print it.Have it on hand. Refer to it often. All this material will also be available to you in your onlinemodule for the learning unit as well.
For this Learning Unit (LU) you will write an informative summary of an article. Aninformative summary is a concise and objective summary of the thesis and main points in atext. An informative summary does not describe what comes first, next, and last in a text. Nordoes an informative summary evaluate the text being summarized.Purpose/Rationale
Summarizing texts is a task that you will have to do throughout your time at university. Whilesummarizing may seem straightforward, writing a successful summary is not easy. A successfulsummary entails critical reading to locate the thesis and to identify the main supporting ideas andarguments.
Further, a successful summary often entails presenting information in pattern that does notfollow the order in the original text. To do so requires thinking about the audience, purpose,and scope for the summary. This assignment introduces you to the knowledge and skills neededto summarize useful information.The assignment also introduces you to rhetorical strategies that you can use in future academicand workplace writing tasks.
Text for the Summary “What is ‘Academic’ Writing?” by L. Lennie Irvin (in Canvas)Rhetorical Goal A summary that is concise, objective, accurate, and well-written.Length maximum 300 words
Audience First-year university studentsChecklist for the Summary Define your audience and purpose and provide background information Organize and develop the summary based on the hierarchy of information table Maintain objectivity and formality Use your words (paraphrase) Use signal phrases Omit unnecessary details Avoid repetition Meet the required length of 300 words Include a Works Cited or References at the top of a new page. Cite the article in the styleused by your discipline— see “Complete Discipline Listing” at the Purdue OWL.
