Freedom of the Press (6D) Reassessment Ticket

​Writing Summaries for Persuasive Text

By KAMRYN JOHNSON

What Makes a Great Summary?

A summary of a persuasive text condenses the original argument while maintaining its key points and purpose. An effective summary:

• Is brief but comprehensive (usually 1/4 to 1/3 the length of the original)

• Captures the main claim and supporting evidence

• Includes counterarguments and rebuttals

• Uses objective language

• Avoids adding personal opinions

• Follows a logical structure

Remember: A good summary helps your reader understand the complete argument without reading the original text.

Essential Components to Include

When summarizing a persuasive text, always include these key components:

• Claim/Thesis: The main position or argument the author is making

• Supporting Evidence: Key facts, statistics, or examples used to back up the claim

• Counterargument: Opposing viewpoints that the author addresses

• Rebuttal: How the author responds to or refutes the counterargument

• Call to Action: What the author wants readers to do, think, or believe

Example structure: "The author argues that [CLAIM], supporting this with [EVIDENCE]. While acknowledging [COUNTERARGUMENT], the author counters by [REBUTTAL] and concludes by urging readers to [CALL TO ACTION]."

Multiple Choice

Which one of the following is NOT a part of a summary?

• using your own words
• summary being shorter than the text
• quotes words from the text
• including main ideas only

Multiple Choice

When you write the events you'll want to paraphrase them. What does paraphrase mean?

• to list chronologically

• to list objectively

• to reduce to five sentences or less

• to change the wording to your own words

Multiple Choice

_____ is shorter than the original text

• A paraphrase

• A summary

Multiple Choice

You should only include the main events or ideas from the passage when writing a summary.

• True

• False

Multiple Choice

Turn over a bag of potato chips. Is the label interesting? A simple food recipe may use several ingredients. These come from the soil and from chemistry labs around the world. Surprises also show up in the labels on clothing and other products. Look at the label on a package of lipstick. The tube seems small and shiny, but inside lipstick there is soap, oil, fish scales, and wax!

Which is the best way to summarize this passage?

• A bag of potato chips seems like a simple recipe. There are many ingredients from the soil and from chemistry labs.

• Clothes and other products have many ingredients as well. Lipstick alone has soap, oil, wax, and fish scales.

• Labels show what goes into food, clothing, and other products. A simple product may have many ingredients.

• Lipstick seems small and shiny. Look at the label sometime. It has at least four different ingredients.

Multiple Choice

San Francisco is located on the coast of California in an area often called the Bay Area. The weather is generally very mild, seldom getting really cold or really hot. Its mild climate is one reason many people live there. It seldom snows in San Francisco and generally does not get below freezing during the winter. Even in the middle of summer, temperatures may be in the mid 80s with a cool breeze from the bay keeping the weather very comfortable.
The Summary of this passage is:
 

• San Francisco has many neat things to do.
•  It seldom snows in California.
•  Many people choose to live in California.
•  The weather in San Francisco is generally very mild.