29 Summary Writing Tips: Mini-Lecture

Be neutral and accurate:

• Do not interject your own opinion

Use tags of attribution (also known as signal phrases) frequently:

• According to . . . Schlosser maintains . . . He states . . . asserts, explains, says, etc.

To avoid plagiarism:

• Use your own words. Do not merely rearrange someone else’s words.
• When using your own words (paraphrasing) make sure that you properly cite the source with a page number.
• If you use the author’s original words, you may quote. Again, cite the source.

Paraphrase example:

• Schlosser suggests that the fast food industry takes advantage of vulnerable populations, specifically teens and the impoverished (54).
• Note that the page number is inside the parentheses and the period follows the final parenthesis.

Quotation examples:

In “Behind the Counter,” an excerpt from Fast Food Nation, Eric Schlosser argues that the fast food industry takes advantage of vulnerable populations: “the stance of the fast food industry on issues involving employee training, the minimum wage, labor unions, and overtime pay strongly suggests that its motives in hiring the young, the poor, and the handicapped are hardly altruistic” (54).

• • • If you introduce a quote with a complete sentence use a colon.
    • The quoted material does not replace the writer’s views; it supports this person’s views.
    • Your quoted material must make sense grammatically. Therefore, sometimes you need to alter the quoted material. Anytime you change quoted material place [brackets] around those words you have changed.

 In “Behind the Counter,” an excerpt from Fast Food Nation, Eric Schlosser argues that the fast food industry takes advantage of vulnerable populations. He states, “the stance of the fast food industry on issues involving employee training, the minimum wage, labor unions, and overtime pay strongly suggests that its motives in hiring the young, the poor, and the handicapped are hardly altruistic” (54).

• • •  If a quote is introduced by an incomplete sentence, use a comma.

When quoting material never “drop” the quote into the paper. Always introduce it.

WRONG: The fast food industry takes advantage of vulnerable populations. “The stance of the fast food industry on issues involving employee training, the minimum wage, labor unions, and overtime pay strongly suggests that its motives in hiring the young, the poor, and the handicapped are hardly altruistic” (Schlosser 54).

RIGHT: Schlosser argues that the fast food industry takes advantage of vulnerable populations: “the stance of the fast food industry on issues involving employee training, the minimum wage, labor unions, and overtime pay strongly suggests that its motives in hiring the young, the poor, and the handicapped are hardly altruistic” (54).

ALSO RIGHT: According to Schlosser, “the stance of the fast food industry on issues involving employee training, the minimum wage, labor unions, and overtime pay strongly suggests that its motives [ . . . ] are hardly altruistic” (54).

Original Text:

Every Saturday Elisa Zamot gets up at 5:15 in the morning. It’s a struggle, and her head feels groggy as she steps into the shower. Her little sisters, Cookie and Sabrina, are fast asleep in their beds. By 5:30, Elisa’s showered, done her hair, and put on her McDonald’s uniform. She’s sixteen, bright-eyed and olive-skinned, pretty and petite, ready for another day of work. Elisa’s mother usually drives her the half-mile or so to the restaurant, but sometimes Elisa walks, leaving home before the sun rises. Her family’s modest townhouse sits beside a busy highway on the south side of Colorado Springs, in a largely poor and working-class neighborhood. Throughout the day, sounds of traffic fill the house, the steady whoosh of cars. But when Elisa heads for work, the streets are quiet, the sky’s still dark, and the lights are out in the small houses and rental apartments along the road.

Word Rearranging (plagiarism)

On Saturdays, Elisa Zamot gets up early. She’s tired as she showers. By 5:30 a.m., she’s gotten ready and put on her McDonald’s uniform. She’s a pretty sixteen year old, and her mother generally drives her to work, but some days she walks in the dark. Her family lives in a humble home near the highway in Colorado Springs, an impoverished neighborhood. Traffic sounds fill the house during the day, but when Elisa goes to work, it is still quiet (Schlosser 49).

Appropriately Summarized:

Eric Schlosser opens “Behind the Counter,” an excerpt from Fast Food Nation, with a profile of a teenager from the poor side of town getting ready for her early morning, weekend shift at McDonald’s (49).