Chapter
26. SUMMARY
Introduction
Basics
Advanced
Samples
Activities
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Student Samples of
Summarizing ---
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Introduction
The samples below are papers by students, unless specifically noted.
They are examples of "A" level undergraduate writing or entry-level
professional work. To get a better idea of how this type of paper is
written, you will want to look at all the samples. Then compare the
samples to each other and to what the "Basics"
part of this chapter says.
The authors of all sample student papers in this
Web site have given their permission in writing to have their work included in
WritingforCollege.org. All samples remain copyrighted by their
original authors. Other than showing it on this website, none should be
used without the explicit permission of the author.
Unless otherwise noted, sample papers do not
necessarily meet all requirements an individual instructor or professional
supervisor may have: ask your instructor or supervisor. In addition, the
samples single spaced to save room; however, a proper manuscript given to an
instructor or supervisor normally should be double spaced with margins set at
or close to 1" unless another format has been requested.
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Sample One: Short, Basic Summary |
SPECIAL NOTES: This summary is very short because it
was the first draft done by the student. (Note: It is in three paragraphs
at present. However, it could be combined into one paragraph to provide a
brief, one-paragraph Summary section at the beginning of a much longer
formal academic paper, right after the introduction and before the body sections
of the paper.)
University of Minnesota
Eng 3027-5, Advanced Composition
Rough-Draft Summary
© Min Seok Kim
Science Shows Us
How the World Is
by
Min Seok Kim
"Is Science Dangerous?" by Lewis Wolpert appeared in the March
25, 1999 issue of Nature. In this
article, Wolpert insists that scientific knowledge has no moral or ethical
value, and that all it does is make a just society.
Wolpert tells us that we do not know the exact difference between science
and technology. In actuality,
science makes ideas about how the world works; scientists do not cause unethical
behaviors. However, technologysuch
as the genetic engineering feats of human cloning, gene therapy, and genetically
modified foodscan do so.
Wolpert suggests some guidelines to reduce ethical problems: all
scientific ideas should be criticized by others; knowledge should be used to do
good, not evil; and government and the media should act correctly in carrying
out the applications of science
In the article "Is Science Dangerous?" Lewis Wolpert explains
that science itself is not dangerous, and the real danger depends on how safely
science is appliedand on how we respond to it.
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Sample Two:
Long, Finished Summary |
SPECIAL NOTES: The subtitles in this sample add clarity, but
most instructors either do not require them and some may prefer that subtitles
not be used in a short summary.
University of Minnesota
EngC
3027-5, Advanced Composition
Formal Summary
© Roger S.
Thomas
A
Summary of "National Security Justifies Censorship"
by
Roger S. Thomas
Introduction
The
article "National Security Justifies Censorship" by Elmo R. Zumwalt
and James G. Zumwalt, appears in Censorship,
a book in the Opposing Viewpoints
Series. The article asserts that information that is secret and vital to
the security of the nation should not be released to the press.
The arguments made by Zumwalt Senior and Junior are summarized below.
Summary
Although
many journalists contend that the First Amendment guarantees unrestricted
printing freedom, the authors believe the press has gained more power than the
framers of the Constitution foresaw and therefore neglected to install safe
guards that would protect national security.
According
to the authors, the power of the media has gone far past what the constitutional
framers expected; consequently, several acts since the writing of the
Constitution have been implemented to deal with the lack of protection regarding
national security. The authors
continue to affirm that even though significant risk exists when confidential
information is released to the press, this danger has remained unresolved by the
courts.
The
authors cite an example to prove this point. The CIA during the Reagan
administration recognized Muhamar Quadaffi as a known terrorist and a potential
threat to national security in a classified document. The Washington Post
somehow had the document disclosed to them, and they soon published the
information. Several months after
the operation had been abandoned, the CIA found Quadaffi responsible for the
bombing of a West Berlin discotheque. Military action had to be taken because of
the earlier release of the classified document. The operation incurred military casualties.
The
authors then offer a two-part solution: (1) make the publication of classified
information a punishable offense, and (2) incorporate a "code of
ethics" into media guidelines that safeguards national security.
The paper ends by discussing how ethics are the responsibility of good
journalism.
Conclusion
Elmo R. Zumwalt and James G. Zumwalt assert that the media are
overpowered and the national security is underprotected.
They believe that the government and the media must take steps to assure
a disaster does not occur.
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