Summary of Baghban’s Article “Scribbles, Labels, and Stories: The Role of Drawing in the Development of Writing.”

Question

Description

An article summary- Putting someone else's words into your own understanding.

The goal is to condense the information that you have read and to develop a better understanding of the material.

 ·       The summary should include an:

1.       introduction paragraph where you introduce the topic, provide background on the article, and restate what the author is arguing in your own words.

2.       the body paragraphs should cover the main supporting arguments and the evidence the author has used to defend them.

3.       Your conclusion will paraphrase the argument again and offer further research questions or statements.

***Remember, your job is to write a summary about the article, not the topic itself. You aren’t including your own argumentative position. Instead, you’re analyzing the author’s position and focusing on what they’ve written, or how they’ve reached their conclusions.

THE ELEMENTS OF A GOOD SUMMARY

● Restate the author’s thesis in your own words.

● Include the author’s name, article title, and the journal in which the article is published.

● Paraphrase whenever possible and use direct quotations as needed.

● Do not copy and paste sentences from the article. This is considered plagiarism and can get you in serious trouble. The only time you can do this is if you are using a direct quotation and it is properly cited.

● Use present tense.

● Avoid using first person narrative unless your professor has specifically told you to do so.

● Stay objective. You’re not critiquing the article. You are summarizing it and providing an overview of the author’s arguments.

● Stick to the point. Don’t overwhelm your reader with unnecessary information.

● The article summary should be about one-third of the length of the original article.

 QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER WHEN YOU WRITE A SUMMARY

Here are some additional questions you should ask yourself when writing your article summary. This will help guide your paper and help you figure out what you should include when you run out of ideas.

● Who is the author’s target audience?

● What tone of voice is the author using?

● Is the article argumentative? If so, what is the author’s goal? In other words, what is the author trying to get the reader to do or think about?

● What questions does the article leave you with?

● Do the supporting arguments convince you of the author’s perspective? Why or why not?

THE LAYOUT FOR A GOOD SUMMARY

Knowing the layout for an academic essay can help you learn how to summarize an article and structure your paper. The following is a basic format you should follow to ensure that your paper is cohesive, flows well, and provides the most important information.

INTRODUCTION

Your first sentence should be something that catches your reader’s attention. After that, you should use your introduction paragraph to identify the author and the article title. If you can find any background information on the author, even just their credentials, this can be helpful in your introduction as well. Your topic sentence or thesis statement should be the last sentence or a few sentences, and this will explain what points you’re going to expand on.

BODY PARAGRAPHS

The first sentence of each body paragraph should be a topic sentence that introduces one of the supporting arguments. Each of the author’s supporting points should have its own body paragraph unless your professor has specifically asked for a short summary. Within those body paragraphs, you will discuss those supporting arguments and explain or condense them. Be sure to discuss the evidence the author has used as well, and the conclusions they have made about each specific point. Try to stick to one supporting argument per body paragraph for clarity.

In your body paragraphs, when you are summarizing the author’s arguments, be sure to use phrases that remind your audience you are paraphrasing. Here is a list of some of those phrases (substitute “the author” with your author’s last name):

● The author states that…

● In the article, the author argues that….

● According to the author…

● The author believes that…

● Based on these conclusions, the author argues that…

THE CONCLUSION

Begin your conclusion by restating the topic sentence or thesis statement you made in your introduction about the author’s main point. Make sure you rephrase this from your first statement. This section helps you to express the underlying meaning of the author’s arguments and the article as a whole. In a few sentences, describe any further questions, implications, or concerns the article may point out. You can also describe any limitations that the author’s points may have. This is particularly important when you’re summarizing an empirical article because there are always other factors to consider when it comes to research studies.