summary response essays

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Summary/Response Essays: Overview

A summary/response essay may, at first, seem like a simplistic exercise for a college course. But the truth is that most academic writing requires us to successfully accomplish at least two tasks: summarizing what others have said and presenting what you have to say. Because of this, summarizing and responding are core skills that every writer should possess.

Being able to write an effective summary helps us make sense of what others have to say about a topic and how they choose to say it. As writers, we all need to make an effort to recognize, understand, and consider various perspectives about different issues. One way to do this is to accurately summarize what someone else has written, but accomplishing this requires us to first be active and engaged readers.

Along with the other methods covered in the Reading Critically chapter , writing a good summary requires taking good notes about the text. Your notes should include factual information from the text, but your notes might also capture your reactions to the text—these reactions can help you build a thoughtful and in-depth response.

Responding to a text is a crucial part of entering into an academic conversation. An effective summary proves you understand the text; your response allows you to draw on your own experiences and prior knowledge so that you can talk back to the text.

As you read, make notes, and summarize a text, you’ll undoubtedly have immediate reactions. Perhaps you agree with almost everything or find yourself frustrated by what the author writes. Taking those reactions and putting them into a piece of academic writing can be challenging because our personal reactions are based on our history, culture, opinions, and prior knowledge of the topic. However, an academic audience will expect you to have good reasons for the ways you have responded to a text, so it’s your responsibility to critically reflect on how you have reacted and why.

The ability to recognize and distinguish between types of ideas is key to successful critical reading.

Types of Ideas You Will Encounter When Reading a Text

• Fact: an observable, verifiable idea or phenomenon
• Opinion: a judgment based on fact
• Belief: a conviction or judgment based on culture or values
• Prejudice: an opinion (judgment) based on logical fallacies or on incorrect, insufficient information

After you have encountered these types of ideas when reading a text, your next job will be to consider how to respond to what you’ve read.

Four Ways to Respond to a Text

• Reflection. Did the author teach you something new? Perhaps they made you look at something familiar in a different way.
• Agreement. Did the author write a convincing argument? Were their claims solid, and supported by credible evidence?
• Disagreement. Do you have personal experiences, opinions, or knowledge that lead you to different conclusions than the author? Do your opinions about the same facts differ?
• Note Omissions. If you have experience with or prior knowledge on the topic, you may be able to identify important points that the author failed to include or fully address.

You might also analyze how the author has organized the text and what the author’s purposes might be, topics covered in the Reading Critically chapter .

Key Features

A brief summary of the text.

Include Publication Information. An effective summary includes the author’s name, the text’s title, the place of publication, and the date of publication—usually in the opening lines.

Identify Main Idea and Supporting Ideas. The main idea includes both the topic of the text and the author’s argument, claim, or perspective. Supporting ideas help the author demonstrate why their argument or claim is true. Supporting ideas may also help the audience understand the topic better, or they may be used to persuade the audience to agree with the author’s viewpoints.

Make Connections Between Ideas. Remember that a summary is not a bullet-point list of the ideas in a text. In order to give your audience a complete idea of what the author intended to say, you need to explain how ideas in the text are related to one another. Consider using transition phrases.

Be Objective and Accurate. Along with being concise, a summary should be a description of a text, not an evaluation. While you may have strong feelings about what the author wrote, your goal in a summary is to objectively capture what was written. Additionally, a summary needs to accurately represent the ideas, opinions, facts, and judgments presented in a text. Don’t misrepresent or manipulate the author’s words.

Do Not Include Quotes. Summaries are short. The purpose of a summary is for you to describe a text in your own words . For this reason, you should focus on paraphrasing rather than including direct quotes from the text in your summary.

Thoughtful and Respectful Response to the Text

Consider Your Reactions. Your response will be built on your reactions to the text, so you need to carefully consider what reactions you had and how you can capture those reactions in writing.

Organize Your Reactions. Dumping all of your reactions onto the page might be useful to just get your ideas out, but it won’t be useful for a reader. You need to organize your reactions. For example, you might develop sections that focus on where you agree with the author, where you disagree, how the author uses rhetoric, and so on.

Create a Conversation. Avoid the trap of writing a response that is too much about your ideas and not enough about the author’s ideas. Your response should remain engaged with the author’s ideas. Keep the conversation alive by making sure you regularly reference the author’s key points as you talk back to the text.

Be Respectful. We live in an age when it’s very easy to anonymously air our grievances online, and we’ve seen how Reddit boards, YouTube comments, and Twitter threads can quickly devolve into disrespectful, toxic spaces. In a summary/response essay, as in other academic writing, you are not required to agree with everything an author writes—but you should state your objections and reactions respectfully. Imagine the author is standing in front of you, and write your response as if you value and respect their ideas as much as you would like them to value and respect yours.

Distinguish Between an Author’s Ideas and Your Own

Signal Phrases. A summary/response essay, especially your response, will include a mix of an author’s ideas and your ideas. It’s important that you clearly distinguish which ideas in your essay are yours, which are the author’s, and even others’ ideas that the author might be citing. Signal phrases are how you accomplish this. Remember to use the author’s last name and an accurate verb.

Examples of Signal Phrases

Poor Signal Phrases: “They say…” “The article states…” “The author says…”

Effective Signal Phrases: “Smith argues…” “Baez believes…” “Henning references Chan Wong’s research about…”

Drafting Checklists

These questions should help guide you through the stages of drafting your summary/response essay.

• Have you identified all the necessary publication information for the text that you will need for your summary?
• Have you identified the text’s main ideas and supporting ideas?
• What were your initial reactions to the text?
• What new perspectives do you have on the topic covered in the text?
• Do you ultimately agree or disagree with the author’s points? A little of both?
• Has the author omitted any points or ideas they should have covered?
• Has the author organized their text effectively for their purpose?
• Have they used rhetoric effectively for their audience?
• Have your reactions to the text changed since you first read it? Why or why not?

Writing and Revising

• Does your summary clearly tell your reader the author’s name, the text’s title, the place of publication, and the publication data?
• Has your summary effectively informed your reader about the text’s main ideas and supporting ideas? Have you made the connections between those ideas clear for your reader by using effective transition phrases?
• Would your reader think your summary is objective and accurate?
• You haven’t included any quotes in your summary, right?
• Does your response present your reactions to the text in an organized way that will make sense to your reader?
• Does your response create a conversation between you and the author by regularly referencing ideas from the text?
• Would your reader think that your response is respectful of the author’s ideas, opinions, and beliefs?
• Have you used signal phrases to help your reader recognize which ideas are the author’s and which ideas are yours?
• Have you carefully proofread your essay to correct any grammar, mechanics, punctuation, and spelling errors?
• Have you formatted your document appropriately and used citations when necessary?

Sources Used to Create this Chapter

Parts of this chapter were remixed from:

• First-Year Composition by Leslie Davis and Kiley Miller, which was published under a CC-BY-NC-SA 4.0 license.

Starting the Journey: An Intro to College Writing Copyright © by Leonard Owens III; Tim Bishop; and Scott Ortolano is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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For college students, writing summaries may seem like just an overly simple and absurd exercise. Shouldn’t they have learned to do it at school already? Yet still, most professors will find students now knowing how to correctly comprise what they’ve read into a brief compilation of key ideas. And if they can’t write about what they’ve read correctly, how could they possibly write a proper response stating their ideas? So, let’s finally figure out once and for all how you should structure and write your summary response essays and save both your and your professors time correcting and rewriting those works.

Writing a Summary Response Essay – What to Include & How to Structure

So you need to write a response summary. The very first thing you will have to do is carefully read through the original text. You will need to note the key details provided in this work, as well as your own thoughts regarding what you’ve read. Sometimes you might indeed be given not a particularly interesting source, of course. But it doesn’t mean that it won’t evoke any thoughts or emotions in you. So, be cautious even when you feel bored – after all, that’s a feeling too.

As you went through the source and made notes, you will now have to make sure you collected all the needed information. What that might be? For starters, it’s the key details about the publication: its author, title, publication date and place, and the main idea (or purpose). You will also need to identify and put into your own words the author’s key argument / opinion /claim /perspective. Presenting supporting ideas here may be a good decision, as it will help both you and your reader connect the dots which led the author to draw the conclusion they did.

When you collect all of this, be sure to combine it into one logical narrative. You are not making a list or simple recollection of the mentioned facts. Your writing needs to flow like a river. That’s where a proper structure might help you out. This is how your summary response essay should be built:

• Topic paragraph This is the very start of the essay which includes the information we talked about: author of the source, title, publication place, and date. You can also provide the reader with a little background/context for the future discussion here.
• The Summary After setting the scene, you may continue writing and present the author’s perspectives and claims they made in their work. Don’t forget to give supportive ideas to your reader too, because only then you will be able to build a logical text. Write everything down in the order it was discussed in the original source and include its initial conclusion (don’t forget to write in your own words!). Note : You have to stay objective despite putting everything in your own words. Do not alter the facts or opinions given in the source and stay as accurate and close to the original as possible .
• The Response After presenting the summary, which can take any amount of paragraphs you need, you should move on to giving your opinion/evaluation of the reading material. Talk about your perspective on the presented issue. You are free to critique or agree with the author, just be sure to give a clear argument on why you think that way.

Following this structure, it should be easy for you to build a coherent narrative and state everything you have to say. And yeah, don’t just repeat the source, retelling everything verbatim – that won’t do you any good. Quotes are also usually not needed – after all, it’s a response summary and not just an analysis.

Types of Ideas that Can be Presented in Your Summary Response Essay

In a summary response essay, you’ll come across various types of ideas, such as facts, opinions, beliefs, and prejudices. Each requires a different approach in your response. For instance, you might reflect on new knowledge gained, agree with well-supported arguments, disagree based on personal experiences, or note omissions/inconsistencies in the author’s discussion. Moreover, analyzing the author’s text organization and purpose can deepen your response. This variety of ideas and responses helps move your essay forward and explore the original text much deeper.

Check out Our Free Summarizer

Step-by-step process of writing a summary response essay.

With a clear understanding of the structure and the ideas that you should include in your essay, it shouldn’t be as hard for you to compile a proper response summary. However, organizing the writing process correctly can also help make the process much quicker. That’s why we decided to analyze the existing tips and create a guide that would make essay writing more simple and effective.

Identifying Main Idea

Before starting your writing, make sure you found what was the point of the piece you’ve read. Ask yourself: Have I identified the text’s main ideas and supporting ideas? And, what were my initial reactions to the text? This will allow you to create a topic sentence for the summary paragraph and a thesis statement for the response paragraph.

Laying Down Supporting Facts

During this step, you have to dedicate time to picking the ideas that may help your reader understand the author’s point of view. You can also pinpoint the facts that may support your own opinion. Here, it would be helpful to ask questions: what led the author to draw these conclusions? Do I agree or disagree with the author’s points? Is it a little of both?

Outlining the Author’s Purpose

The third step is to determine the author’s purpose for writing and assess whether it was achieved. Maybe you will notice inconsistencies or biases in the writer’s logic. Or maybe something in the writing wasn’t as clear as it should have been.

Bring Everything Together

Now, as you have created your outline (because that’s what you were initially doing in the first three steps) you can bring all the pieces of this puzzle together. Add detalization to the outline. Express your opinion about the author’s main idea.

Note : When drafting your work (and first, you will create a draft that will become an essay only after you review it), be sure to include signal phrases to distinguish between the author’s and your own ideas. These can be words as ‘ Chomsky argues’, ‘Smith’s research states’ .

Finally, proofread your essay for errors and format it appropriately, according to the requirements stated by the professor.

Writing Example

To give you a clearer idea of how the summary response essay may look like, analyze the example we give below:

In “Existential Psychotherapy,” Irvin D. Yalom explores the existential approach to psychotherapy, emphasizing the human condition’s inherent concerns, such as death, freedom, isolation, and meaninglessness. Yalom argues that confronting these existential realities can lead to personal growth and a more authentic existence. He presents a therapeutic framework that prioritizes understanding the client’s experience and encourages self-reflection and acceptance of life’s uncertainties. Yalom’s insights into existential psychotherapy resonate with me, particularly his emphasis on the importance of confronting existential concerns. I agree with his assertion that acknowledging our mortality and the limitations of our freedom can lead to a deeper appreciation of life and a more genuine connection with others. However, I find his discussion on isolation to be slightly lacking in addressing the role of social support and community in mitigating feelings of loneliness. Additionally, while Yalom’s approach to meaninglessness is thought-provoking, I believe that exploring one’s values and engaging in purposeful activities can also play a significant role in finding meaning. Overall, “Existential Psychotherapy” provides valuable perspectives on the human condition and the therapeutic process, encouraging both therapists and clients to embrace life’s complexities.

Keep in mind that this is just an approximate example. It doesn’t have the level of detalization that can be presented in this type of essay, however, it follows the appropriate structure and includes both a summary of the original work and the response paragraph.

Long-Term Skill Development: Why Summary Response Essays are Good for You

Writing summary/response essays isn’t just a school exercise. It can come in handy when crafting research papers or even compiling business reports. The first thing that this type of writing teaches you is to present complex ideas in simple words and brief formulations. The response part pushes you to form and articulate your opinions, a very important skill in persuasive writing and argumentation. Plus, the whole process boosts your ability to engage with texts critically and allows you to sift through different viewpoints and present your ideas clearly. So, while it might seem like just another assignment now, knowing how to write summary response essays can set you up for success in various writing tasks down the line.

What is a summary response essay?

A summary response essay is a piece of writing that presents a summary of an author’s main ideas and then offers a personal response to those ideas. It combines elements of summary and analysis, allowing the writer to engage with the text and express their own perspectives.

What are the key components of a summary response essay?

The key components of a summary response essay include a clear summary of the text’s main points, a thesis statement that presents the writer’s response, supporting arguments that elaborate on the response, and evidence from the text to back up the writer’s views.

What are some tips for writing a strong summary response essay?

For a strong summary response essay, start by thoroughly understanding the text. Then, create a clear and concise summary, followed by a well-defined thesis statement. Provide detailed arguments to support your response, using evidence from the text. Finally, structure your essay so it is well-organized and flows smoothly from one point to the next.

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21 Strategy: Writing a Summary Response

A summary response summarizes the main ideas of an author’s work and also responds to the author’s essay by critiquing or evaluating the ideas presented. Note that there is an appropriate time for opinion, evaluation, and summary; take a closer look at some of the best practices in structuring your summary response.

Topic Paragraph:

• Somewhere near the beginning of your essay include the full name of the text and author that is being discussed. Situate the issue with any relevant context or background information that might be necessary.
• Include necessary background or contextual information about the author . Consider profession, culture, education, and so forth. Additionally, describe the author’s perspective on the issues at hand and consider the “why.”
• Craft your thesis statement. In it, sum up what the author claims and include your opinion regarding the argument or perspective.

Subsequent Paragraphs: The Summary

• Lay out the author’s perspective(s). Present the facts of the author’s argument. *Note–Within the summary paragraph, this is not the time to include your own opinions.
• Discuss the context of the issue and explain the author’s overall perspective.
• Present the major points in the order that the author made them.
• Be sure to include the author’s concluding point(s) and any actions or recommendations that are relevant to the text.

Subsequent Paragraphs: The Response

Following the summary, you have the opportunity to respond, evaluate, and critique.

• Briefly recap the author’s main points and perspectives. Then, include your own perspective on the issues at hand and explain why that is.
• Include specific supporting examples and textual references to support your perspectives.

Loyola University Chicago Writing Center. (2017). How To Write A Summary Response Essay. Retrieved June 24, 2019, from https://www.luc.edu/media/lucedu/writing/lucwcowls/How to Write a Summary Response Essay.pdf

The Writing Studio at Colorado State University. (2019). Writing Effective Summary and Response Essays. Retrieved June 24, 2019 from https://writing.colostate.edu/guides/teaching/rst/pop5i.cfm

Built In Practice: Summary and Response

Read and Annotate an essay from 88 Open Essays .

Summarize and Respond to the essay.

Critical Literacy III Copyright © by Lori-Beth Larsen is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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23 Strategy: Writing a Summary Response

Strategy: writing a summary response.

A summary response summarizes the main ideas of an author’s work and also responds to the author’s essay by critiquing or evaluating the ideas presented. Note that there is an appropriate time for opinion, evaluation, and summary; take a closer look at some of the best practices in structuring your summary response.

Topic Paragraph:

• Somewhere near the beginning of your essay include the full name of the text and author that is being discussed. Situate the issue with any relevant context or background information that might be necessary.
• Include necessary background or contextual information about the author . Consider profession, culture, education, and so forth. Additionally, describe the author’s perspective on the issues at hand and consider the “why.”
• Craft your thesis statement. In it, sum up what the author claims and include your opinion regarding the argument or perspective.

Subsequent Paragraphs: The Summary

• Lay out the author’s perspective(s). Present the facts of the author’s argument. *Note–Within the summary paragraph, this is not the time to include your own opinions.
• Discuss the context of the issue and explain the author’s overall perspective.
• Present the major points in the order that the author made them.
• Be sure to include the author’s concluding point(s) and any actions or recommendations that are relevant to the text.

Subsequent Paragraphs: The Response

Following the summary, you have the opportunity to respond, evaluate, and critique.

• Briefly recap the author’s main points and perspectives. Then, include your own perspective on the issues at hand and explain why that is.
• Include specific supporting examples and textual references to support your perspectives.

Loyola University Chicago Writing Center. (2017). How To Write A Summary Response Essay. Retrieved June 24, 2019, from https://www.luc.edu/media/lucedu/writing/lucwcowls/How to Write a Summary Response Essay.pdf

The Writing Studio at Colorado State University. (2019). Writing Effective Summary and Response Essays. Retrieved June 24, 2019 from https://writing.colostate.edu/guides/teaching/rst/pop5i.cfm

Built In Practice: Summary and Response

Use strategies to pre-read and then actively read an essay from 88 Open Essays .

Critical Literacy III Copyright © 2021 by Lori-Beth Larsen is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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A Guide to Effective Summary Response Essays

Table of Contents

If you’ve been tasked to write a summary response essay but are unsure where to start, don’t worry. We’ve got you covered with this quick guide on the basics of summary response essays. We’ll cover everything from its definition and writing tips to a sample  outline for summary response essay .

This is a less common type of essay that requires a certain style and approach that differs from other types of essays. But with the help of this guide, you’ll be able to make the writing process much easier.

What is a Summary Response Essay

Summary response essays are two-part essays that include a summary of an article, essay, chapter or report and a response to it.

It is not a formal paper or essay because it does not have an introduction, body, or conclusion like other essays. This type of essay instead consists of a summary of the reading followed by a response to the reading.

To better understand this type of essay, it’s best to look at its two parts separately in the next section.

What to Include in Your Essay

The summary is a concise round-up of all the main ideas in an essay or writing. It cites all the relevant details about the work you’re reviewing. Your summary can include the following:

• Author and the work’s title (typically in the first sentence).
• The thesis of the essay and its supporting ideas
• It may use direct quotations to provide forceful or concise statements of the author’s ideas

Most summaries present the main points in the order they were made by the author and continually referred back to the article being summarized. Your summary should not exceed one-third the length of the original work.

Responses are critiques or evaluations of an author’s work. Unlike the summary, it is composed of YOUR opinions for the article being summarized.

This examines ideas that you agree or disagree with. It identifies the work’s strengths and weaknesses by looking at its organization and style. You should use examples and evidence to support the opinions in your response.

A good response must contain

• Personal experiences

Depending on your stance, these can either refute or support the article you’re responding to.

Steps for Writing a Summary Response Essay

Identify the main idea of the reading .

Create a topic sentence that describes the main idea of your reading for your summary. For your response, create a separate thesis statement that states your opinion on the author’s main idea.

Add supporting details for the summary and response.

Next, identify the supporting facts of the reading. In the summary paragraph, it is important to keep the order of the supporting details. Consider how these points relate to the author’s main idea.

Develop the supporting details for the response paragraph, highlighting how your evidence or personal experience supports the thesis statement you’ve created.

Identify the author’s purpose for writing.

It’s helpful to get to know the goal that the author wants to achieve through their work.

For your summary, try to ask yourself:

• Why did the author write this?
• Is there anything specific that the author wants me to know?
• Does the author want me to do something after reading this? 

And in your response, discuss whether or not the author was successful in achieving the goal of their work.

Write a summary response to the reading .

Given all the data you’ve gathered from the first three steps, you can start writing your summary and the response paragraphs. Make sure to include all the necessary information and be detailed but not flowery. 

General Outline for Summary Response Essay

Summary paragraph.

• Provide the title and author’s name to introduce the work the essay will discuss. Additionally, state the author’s main idea.
• Write supporting sentences that describe the supporting details of the work .
• Let this information come together in a sentence that explains the author’s reason or goal for writing the piece.

Response Paragraph

• Clearly state your opinions or thoughts about the author’s main idea. Use the thesis statement you created in the earlier steps. You can also ask yourself: Does my opinion regarding the reading relate to the author’s main idea?
• Put your personal experience into a supporting sentence (or sentences) describing how your opinion or thoughts support or go against the author’s main idea.
• Write a sentence summarizing this information and explain how your opinion or thought relates to the author’s main idea.

Wrapping Up

A summary response essay typically includes a summary of the reading followed by your thoughts and reactions. It may seem like a long and daunting task, but with a little guidance, you can be confident you’re up for the challenge.

Use the writing tips and  outline for summary response essay  sample in this essay to help you easily get started!

Abir Ghenaiet

Abir is a data analyst and researcher. Among her interests are artificial intelligence, machine learning, and natural language processing. As a humanitarian and educator, she actively supports women in tech and promotes diversity.

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Best Summary and Response Essay Strategies for Student Writers

July 13, 2020 //  by  Lindsay Ann //   3 Comments

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Have you tried summary and response essays in your English language arts classroom? In this post, we’ll explore the benefits of summary and response, and I’ll offer questions you can use to help your students find just what they want to say in a They Say, I Say assignment.

It is my hope as an English teacher that my students will write with frequency and with voice . 

To this end, I frequently ask them to compose written responses to various texts we read in class, from short stories, to poems, to nonfiction articles.

Goals of a Summary and Response Essay

First, I want students to closely read the text . This means reading (and re-reading) for critical understanding of the text, making marginal notes, and marking important passages. As students closely read, they should be thinking about the author’s message, style, and impact on them as readers .

Although a summary-response paper may be intended to demonstrate that students have read the required text(s), I want more than simple reading comprehension . 

I want students to think critically.

Therefore, I teach students to read for comprehension  so that they can join the conversation started by the author. 

In this conversation, students must be prepared to respond and evaluate, adding unique thought and analysis prompted by the original text, extending the author’s thoughts with their own . This is what summary and response essay writing is all about.

To state it simply, I often use the analogy of a dinner table conversation. I tell students that reading a text is like pulling up a chair to the dinner table (the text is the main course). To join the dinner conversation, they must be unique, they must do more than summarize the original text, and they must spend time thinking .

Summary Writing Tips

Writing a summary is a lot like the “echo back” step in a good conversation. It’s a check for understanding. Before I move on to add my own thoughts into the conversation, I want to make sure that first I am hearing and understanding what the other person is saying. 

This is the “they say” part of response writing. 

➡️ It should be in students’ own words. It should be brief, yet long enough to fully represent the author’s main claim and key supporting points. 

❗️ Summary writing is one of the BEST ways for students to improve their reading comprehension, and with increasingly complex texts, students must learn to represent increasingly complex ideas and nuanced organizational structures used by an author to convey his or her ideas. 

The first step in writing a good summary is to mark the text. I model this for students, showing them how I recognize what a paragraph or section of the text or the text as a whole is about. I talk out loud, state what I wonder and what I notice. Then I ask students to join the conversation by doing the same. 

As I do this, I am emphasizing that this is a conversation students are preparing to join. We have to first understand the message that an author is saying.

• So, what is this author trying to say? 
• What points is the author making? 
• What organizational choices does the author use to convey his or her ideas? 
• What relationships are directly stated or implied between ideas? 
• What is the larger context for this conversation? 
• How does the author’s message fit into the context?
• What bigger picture significance of this topic does the author discuss or imply?

All of this starts with the question of “what do you notice?”  

As students make observations, I help them start to weave together these observations so that they can notice patterns and the author’s overall claim or message.

And, with practice, students begin to do this on their own in a summary and response essay.

Best Ways to Respond to a Text

➡️ After students are able to fully understand and represent the author’s ideas and convey this in the “They Say” portion of their response, we add the “I Say” portion of the response. 

❗️ In the beginning of the year, we focus solely on the “They Say” in writing until students are demonstrating proficiency. As they do this, I frontload “I Say” skills through informal conversation and debates in the classroom. That way, when I ask students to formalize their thoughts in an “I Say” written response, they are ready. 

For the “I Say,” it’s important to recognize the connection between written opinion and voiced response. Some students need to talk through their opinions before fully developing them in writing. 

For students to be able to add their own ideas to the author’s ideas in a summary and response essay, they must first have something unique and important to say. 

➡️ A sign of undeveloped thinking in response is if a student simply regurgitates the author’s ideas without extending these ideas through new examples or divergent thinking. 

❗️ I want my students to say “yes, AND” or “yes, BUT” to the author. I want them to make their own opinions and examples heard as a part of the conversation as if they are sitting down to dinner with the author and discussing the focus topic in detail.

Questions for Response Writing

The following list will help students shape the thinking that they will produce in response to different texts.

➡️ For all of these suggestions, students should always connect back to the original text(s) with in-text citations, quotes and paraphrasing when appropriate ( but be careful not to over-quote or over-paraphrase – you want this paper to be based on the original text, but also a reflection of your own thinking ).

Ways to Say “Yes, And” or “Yes, But” in Response

Ask a Question:  

• Pose a related question to the author and explain how the author might answer it
• Generate a question that the text prompts of you and answer it
• Generate a question that the text prompts of you, and use additional research to extend the author’s ideas

Use Comparison/Contrast:

• Compare an author’s claim to the claim(s) made in a different text or by a different author
• Show how an author’s perspective or claim is different from something else or someone else’s idea

Try Analysis:  

• Explain an emotional response to the piece you had and analyze what made you have this reaction:  was it something about yourself, culture, or society?
• Explain why you had a hard time connecting with a text or an author’s claim
• If responding to an older text or a different cultural text, explain how the author’s claim might function or malfunction in today’s society or your culture
• Explain how this text could be seen differently through another person’s or another theory’s perspective
• Explain how a controversy or other historical situation may have given rise to the author’s essay
• Expose how your own bias or assumptions may interfere with your reading experience

Say “Yes, And”:

• Extend one of the author’s ideas into a broader context discussion.  In other words, what is this idea a part of?
• Pose an observation or realization this text sparks in you
• Pose an important word or concept and explain how the author might define it
• Examine a similar or parallel issue that this text is related to

Use Argumentation For or Against an Idea Offered by the Author:

• If you turned the subject of this text into a question on which people would vote, how would you vote – and why?
• State one of the author’s claims and bring in additional outside reasons and evidence (personal or researched) for or against this claim
• Explain your subtly different definition of a term or perspective of a claim, and why this difference, while subtle, is important
• Expose an author’s assumption or bias and explain why this assumption or bias weakens or strengthens his/her idea

Use Argumentation For or Against the Way an Author Presents Ideas:

• Evidence:   Do facts and examples fairly represent the available data on the topic?  Are the author’s facts and examples current, accurate?
• Logic:   Has the author adhered to standards of logic?  Has the author avoided, for instance, fallacies such as personal attacks and faulty generalizations?
• Development:   Does each part of the presentation seem well-developed, satisfying to you in the extent of its treatment?  Is each main point adequately illustrated and supported with evidence?
• Fairness:   If the issue being discussed is controversial, has the author seriously considered and responded to his opponents’ viewpoints?
• Definitions:   Have terms important to the discussion been clearly defined – and if not, has lack of definition confused matters?

Audience:   Is the essay appropriate for its audience – does it convince who it’s intended to convince?

Wrapping Up

Thanks for reading this post! Phew, it was a long one, but I hope that you found questions that will help your students be successful with summary and response essay assignments. Please leave a comment below to let me know what you thought and if I can help!

Hey, if you loved this post, I want to be sure you’ve had the chance to grab a  FREE copy of my guide to streamlined grading . I know how hard it is to do all the things as an English teacher, so I’m over the moon to be able to share with you some of my best strategies for reducing the grading overwhelm.

Click on the link above or the image below to get started!

About Lindsay Ann

Lindsay has been teaching high school English in the burbs of Chicago for 19 years. She is passionate about helping English teachers find balance in their lives and teaching practice through practical feedback strategies and student-led learning strategies. She also geeks out about literary analysis, inquiry-based learning, and classroom technology integration. When Lindsay is not teaching, she enjoys playing with her two kids, running, and getting lost in a good book.

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Unit 3: Summarizing and Responding to Writing

18 Combining a Summary and Response

One way to explore a topic is to read and respond to an article. Such an assignment typically begins with a summary of the article followed by a response to idea(s) in the article. The format of a summary response assignment can vary depending on the course and instructor, but it is a common type of academic assignment.

Three steps in a summary-response assignment:

• Begin with a summary of the article. This will familiarize the audience with the context of your response.
• Include an introduction to the response. Identify an idea by quoting the idea and then paraphrasing the idea.
• Explain your response to the idea. Through one or more of the response techniques, explain your reaction to the idea.

Format for introducing a response: Quote + paraphrase + response

Look at the beginning of the response below. Notice the required components:

• Citation (author’s name and page number)
• Paraphrase of the quote
• The start to the response

Notice that the example follows this format:

• Last name (date) writes, “Exact quote here” (p. X). In other words, … (paraphrase of this idea). I find this topic / idea / concept / example interesting because…

Stems for introducing a summary

The sentence stems below can help you develop your command of more complex academic language.

• In “article title” author’s first name and last name (year) examines /discusses /claims…. main idea.

Stems for narrowing the scope in a selective summary

• In particular, Gambino ______.
• More specifically, Gambino ______.
• Gambino focuses on ______.
• In their discussion / analysis / etc., Gambino ______.

Stems to begin your response: (you are not limited to these and you can modify them):

• Last name (date) writes, “Exact quote here” (p. X). In other words, … (paraphrase of this idea). I find this topic/idea/concept/example interesting because…
• The first topic I’d like to discuss is … (identify the topic). Last name (date) states, “Exact quote here” (p. X). In other words, … (paraphrase of this idea). I was surprised with this finding…..
• One important idea concerns … (identify the idea). Last name (date) indicates, “Exact quote here” (p. X). In other words, … (paraphrase of this idea). In my experience…
• Another critical issue I’d like to address is … (identify the issue). Last name (date) points out, “Exact quote here” (p. X). In other words, … (paraphrase of this idea). This reminds me of when…
• (Identify the topic) … is very interesting to me. Last name (date) suggests, “Exact quote here” (p. X). In other words, … (paraphrase of this idea). This example can be compared to…

Note: you do NOT need to include the title in the beginning of your response because you already included the title in the summary section.

Stem for an indirect source:

• Some people argue that … (identify the idea). X (name plus credential) said, “Exact quote here” (as cited in Name, year, p. X). In other words, … (paraphrase of this idea). I agree with them to some extent, but…

Example: Some experts point out the problems of social networking sites. Stanford University Professor Jean Anderson claims, “These sites tend to (full quote here) …” (as cited in Cook, 2019, p. 6). Anderson means here that…paraphrase…. I agree with Anderson to some extent, but…. (response).

Stems to introduce a paraphrase:

• What Anderson means is…
• Anderson means that…
• This means that…
• That is to say, …
• Anderson’s point is that…
• What s/he/they is/are    suggesting/implying/saying    is that…
• What Anderson wants to express is…

Stems to show agreement:

• I totally/completely agree with X about/that…
• I agree with X about…
• I find X’s perspective on …. to be quite compelling.
• I sympathize with the author’s point about…

Stems to show concession:

• I agree with X about … to some extent, but…
• While I agree with X to some extent…
• I am not entirely in agreement with X about/that…
• My feelings on the issue are mixed. I do support X’s position on …., but I find Y’s argument about… to be equally persuasive.

Stems to show disagreement:

• I disagree with X’s point that…
• I strongly disagree with X about…
• I disagree with X’s claim that…. because…
• I disagree with X’s view that… because, as recent research has shown…
• I find it surprising that …… . I just can’t believe that….. .

Stems to introduce examples, personal experience, and comparisons:

• This example makes me think about…
• Based on my experience, …
• This reminds me of…
• This makes me think of…

Vocabulary alternatives:

• For topic : idea, concept, example, issue, problem, challenge, obstacle…
• For adjectives to modify the topic: important, significant, critical, interesting, first, second, next, another

Academic Writing I Copyright © by UW-Madison ESL Program is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Writing a Summary-Response

LESSON In this lesson, you will learn to write a summary-response A writing that combines a summary of a reading with personal thoughts and opinions about the reading. , which combines both a summary A brief restatement of an author’s main idea and major supporting details. Summaries are factual and should be written in the third-person with an objective point of view. of a reading A piece of writing to be read. A reading can either be a full work (i.e., a book) or partial (i.e., a passage). with your personal thoughts and opinions Point of view that shows a personal belief or bias and cannot be proven to be completely true. about the reading. It is not a formal paper An academic essay that usually includes research and citations. or essay A short piece of writing that focuses on at least one main idea. Some essays are also focused on the author's unique point of view, making them personal or autobiographical, while others are focused on a particular literary, scientific, or political subject. in the sense that it will not have an introduction The first paragraph of an essay. It must engage the reader, set the tone, provide background information, and present the thesis. , body The main portion of a writing that contains the main ideas and supporting details of the writing. This is where the author's purpose and thesis statement are supported and/or developed. , or conclusion The end portion of a writing that contains a summary or synthesis of the idea in the work. This includes a recap of key points and reminders of the author's purpose and thesis statement. . Instead, it consists of two distinct parts: a summary of the reading followed by your response A written analysis of a reading that shows understanding and fosters deep thinking about a work. to the reading. Each part is usually a paragraph A selection of a writing that is made up of sentences formed around one main point. Paragraphs are set apart by a new line and sometimes indentation. and the length of each paragraph depends on the length of the reading being addressed. For instance, if a reading is only a few paragraphs long, the summary-response would be two paragraphs, each with approximately four to five sentences.

It is important to keep in mind that the two paragraphs are distinct. The summary paragraph is a brief restatement of the author's main idea The most important or central thought of a reading selection. It also includes what the author wants the reader to understand about the topic he or she has chosen to write about. and supporting details Statements within a reading that tie directly to major details that support the main idea. These can be provided in examples, statistics, anecdotes, definitions, descriptions, or comparisons within the work. . It does not include your opinion. Your opinion goes in the response paragraph where you state your thoughts about the author A person who wrote a text. 's main idea and use supporting details from your own experience to explain your thoughts.

Summary-Response Process

Use a four-step process to write a summary-response of a reading. Step 1: Identify the main idea of the reading. For the summary paragraph, create a topic sentence A sentence that contains the controlling idea for an entire paragraph and is typically the first sentence of the paragraph. that identifies the main idea of the reading. Then, for the response paragraph, create a separate thesis statement A brief statement that identifies a writer's thoughts, opinions, or conclusions about a topic. Thesis statements bring unity to a piece of writing, giving it a focus and a purpose. You can use three questions to help form a thesis statement: What is my topic? What am I trying to say about that topic? Why is this important to me or my reader? that states your opinion about the author's main idea.

Step 2: Identify the supporting details for the summary and for the response. The next step is to identify the supporting details of the reading. In the summary paragraph, it is important to maintain the order of these supporting details. Once you note these points, consider how they relate to the author's main idea. Then, develop the supporting details for the response paragraph, showing how your own personal experience supports the thesis statement created in Step 1. Step 3: Identify the author's purpose The reason the writer is writing about a topic. It is what the writer wants the reader to know, feel, or do after reading the work. for writing. As part of the summary paragraph, ask yourself, "Why did the author write this? What did the author want me to know, think, or do after reading this?" As part of the response paragraph, address whether or not the author was successful achieving his or her purpose. Step 4: Write a summary-response of the reading. Bring Steps 1, 2, and 3 together to write the summary and the response paragraphs. The following is one way you could do this:             

Summary Paragraph

Sentence 1: Introduce the reading, stating the title and the author's name. You should also state the author's main idea. This may be as simple as adding the title and author to your topic sentence from Step 1.

Sentence 2: Write supporting sentences (or sentence) describing the supporting details of the reading you noted in Step 2 in order.

Sentence 3: Write a sentence that brings this information together and states the author's reason for writing that you noted in Step 3.

Response Paragraph

Sentence 1: Clearly state your opinion or thoughts about the author's main idea. Use the thesis statement you created in Step 1. Ask yourself, "How does my own thought/opinion about the reading relate to the author's main idea?"

Sentence 2: Write supporting sentences (or a sentence) describing how your personal experience supports your opinion or thought about the author's main idea.

Sentence 3: Write a sentence that brings this information together and states how your opinion or thought relates to the author's main idea.

Writing a summary-response is a skill you can use when thinking critically about an article A non-fiction, often informative writing that forms a part of a publication, such as a magazine or newspaper. in a newspaper, an editorial blog A website that hosts a series of articles, photos, and other postings, sometimes by a single writer (blogger) or by a community of contributors. , or any assigned reading in a class. In fact, it is a common assignment in many college classes. You can also use the same skills to help you write a cover letter A letter that is sent along with a resume that provides context and more information for the reader. when applying for a job where you must not only show an understanding of the job you are applying for, but also show how your experience makes you the best candidate for that position.

Read the following passage A short portion of a writing taken from a larger source, such as a book, article, speech, or poem. and see an example of how to use the Summary-Response Process to summarize and respond to a reading with complete, concise Describes writing that only uses words that are necessary for clarity, meaning, and interest. paragraphs.

Mile-High Home By Douglas Peters

There are many cities throughout the world that are alluring and exotic, but if you're looking for the best place to raise a family in the United States, Denver, Colorado is the place you want to be. From skiing in the winter to camping and hiking in the summer, there are plenty of year-round outdoor recreation activities for the entire family. It also has a strong local economy with many job sectors represented, so that even when the economy goes down elsewhere, Denver remains stable with plenty of good jobs that support the financial needs of any family. Finally, it has great public and private schools and many colleges and universities within a short drive of downtown so that people of all ages can fulfill their educational goals. All this, plus seven professional sports teams and an exciting urban nightlife—it's no wonder people from all over the world make Denver a new home for their families.

Step 1: Identify the main idea of the reading.

First, create a topic sentence that identifies the main idea of the reading.

        Topic sentence: Denver is a good place to raise a family.

Now, create a separate thesis statement that states your opinion about the author's main idea.

Thesis statement: I agree with the author because I like Denver and have lived there most of my life.

Step 2: Identify the supporting details of the reading and for the response.

Next, identify the supporting details of the reading for the summary paragraph.

Supporting details of the reading for the summary: Denver has great outdoor recreation, good jobs and schools, and lots of entertainment options.

Now, develop the supporting details for the response paragraph, showing how your own personal experience supports the thesis statement created in Step 1.

Supporting details for the response paragraph: I do all the activities the author lists. I have a ski pass for the winter and try to go mountain biking every weekend. I am also a Broncos football fan. I am a graduate of the schools there and now I work as a realtor in the downtown area.

Step 3: Identify the author's purpose for writing.

In this step, answer the questions, "Why did the author write this? What did the author want me to know, think, or do after reading this?" Then, write down whether or not the author was successful achieving his purpose.

These are all good things to have for a family and the author thinks that people ought to consider moving to Denver. I think the author was successful in pointing out some good things about living in Denver.

Step 4: Write a summary-response of the reading.

Finally, bring Steps 1, 2, and 3 together and write the summary paragraph and the response paragraph. Remember to introduce the reading in the first paragraph by stating the title and the author's name.

"Mile-High Home," by Douglas Peters, describes Denver, Colorado as an ideal city for people to raise a family. The article points out that the city has great outdoor recreation, good jobs, and good schools, all of which are important to families. It makes it seem ideal and Mr. Peters seems to encourage people to move there to raise their families.

I agree with the author because I like Denver and have lived there most of my life. In fact, I do all of the things listed in the article; I have a ski pass for the winter and I try to go mountain biking every weekend. Of course, I cheer for the home team and am an avid Broncos football fan. I am also a graduate of the schools there and now work as a realtor in the downtown area. I can definitely say that Denver is a great place for families.

Read the following passage and then complete the Summary-Response Process to summarize and respond to the reading with complete, concise paragraphs.

Time in School By Douglas Peters

Choosing to go to college is a good choice, but many people fail to take into account how much time is required outside of class in order to succeed. The main confusion is found in what I like to call the 80/20 rule. In high school, 80 percent of instruction and learning is done in the classroom and 20 percent is done at home. In college, this ratio flips to where just 20 percent of instruction and learning is done in the classroom while a full 80 percent is expected to be done at home. Planning for this kind of commitment requires students to take an honest look at what they do every day and exactly where they will fit all the work into their schedules. With so many students balancing work and family with college careers, it has become even more important for students to make sure they plan accordingly so they can do their very best in college.

Sample Answer

Going to college takes more time than most people expect.

I agree with the author because I found out the hard way and fell behind my first semester.

The author points out the "80/20 rule," which states that college classes require much more homework than people are used to in high school. Since many students work and have families, the author encourages future college students to schedule time to do homework before starting classes.

I was working at a restaurant and they would not respect the time I needed for school and would even schedule me during my classes. This meant that not only did I not have time to do homework, but I would miss class often, as well. I was able to find a different restaurant to work at and I am now able to schedule my shifts to fit my school schedule, which is what the author suggests.

Students should be prepared for the time commitment of college.

"Time in School," by Douglas Peters, shows how college usually takes a greater time commitment than most people expect. The author points out the "80/20 rule," which basically states that college classes require much more homework than people are used to in high school. Since many students work and have families, the author encourages future college students to schedule time to do homework before starting classes.

I completely agree with the author because I found out the hard way that college takes more time than I thought it would and fell behind my first semester. I was working at a restaurant and they would not respect the time I needed for school and would even schedule me during my classes. This meant that not only did I not have time to do homework, but I would miss class often, as well. Luckily, I found a different restaurant to work at and I am now able to schedule my shifts to fit my school schedule, which is exactly what Mr. Peters suggests.

The topic sentence in the summary paragraph says what the author thinks about the topic. The thesis statement is what I think about the topic.

You would see book and art reviews in newspapers or culture magazines, movie and TV reviews are written by bloggers online, and album reviews can be found in magazines or online, as well.

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2.2: Sample Student Summary/Response Essay- Stereotype Threat

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• Page ID 130009

• Gabriel Winer & Elizabeth Wadell
• Berkeley City College & Laney College via ASCCC Open Educational Resources Initiative (OERI)

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What is a summary/response essay?

In this chapter, we will be exploring how to organize an essay and create strong connection between ideas. In order to do that, we will start by looking at a sample essay. This essay is a "summary/response" essay. In a summary response essay, you explain an article or book you have read and share your ideas about it. The sample essay will also introduce the idea of stereotypes that we will be discussing in this chapter.

Responding to a reading

In order to prepare to understand the sample essay, first read this article from a textbook on gender:

Read this article and take notes about how the authors explain the ideas and whether you are convinced by their points.

Note: Since this article is from a social sciences textbook, it uses APA citation style, which includes the year that the source was published, not a page number, in the in-text citations.

Reading from a gender studies textbook: Stereotype Threat

What if just before you went into a job interview, someone told you that you were not qualified and would never get the job? Do you think this would impact your performance during the interview? This is the idea of stereotype threat. Essentially, a stereotype threat is when (1) a person is a member of the group being stereotyped, (2) in a situation in which the stereotype is relevant, and (3) the person is engaging in an activity that can be judged/evaluated (Betz, Ramsey, & Sekaquaptewa, 2014). 

The first main researcher on stereotype threat was Claude Steele, who focused on how it impacted African American university students. He began to notice racial minorities and women sometimes performed lower than their abilities. He hypothesized that simply knowing about a stereotype (e.g., women aren’t as good at math, racial minorities are not high achieving, etc.) could hinder performance. In groundbreaking research, he revealed his hypothesis to be true (Steele & Aronson, 1995). In this study, Steel and Aronson (1995) conducted a series of tests in which they manipulated the presence of a stereotype threat, the context of testing, etc. For example, they had groups of Black and White college students take the GRE, a test for graduate admissions. In one condition, the participants were told it would be measure their intellectual capacities while other participants were told the test was simply a problem-solving task that did not directly relate to intellectual ability. When students were told that it measured intelligence, Black participants tended to be more aware of stereotypes, have increased concerns about their ability, show reluctance to have their racial identity somehow linked to performance, and even begin to make excuses for their performance. However, Black students who were not reminded of negative stereotypes, they did much better. Thus, this study provided significant support for stereotype threat (Steele & Aronson, 1995).

In other words, simply knowing that others had a negative stereotype about them made students perform less well (Betz, Ramsey, & Sekaquaptewa, 2014). Spencer, Steele and Quinn (1999) expanded this research from racial minorities to women, particularly as it relates to math performance. Similar to Steele and Aronson’s 1995 study, Spencer, Steele, and Quinn (1995) conducted several studies to measure stereotype threat. For example, in one of the studies, students took a GRE math test. In one condition, participants were told that gender differences had been found in the test whereas in the other condition, participants were told that there had not been a gender difference found in the test. The overall results of the study showed that when women experienced stereotype threat, their test scores were lower (Spencer, Steele, & Quinn, 1999).

Just because people are affected by stereotype threat, it does not mean that they believe the stereotype about their group or about their own abilities. Not believing the stereotype, but being aware that others believe it, is enough to create a stereotype threat outcome (Huguet & Regner, 2007; Wheeler & Petty, 2001).

As you may have gathered from the description of Spencer, Steele, and Quinn’s 1999 study, girls frequently experience stereotyped threats in school. It appears that around ages 7 to 8, both girls and boys become aware of the stereotype that girls are worse at math (Galdi, Cadinu, & Tomasetto, 2014). Research has shown that females preform worse in math when under stereotype threat, but perform equivalently to males when the threat is removed. Stereotype threats have been shown to reduce test performance, but these threats can also impact a female’s ability to incorporate and receive helpful feedback if they are overly focused on whether they are confirming negative stereotypes. For example, if a woman is overly worried about behavior or performing in such a way so as not to confirm a negative stereotype (e.g., women are bad in math), the student may not teacher feedback as a useful chance to learn. When overly worried about confirming negative stereotypes, individuals may also pull away and avoid class discussions at school, etc. (Betz, Ramsey, & Sekaquaptewa, 2014).

But why does the stereotype threat impact test performance? There are various theories, but one of the most commonly accepted is that by Toni Schmader. Schmader theorized that when one is overly worried about a stereotype threat (e.g., reminded that because she is a woman, she is likely to do poorly on the math test she is about to take), the worry distracts her attention from the test. As a result, she is unable to fully focus on the activity leading to lower performance.

However, some have argued against the actual validity of the idea of stereotype threats. Early on, a common argument was that most of these studies were conducted in labs and not natural settings, and thus, could not be generalized. Some researchers, such as Paul Sackett, believed that there would be a small effect in a natural setting. This began to spark an interest in conducting more natural setting studies. Naturalistic research has confirmed that stereotype threats indeed have negative impacts on academic experiences, performance, and career goals. Moreover, these negative impacts are accumulating.

With planning, educators can reduce the impacts of stereotype threats. For example, educators can be careful not to frame tests as measures of ability. Even more importantly, they should make sure that their classrooms do not trigger stereotypes by showing the accomplishments of only certain groups. Lastly, teaching students about stereotype thread can help the students to resist it.

Reading: Student essay on Stereotype Threat

Now let's look at one reader's essay responding to this article:

Did you know that what others assume about you can affect how well you perform on a test? This is just one of the findings reported by Kristy McRaney and her colleagues in “Stereotype Threat,” a chapter in the textbook The Psychology of Gender. In this chapter, McRaney and her colleagues discuss a number of studies that examine the phenomenon known as stereotype threat: a situation in which someone is stereotyped, is aware of the stereotype, and is taking part in an activity related to the stereotype (par. 1). According to research reported by McRaney et al., “Being aware that others believe [the stereotype], is enough to create a stereotype threat outcome” of poorer performance (par. 5). McRaney and her colleagues also look at research exploring why stereotype threat impacts test performance, including the commonly-accepted theory by Toni Schmader that preoccupation with a stereotype threat means that the test-taker “ties up valuable cognitive resources” which “impacts the capacity that one has to draw on their memory and to attend and focus on the task before them” (par. 8). Finally, their article acknowledges and responds to criticism of the idea of stereotype threat (McRaney et al. par 9). Overall, McRaney and her colleagues make an understandable and compelling argument for the existence of stereotype threat; the information they present is engaging, seems balanced, and helped me make sense of my own experiences.

While McRaney and her colleagues draw on many academic studies, they still manage to present the information in a way that is both interesting and understandable to readers without a specialized academic background. For example, they begin the chapter with a series of personal questions for readers to think about as a way to prepare them for the content (McRaney et al. par 1). They also use a fairly conversational tone throughout, which gives readers a sense that the authors are talking to them directly. One example of this is the use of second person, which can be seen in the following sentence: “As you may have gathered from the description of Spencer, Steele, and Quinn’s 1999 study, girls frequently experience stereotyped threats in school” (McRaney et al. par. 5). Another way the authors make the reading accessible is by paraphrasing and summarizing the studies they cite rather than directly quoting what would likely be information presented in a vocabulary specialized to the discipline of social science. In fact, while the authors cite many studies to illustrate the phenomenon of stereotype threat, there are no direct quotations used in the chapter at all.

The authors also address counterarguments and criticism of the research they present, which makes them seem balanced and increases the credibility of their ideas. For example, one early criticism of the idea of stereotype threat they cite has to do with the conditions of these studies. Critics pointed out “that most of these studies were conducted in labs and not natural settings, and thus, could not be generalized” (McRaney et al. par 9). McRaney and her colleagues report that in response to this critique, more naturalistic research was conducted which, in fact, confirmed earlier lab-based studies (par. 9). By including these criticisms, the authors provide a rounded view of the phenomenon of stereotype threat and strengthen the argument that stereotype threat not only exists but is detrimental to stereotyped groups.

Finally, in reading the chapter, I realized that stereotype threat has had an impact on me personally. At the beginning of the chapter, McRaney and her colleagues write that “[stereotype] threats can also impact a female’s ability to incorporate and receive helpful feedback if they are overly focused and worried about providing confirmation of negative stereotypes” (par. 5). When I was in high school, this was true in my freshman math class. My class was made up of mostly male students. I didn’t ask questions in class because I didn’t want the other students to think I was bad at math. Ironically, not asking questions led me to perform worse on my tests, and I never excelled in the subject in school. I never attributed my poor performance to stereotype threat before reading the chapter; I just thought I was bad at math. But I understand now that the dynamics described in the definition of stereotype were all present in my class.

In “Stereotype Threat,” McRaney and her colleagues clearly and evenhandedly explain the phenomenon of stereotype threat. Their choice of language makes the chapter interesting and accessible to students who may not have training in the social sciences, even as the authors cite many academic sources. The authors also spend time addressing and responding to some common criticisms of and doubts about the existence of stereotype threat, which makes the ideas they discuss more credible. Furthermore, the content is relatable: the examples provided in the text helped me identify an instance of stereotype threat in my own life and made me think about other situations where stereotype threat may have been at play. Their chapter highlights an important phenomenon and, with this knowledge, institutions and individuals can take steps to create environments in and out of the classroom that lessen the chance stereotype threat will negatively (and needlessly) affect performance.

Licenses and Attributions

Cc licensed content: original.

Authored by Clara Zimmerman, Porterville College. License: CC BY NC.

CC Licensed Content: Previously Published

Reading on Stereotype Threat is adapted from " Gender Through a Cognitive Psychology Lens ", a chapter from The Psychology of Gender by Kristy McRaney, Alexis Bridley, and Lee Daffin. License: CC BY NC SA.

Introduction

Goals and Goal Setting

Goals Common to All RST Writers

Other Goals to Consider

Defining My Own Goals

Advice about Assignments

Getting Started: Listing Topics to Write about in the Tutorial

Narrative One: Personal Piece on a Significant Experience

Narrative Two: Academic Piece on a Significant Experience

Summary/Response One

Summary/Response Two

Tutorial Evaluation Postscript

On Using the Resources for Writers

Generating and Developing Ideas

Finding/Expressing Main Ideas

Showing v. Telling Sentences

Focusing Topic Sentences

Thesis Statements

Reading Strategies

Assessing Your Reading Strategies

Summarizing

Writing Effective Summary and Response Essays

Discourse Analysis Worksheet

Trade Magazines

Selecting Readings

Teacher Advice: Summary/Response One

This first summary/response is designed to help students make the connection between their own experiences and the writing of others, as well as to start working on critical reading strategies that will play a large role in their success in CO150. Since you've prepared them for this assignment by having them read & respond to several responses on the web forum, the next step is to talk about the differences between that kind of informal response and an academic summary/response. You can do this by showing them a sample essay written for CO150 and talking about the differences, discussing the conventions of academic summary, and reviewing what they've already learned about writing an academic essay.

Note: The essay you assign can be critical to the student's success on this essay. If you choose an essay that is not an argument, be sure to point that out to the tutee. You might also generate a key question that the student can respond to with an argument. You and your tutee should look over the collected readings on selected topics--cultural snapshots, science & technology, environment, and current controversies--to choose a prompt essay you're both interested in. If you can't find one, have the tutee do some browsing in the journal room in the library to find a starting prompt. Working on a topic and using an essay that the student cares about will help the student respond meaningfully to the essay, so choose carefully!

The goals for this assignment are:

Suggestions for responding to this assignment: As always, be positive and encouraging. Let the student talk about how s/he approached the assignment and why s/he approached it this way. Encourage him or her to compare this experience with the experience of responding on the web forum informally, directly to the writer (different audience). Have the student compare the summary to the original essay (by doing a backwards outline of the original essay, for example, and then looking at the summary to see if it captures all of the main ideas). Then, you might ask the student to compare his or her own essay to a sample essay & discuss relative strengths and weaknesses. Come up with a revision plan together, if at all possible. Focus on the major writing elements through at least the first revision, and then look at sentence-level revisions as necessary.

How long to stick with this assignment : The sample semester guidelines have this essay going through three revisions. Depending on your student's reading/writing ability, you could do more or less with this assignment. Again, the essay doesn't have to be perfect, so work with it as long as you and the student think it's productive. Be sure to balance the benefits of further work on this essay against the benefits of reading more essays for practice (especially if you think reading is the main difficulty). The general guideline is that this essay is "finished" when the writer has produced an accurate summary and a focused response that is developed with some relevant personal experience.

So far, you've written an informal narrative and an academic narrative about a significant experience, and responded informally to some other students' narratives. Now it's time to write an academic response to an academic narrative. This kind of summary/response is an assignment you'll see in CO150, and is also common (in varying forms) in other disciplines like education and business.

The questions you'll answer ("Purpose") are (1) What are the purpose and main points of this writer's essay, and (2) Do you agree or disagree with one of his/her points based on your own experiences?

You're answering these questions for ("Audience") that same academic audience as for the last essay you wrote (Narrative 2). This audience is more specific, in that they have not read either the essay you're summarizing or your previous narrative. You'll have to give them enough information so that they can understand the author's essay by reading only your summary.

The goals are (1) to accurately summarize an article using the conventions of academic summary (your tutor will discuss these with you), (2) to provide a focused response to the article with a clear thesis statement, and (3) to develop your response using examples from your personal experience that are clearly related to examples/ideas from the article itself.

If you're having trouble getting started, take a look at the "Summarizing" section in the back of this resource packet. You might also revisit the section on "Reading Strategies." Be sure to use your notes on the article itself and your two-column log for ideas. Before starting to write, you might look again at the sample summary/response in this packet & any notes you made on it when you discussed it with your tutor.