Summary and Synthesis Assignment
This assignment is due Friday September 25, 2009.
Summary Writing
An academic summary is a brief report of the main ideas in written material. A summary
can be a sentence long, a paragraph long, or several paragraphs long, depending on the
summary’s purpose. The goal of a summary is to provide readers with a brief and clear
report of the main ideas of a text.
Like most academic writing, a summary has a beginning, middle, and an end.
1. The beginning, which is called the introduction, includes:
 Citation data (author, title, and other bibliographic information such as the title of
the magazine or book, the publisher, etc.) Make sure that you know what citation
style you should be using for your essay (APA, MLA, etc…) and list citation
information for your summary accordingly. For this assignment, you are required
to use APA format!!!!!
 the single main idea
The beginning could be one sentence long or a paragraph long, depending on the size
of the text that you are summarizing.
For example, the introduction to a summary may begin like this:
In the article, “The Making of the Dutch Landscape,” Audrey Lambert (1991) states that...
“Nothing Tastes Like Roadkill,” an article in Sports Illustrated by Robert H. Boyle (1985),
in which he…
According to author Matt Bai in his article “A Report from the Front in the War on
Predators” (Newsweek, May, 1997),…
2. The middle, which is called the body, presents the main ideas found in the text. These ideas
should appear in the same order in which they appeared in the original text. The body of the
summary may be one paragraph long or several paragraphs long, depending on the size of the
text. To find the author’s main ideas:
 locate the thesis statement in the introduction
 look at the headings and sub-headings
 locate topic sentences
3. The end, which is called the conclusion, should be a brief restatement of the author’s
conclusion. The conclusion may be one sentence long or a paragraph long, depending on the
size of the text. For example, the conclusion to a summary may look like the following:
Thallmeyer concludes with a recommendation to…
As a result of the research, Stokes believes that…
The summary should not contain:
 your opinions
 minor details
The summary should be brief and objective. It should only include the main ideas and
opinions of the author.
Vocabulary and Punctuation for Summaries
Verbs: Summaries contain a variety of reporting verbs. Some reporting verbs are listed below:
finds
nvestigates
recommends
hypothesizes
observes
notes
describes
presumes
implies
proposes
affirms
argues
reports
recommends
discusses
presents
demonstrates
predicts
reveals
maintains
indicates
examines
proposes
contends
claims
alleges
explains
suggests
assumes
asserts
Using these reporting verbs, summaries often contain sentences like:
In his article, Simmons maintains that….
Simmons’ research indicates that…
According to Barnes, “The evidence reveals that…”
In conclusion, Barnes recommends that…
Vocabulary: It will be necessary to use some of the author’s terms to precisely describe the ideas
in the text. Use synonyms when you can. You will Paraphrase often when you summarize. If
you need to use the author’s exact words, make sure you Directly Quote by putting quotations
marks around the words.
Punctuation: The titles of journal articles and newspaper articles should be capitalized and placed
in quotation marks. The titles of books, newspapers, and journals should be capitalized and in
italics. Refer to www.dianahacker .com. For this assignment, please use APA style!!!!! You can
get more information about APA style when you visit the Institutional Diversity English Institute
(IDEI) and you can also find more information about punctuation, paraphrasing, and quoting in
APA style at www.dianahacker.com.
Citation: Many instructors expect you to cite the source at the end of your summary. For this
assignment, please create a bibliography with the article as well as textbook information!
Synthesis Writing
Synthesis: Your synthesis should be similar in length to your summary. For your synthesis, take
one or two main points from the article then explain where those points are supported in your
textbook. You can organize the synthesis page in the following way:
Introduction - (this should be one paragraph long and is where you can include a thesis
statement for the synthesis).
Body - (One or two paragraphs at the most. This is where you identify common themes
form the article and the textbook. This might highlight the similarities and differences the
authors take on a particular point.)
Conclusion – (Sum up the main ideas you highlighted in the synthesis.)
Name: ____________________________________
Grading Rubric
Your grade for this piece of writing will be based on the following criteria:
All citation information in this
Citation in APA Style
10 Points Possible
essay should be APA style.
This includes in-text citations
and a works cited page.
Consult an APA manual to
verify you are citing correctly.
Your writing should be
Academic Writing
10 Points Possible
academic. Pay attention to
appropriate grammar and
punctuation. Avoid phrases
like “I think”. Utilize
vocabulary that reflects the
information you are reading in
Corrections 106.
Your summary of the book
Summary of Book
5 Points Possible
should include the title of the
chapter and the author of the
book. You should have main
ideas from the text. Conclude
the summary with a brief
restatement of the author’s
conclusion. Summary should
be at least a one page long.
Your summary of the article
Summary of Article
5 Points Possible
should include the title of the
article and the author. You
should have main ideas from
the text. Conclude the
summary with a brief
restatement of the author’s
conclusion. Summary should
be at least a one page long.
Should not contain your
opinions.
Your synthesis should include
Synthesis of Book and
10 Points Possible
information from both
Article
summaries. You will compare
and contrast the book with the
article you read. Your
opinions must be academic
and avoid phrases like “I
Organization
We suggest one Visit to the
Institutional Diversity
English Institute
think” or “I believe”. The
synthesis should be at least
one page or more.
Your essay should be well
organized. There should be a
one page summary of the
article you read, followed by a
one page summary of the
section in the text book you
read, followed by one or two
pages for the synthesis. Pay
attention to how you transition
between ideas and paragraphs.
Each paragraph should have a
clear topic sentence and the
ideas should be well
developed.
It is always important to have
someone else read your
writing. Plan to visit the IDEI
(CSU 269) for one tutoring
session. A tutoring session
lasts around 45 minutes.
Total Score (Out of 50):
10 Points Possible
An enlightening experience