how to write a summary paragraph?
So, for my college English class we are doing a rhetorical analysis essay on an article that we found. And after our introduction of the article we are suppose to have a summary about the article itself. Make sense? So she has about 5 different topics that she covers. The Article is called "The Link Between Psychiatric Drugs and School Shootings by Kelly Patricia O'Meara" From ic.galegroup.com a website from my schools page.
Any way, what I am wondering is when I summerize each different topic she covers how do I go about doing that, and making it flow all into one paragraph.
THANKS! :)
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Since this a rhetorical analysis, your evaluation should be focused on what her argument is, the evidence used to support the argument, and the overall effectiveness of the argument.
Your summary will be just a short version of this analysis. Start with figuring out exactly what her argument is. Is it that the use of drugs can contribute directly to these incidents or is she talking about the adverse side effects of going off the medications (or something completely different)?
Depending on how long your summary is supposed to be (usually a paragraph consists of 5-7 sentences), you can expand it from that main point. You may list the main idea of the 5 topics she covers specifically as evidence and how she correlates them to the issue of school shootings, or you might just say she draws her evidence from several different studies/examples/whatever.
You may also include your evaluation of the argument itself (whether or not you feel the evidence presented justifies the main hypothesis) or you may choose to put that in your conclusion section -- usually a matter of preference. Since the summary is directly after your intro, this may seem a little redundant if it's a shorter essay. If that's the case, I would save it for your conclusion. If it's a longer paper however, your evaluation of the argument at the beginning and the end may frame the essay nicely and give the reader a little direction before diving into the body of your analysis. All depends on the individual assignment and your writing style.
Hope this helps, been a few years since I graduated college but I was an English major so I've written my fair share of essays (ahhh the good ol' days….)!