WR115 Writing Exercise #2 Summary and Response Outlining and Drafting

1)SUMMARY

Directions: Choose one essay to work with from the selections (“Superman and Me,” “What’s in a Name,” “Becoming a Writer,” or “Salvation”).

Step One: Work as a group (3 – 4 writers) to collaboratively develop a summary outline, moving from paragraph to paragraph building a summary sentence (or two) of each paragraph.

Paragraph #1:

Paragraph #2:

Paragraph #3

And so forth

Conclusion (summarize the conclusion of the source)

Step Two: Now that your group understands the supporting points of the essay, you’ll be able to synthesize these points into a topic sentence. Talk together about the best way to synthesize these points. Then collaboratively compose a clear and effective topic sentence that includes the author, the title, and the main idea of the essay. Refer to Summary Writing Handout for examples.

Step Three: Further work at home: Review the summary outline that your group generated. Revise that outline, paying attention to the ideas and sentence structure. And now that you have the outline and your topic sentence, draft the paragraph. Remember to organize your summary sentences in the order that the original essay organizes them. Follow the guidelines on the Summary Writing Handout.

2)RESPONSE

Directions: With your text (the essay that you’ve chosen to summarize and respond to) and the assignment guide in hand, review the prompt for the response paragraph.

  • Step One (10 minutes): Brainstorm or free-write ideas that the prompt generates. Think about all the specific details related in any way to your topic and write them down.
  • Step Two (10 minutes): Organize your ideas in a logical, coherent, and effective way by outlining.
  • Step Three (10 minutes): Draft (rough!) your response paragraph.

Considerations for editing and revising: Your final/revised draft for your response paragraph should have the following characteristics:

  • Topic sentence should provide a smooth transition between the summary paragraph and your response paragraph. This will ensure that your reader understands when your writing moves from the summary of someone else’s ideas to your own ideas.
  • Focus! All ideas/sentences should relate to your topic sentence in a focused way.
  • Development: assignment guidelines specify 10 – 12 sentences.
  • Coherence: sentences should logically and coherently link.