WRAC Chapter 1: Summary

Study Guide
English 101 Professor Gary Enns

STUDY GUIDE FOR CHAPTER 1: SUMMARY

Behrens and Rosens Writing and Reading Across the Curriculum, Brief Edition, Fourth
Edition
Prepared by Gary Enns, Cerro Coso Community College
Note: This study guide contains twenty-nine questions. The ideas I highlight in
these questions are essential to your summary-writing success, so consider and
answer all of them for full credit on this assignment. Enjoy learning about these
essential concepts! They will be invaluable to you as you continue on your
academic journey.
WHAT IS A SUMMARY?
1.
2.
3.
4.

3:
3:
3:
3:

What
What
What
What

does the briefest of summaries do?

about a longer, more complete summary?
will summary not include?
are the three central qualities of

summary? CAN A SUMMARY BE OBJECTIVE?

5.

3-4: So can a summary be objective? What conscious, good faith effort is

required when writing a summary?

USING THE SUMMARY

6. 4: Why does summary have a bad reputation in some quarters?
7. 4: In what academic writing can we fnd written summaries? (Listing is fne.)
8. 4: In what workplace writing can we fnd written summaries? (Listing is fne.)
9. 4-5: B and R explain three uses of summary in college work. Summarizein
your own words
these uses
here. THE READING
PROCESS
10. 5: B and R explain that inattentive or haphazard reading interferes with your
goals as a reader.
What are your goals as a reader? Name all fve.
11. 6: Name and summarize each of the Critical Reading for Summary steps.
HOW TO WRITE SUMMARIES
12. 7: Name and summarize each of the Guidelines for Writing Summaries
steps.
13. 10: Read, Reread, Highlight What should you note and consider as you
reread and take margin notes?
14. 15-16: Divide into Stages of Thought Take a close look at the section
heading examples here.
What are section headings, and why write them?
15. 16: Write a Brief Summary of Each Stage of Thought What is the purpose
of this step? (Notice that the summary writer writes her brief summaries
directly below her section headers.

WRAC Chapter 1: Summary

Study Guide

Professor Gary
16. 17: Write a Thesis: A Brief Summary of theEnglish
Entire101
Passage
In a Enns
summary, 2
what is the thesis?
17. 17: In your summary of an article, when should the authors thesis appear?
Regardless of what?
And why?

18. 17: B and R discuss two methods of organization that authors might use.
Name and describe these two methods.
19. 19: Why is the frst sentence of a summary crucially important?
20. 19: How many drafts does the summary writer go through before arriving
at the fnal draft of the thesis?
21. 20: What is the strategy of a shorter summary?
22. 20-21: Consider the frst sample summary. Notice the transitions within the
summary. What are the benefits of such transitions in a summary? Why
include them?
23. 21: Look carefully at the mechanic and chess analogies B and R use. Explain
the purpose of these analogies. What are we to take from them?
24. 23: What is the key difference between a longer summary and a shorter
summary?
25. 23: Under The Strategy of the Longer Summary explanation, B and R provide
two fnal suggested steps for writing summaries. Name and explain them.
HOW LONG SHOULD A SUMMARY BE?
26. 22: So how long should a summary be? Explain thoroughly, making sure to
mention the good rule of thumb B and R mention.
AVOIDING PLAGIARISM
27. 25-26: Describe the differences between the three student summaries
of Roveres original passage. Which is appropriate, and why is it more
appropriate than the others?
28. 26: Fill in the blanks for the frst Rule for Avoiding Plagiarism Cite all ..
.. and all .. and .. material, unless the information is .. .. (e.g., the
Civil War was fought from 1861 to 1865).
29. 26: Fill in the blanks for the second Rule for Avoiding Plagiarism Make sure
that both the ..
and the .. .. of your summaries and paraphrases are
substantially your .. .