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Home / Nello Has Been Asked to Summarize What He Learned in a Reading Assignment. In Response, Nello Should

Nello Has Been Asked to Summarize What He Learned in a Reading Assignment. In Response, Nello Should

What this handout is about

The first pace in any successful college writing venture is reading the assignment. While this sounds like a simple task, it tin exist a tough ane. This handout volition aid you lot unravel your assignment and begin to craft an effective response. Much of the following advice will involve translating typical assignment terms and practices into meaningful clues to the type of writing your instructor expects. See our short video for more than tips.

Basic beginnings

Regardless of the assignment, section, or instructor, adopting these ii habits will serve you well:

  1. Read the assignment advisedly as soon as you receive it. Do non put this task off—reading the assignment at the beginning will save you time, stress, and problems later. An assignment tin can look pretty straightforward at get-go, particularly if the instructor has provided lots of data. That does non mean information technology will not take fourth dimension and effort to complete; you may even accept to learn a new skill to complete the assignment.
  2. Ask the teacher about annihilation you practise non empathize. Do not hesitate to approach your instructor. Instructors would prefer to gear up y'all straight earlier you hand the newspaper in. That's also when you will find their feedback most useful.

Assignment formats

Many assignments follow a bones format. Assignments often brainstorm with an overview of the topic, include a cardinal verb or verbs that depict the task, and offer some additional suggestions, questions, or prompts to become you started.

An Overview of Some Kind

The instructor might set the stage with some general discussion of the subject of the assignment, introduce the topic, or remind you lot of something pertinent that you have discussed in class. For instance:

"Throughout history, gerbils have played a cardinal part in politics," or "In the last few weeks of class, we accept focused on the evening vesture of the housefly …"

The Task of the Assignment

Pay attending; this part tells you what to do when you lot write the paper. Look for the key verb or verbs in the sentence. Words like analyze, summarize, or compare direct y'all to think about your topic in a certain way. Also pay attention to words such as how, what, when, where, and why; these words guide your attention toward specific information. (See the section in this handout titled "Central Terms" for more information.)

"Analyze the upshot that gerbils had on the Russian Revolution", or "Suggest an interpretation of housefly undergarments that differs from Darwin's."

Additional Material to Think most

Hither y'all will find some questions to utilize every bit springboards every bit you brainstorm to think about the topic. Instructors usually include these questions every bit suggestions rather than requirements. Do non feel compelled to answer every question unless the teacher asks you to do so. Pay attention to the lodge of the questions. Sometimes they suggest the thinking process your instructor imagines you will demand to follow to begin thinking about the topic.

"You may wish to consider the differing views held by Communist gerbils vs. Monarchist gerbils, or Can there be such a thing as 'the housefly garment industry' or is it merely a home-based arts and crafts?"

Fashion Tips

These are the instructor'due south comments nearly writing expectations:

"Be concise", "Write effectively", or "Contend furiously."

Technical Details

These instructions usually indicate format rules or guidelines.

"Your paper must be typed in Palatino font on greyness paper and must non exceed 600 pages. It is due on the anniversary of Mao Tse-tung's decease."

The assignment'due south parts may not appear in exactly this order, and each function may be very long or really short. Nonetheless, being aware of this standard pattern tin can assist you lot sympathise what your instructor wants y'all to do.

Interpreting the assignment

Inquire yourself a few basic questions equally you read and jot down the answers on the assignment sheet:

  • Why did your instructor inquire you to do this item job?
  • Who is your audience?
  • What kind of evidence do yous demand to support your ideas?
  • What kind of writing style is adequate?
  • What are the absolute rules of the paper?

Effort to look at the question from the point of view of the instructor. Recognize that your teacher has a reason for giving you this assignment and for giving it to yous at a item point in the semester. In every assignment, the teacher has a challenge for you. This challenge could be anything from demonstrating an ability to call up clearly to demonstrating an ability to use the library. Come across the assignment non equally a vague suggestion of what to do just as an opportunity to evidence that yous can handle the course material every bit directed. Paper assignments requite you lot more than a topic to hash out—they inquire y'all to do something with the topic. Continue reminding yourself of that. Be careful to avert the other farthermost besides: practice non read more into the assignment than what is there.

Why did your instructor inquire you lot to do this item chore?

Of class, your instructor has given you an assignment then that he or she will be able to assess your understanding of the course material and give y'all an appropriate grade. But there is more than to it than that. Your instructor has tried to design a learning feel of some kind. Your instructor wants you to think nigh something in a particular fashion for a detail reason. If you lot read the course description at the commencement of your syllabus, review the assigned readings, and consider the consignment itself, you may begin to run into the programme, purpose, or approach to the field of study matter that your instructor has created for y'all. If you still aren't certain of the assignment's goals, try asking the teacher. For help with this, run into our handout on getting feedback.

Given your teacher's efforts, it helps to answer the question: What is my purpose in completing this assignment? Is it to gather enquiry from a variety of outside sources and present a coherent pic? Is it to accept textile I have been learning in grade and apply it to a new state of affairs? Is it to prove a bespeak one way or another? Key words from the assignment can help you figure this out. Look for key terms in the class of active verbs that tell you what to practice.

Key Terms: Finding Those Active Verbs

Hither are some common key words and definitions to help yous think nearly assignment terms:

Data words
Ask you to demonstrate what yous know near the subject area, such equally who, what, when, where, how, and why.

  • define—give the subject area's significant (co-ordinate to someone or something). Sometimes you have to give more than than one view on the subject area's pregnant
  • describe—provide details about the subject by answering question words (such as who, what, when, where, how, and why); you lot might also give details related to the v senses (what you run across, hear, feel, taste, and smell)
  • explicate—give reasons why or examples of how something happened
  • illustrate—give descriptive examples of the subject and show how each is connected with the subject
  • summarize—briefly listing the important ideas you learned about the subject
  • trace—outline how something has inverse or developed from an before fourth dimension to its electric current grade
  • inquiry—gather material from exterior sources about the subject, often with the implication or requirement that yous will analyze what you have establish

Relation words
Inquire you lot to demonstrate how things are connected.

  • compare—bear witness how ii or more than things are similar (and, sometimes, different)
  • contrast—show how two or more than things are unlike
  • utilize—utilise details that you've been given to demonstrate how an thought, theory, or concept works in a particular situation
  • cause—prove how ane consequence or series of events fabricated something else happen
  • chronicle—testify or describe the connections between things

Interpretation words
Ask you to defend ideas of your own virtually the subject. Do not meet these words as requesting opinion solitary (unless the assignment specifically says and then), just as requiring stance that is supported by physical evidence. Remember examples, principles, definitions, or concepts from form or research and use them in your estimation.

  • assess—summarize your opinion of the subject area and measure information technology against something
  • prove, justify—give reasons or examples to demonstrate how or why something is the truth
  • evaluate, reply—state your opinion of the subject as adept, bad, or some combination of the 2, with examples and reasons
  • support—give reasons or evidence for something you believe (be sure to state conspicuously what it is that yous believe)
  • synthesize —put 2 or more things together that have not been put together in class or in your readings before; do not just summarize ane and and then the other and say that they are similar or dissimilar—you must provide a reason for putting them together that runs all the way through the newspaper
  • analyze—decide how private parts create or relate to the whole, figure out how something works, what information technology might hateful, or why it is important
  • argue—take a side and defend it with evidence confronting the other side

More than Clues to Your Purpose
Every bit you read the assignment, recall about what the teacher does in grade:

  • What kinds of textbooks or coursepack did your teacher choose for the course—ones that provide background information, explain theories or perspectives, or argue a signal of view?
  • In lecture, does your instructor ask your opinion, try to prove her betoken of view, or employ keywords that show up again in the consignment?
  • What kinds of assignments are typical in this field of study? Social science classes ofttimes await more than research. Humanities classes thrive on interpretation and assay.
  • How practise the assignments, readings, and lectures work together in the grade? Instructors spend fourth dimension designing courses, sometimes even arguing with their peers about the most effective grade materials. Figuring out the overall pattern to the course will help you lot understand what each consignment is meant to attain.

Who is your audience?

Now, what about your reader? Most undergraduates think of their audience as the instructor. True, your instructor is a proficient person to proceed in mind equally you write. But for the purposes of a skilful newspaper, retrieve of your audience as someone like your roommate: smart enough to understand a clear, logical argument, only not someone who already knows exactly what is going on in your particular newspaper. Remember, even if the instructor knows everything at that place is to know about your paper topic, he or she all the same has to read your paper and assess your understanding. In other words, teach the material to your reader.

Aiming a paper at your audition happens in two means: yous brand decisions well-nigh the tone and the level of information y'all want to convey.

  • Tone means the "voice" of your paper. Should you exist chatty, formal, or objective? Usually you lot will find some happy medium—you do non want to alienate your reader by sounding cavalier or superior, simply yous do not want to, um, like, totally wig on the man, you lot know? Eschew ostentatious erudition: some students think the fashion to audio academic is to utilise big words. Exist careful—you can audio ridiculous, particularly if y'all apply the wrong big words.
  • The level of information you use depends on who you call back your audience is. If you imagine your audience as your instructor and she already knows everything y'all have to say, y'all may find yourself leaving out primal information that can cause your argument to be unconvincing and casuistic. Simply you practise non have to explain every single word or issue. If you are telling your roommate what happened on your favorite science fiction Boob tube prove last night, you lot do not say, "Outset a dark-haired white homo of boilerplate height, wearing a suit and conveying a flashlight, walked into the room. Then a purple alien with fifteen arms and at to the lowest degree three optics turned around. Then the man smiled slightly. In the background, you could hear a clock ticking. The room was fairly dark and had at least two windows that I saw." You lot likewise do not say, "This guy establish some aliens. The cease." Find some balance of useful details that support your main signal.

You'll find a much more detailed discussion of these concepts in our handout on audience.

The Grim Truth

With a few exceptions (including some lab and ethnography reports), yous are probably being asked to make an argument. You must convince your audition. It is easy to forget this aim when you are researching and writing; as you become involved in your subject matter, you may become enmeshed in the details and focus on learning or just telling the information you take found. You need to practise more than than just repeat what y'all have read. Your writing should have a point, and you should be able to say it in a sentence. Sometimes instructors telephone call this sentence a "thesis" or a "claim."

So, if your instructor tells yous to write about some attribute of oral hygiene, you lot practise not want to just list: "Outset, you brush your teeth with a soft brush and some peanut butter. Then, you floss with unwaxed, bologna-flavored string. Finally, gargle with bourbon." Instead, y'all could say, "Of all the oral cleaning methods, sandblasting removes the most plaque. Therefore it should be recommended by the American Dental Clan." Or, "From an artful perspective, moldy teeth can exist quite charming. Notwithstanding, their joys are short-lived."

Convincing the reader of your argument is the goal of bookish writing. It doesn't have to say "argument" anywhere in the assignment for you to need one. Wait at the consignment and think about what kind of argument you could make about information technology instead of just seeing it as a checklist of information yous accept to present. For help with agreement the function of statement in academic writing, see our handout on statement.

What kind of evidence do you lot demand?

In that location are many kinds of testify, and what type of evidence will piece of work for your assignment tin depend on several factors–the discipline, the parameters of the consignment, and your teacher'southward preference. Should you apply statistics? Historical examples? Exercise you demand to bear your ain experiment? Can you rely on personal experience? See our handout on evidence for suggestions on how to utilise evidence appropriately.

Brand sure you are articulate nearly this function of the assignment, because your use of evidence will exist crucial in writing a successful paper. You lot are non just learning how to argue; you are learning how to contend with specific types of materials and ideas. Ask your instructor what counts as adequate evidence. You tin besides ask a librarian for help. No affair what kind of prove you utilize, exist certain to cite it correctly—see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial.

What kind of writing style is acceptable?

You cannot ever tell from the consignment just what sort of writing style your instructor expects. The instructor may be really laid back in class only even so look you to audio formal in writing. Or the instructor may exist fairly formal in form and enquire you lot to write a reflection paper where you need to utilise "I" and speak from your own experience.

Endeavor to avoid false associations of a item field with a style ("art historians similar wacky creativity," or "political scientists are boring and just give facts") and look instead to the types of readings y'all have been given in class. No one expects you to write like Plato—but use the readings equally a guide for what is standard or preferable to your instructor. When in doubt, inquire your instructor about the level of formality she or he expects.

No matter what field you are writing for or what facts you are including, if you do not write so that your reader tin can empathize your master idea, you lot have wasted your fourth dimension. So make clarity your principal goal. For specific help with style, run into our handout on way.

Technical details about the consignment

The technical information you are given in an assignment always seems like the easy role. This section can actually give you lots of little hints nearly approaching the task. Find out if elements such every bit page length and commendation format (see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial) are negotiable. Some professors do not have strong preferences every bit long equally you are consistent and fully answer the consignment. Some professors are very specific and will deduct big points for deviations.

Usually, the page length tells you lot something important: The instructor thinks the size of the newspaper is appropriate to the assignment's parameters. In manifestly English, your instructor is telling you how many pages it should take for y'all to answer the question equally fully equally you are expected to. So if an assignment is ii pages long, y'all cannot pad your paper with examples or reword your main idea several times. Hit your one point early, defend it with the clearest instance, and cease chop-chop. If an assignment is ten pages long, you can be more complex in your main points and examples—and if you lot tin only produce 5 pages for that consignment, y'all demand to meet someone for help—equally soon every bit possible.

Tricks that don't work

Your instructors are not fooled when you:

  • spend more time on the encompass folio than the essay—graphics, cool binders, and cute titles are no replacement for a well-written paper.
  • employ huge fonts, wide margins, or extra spacing to pad the page length—these tricks are immediately obvious to the centre. Nigh instructors apply the aforementioned word processor you do. They know what's possible. Such tactics are especially damning when the teacher has a stack of sixty papers to grade and yours is the just one that low-flight airplane pilots could read.
  • use a paper from another class that covered "sort of like" cloth. Over again, the instructor has a item task for you to fulfill in the assignment that commonly relates to course material and lectures. Your other paper may not comprehend this material, and turning in the aforementioned paper for more than once course may constitute an Honour Code violation. Ask the instructor—it can't hurt.
  • get all wacky and "creative" before you respond the question. Showing that you are able to think beyond the boundaries of a uncomplicated assignment can be good, only y'all must do what the assignment calls for first. Once again, check with your instructor. A humorous tone can be refreshing for someone grading a stack of papers, but information technology volition non get you a expert grade if you have non fulfilled the task.

Critical reading of assignments leads to skills in other types of reading and writing. If yous get good at figuring out what the real goals of assignments are, you are going to be better at understanding the goals of all of your classes and fields of written report.

Creative Commons License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 License.
You may reproduce it for non-commercial use if you use the entire handout and attribute the source: The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Loma

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Nello Has Been Asked to Summarize What He Learned in a Reading Assignment. In Response, Nello Should

Source: https://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/understanding-assignments/