Review Sheet for English Composition II | ENG 102, Study notes of Grammar and Composition

Download Review Sheet for English Composition II | ENG 102 and more Study notes Grammar and Composition in PDF only on Docsity! ENG 102 – Heather G. S. Johnson Summary A summary is merely a shortened version of a text (or portion of a text) that is used to communicate the text’s main ideas to readers who have not read the original. It is not meant to include all of the details of the original text, but rather to convey the gist of it. While your summary should be in your own words, the ideas should be the author’s: you will want to avoid distorting or judging the original work. In order to write an effective summary, you might find it helpful to locate the text’s overall conclusions, key terms, key examples, and main points in order to first write an outline that you can then turn into a coherent summary. Summaries don't always have to cover an entire essay or book. You'll find that you often have to write mini-summaries that are more focused, discussing only one portion or one focus of the work. You might also write summaries that explain the author's ideas about one topic or theory. Summaries like this often include direct quotes from the author. You'll often have to imbed shorter summaries like these into longer essays. Here are some key things to remember when writing summaries:  Avoid inserting your personal opinion or commentary. Try to report objectively on the text you are summarizing.  Make your summary as accurate as possible: do your best to avoid distorting or oversimplifying the author's points.  Conciseness is the soul of summary. Avoid any unnecessary phrases or sentences.  Skip complex phrasing in favor of clear, direct statements wherever possible. Be as quick and clear as you can while still doing justice to the original.  Use attributive tags (like "Brantlinger notes that…" or Auerbach writes…"), and don't forget to document properly.