How to Write a Summary

 

 

1.    Read the article without stopping.

 

2.    Reread the article and use a reading strategy or two to focus on the key facts. For this article we will visualize and clarify.

 

3.    Prioritize the key facts in a list or organizer.

 

4.    Paraphrase the key ideas.

 

5.    The summary must start with the most important fact and end with the least important fact.

 

6.    No fact should be repeated.

 

7.    Do not include a clincher.

 

8.    Do not include your own opinion when summarizing.

 

9.    The summary must give the reader a general idea about the topic.

 

10. Edit by reading out loud and revising for clarity and mechanics.

 

Name _________________ Date _________________ Class _______

 

 

By John Kifner

 

Special to The New York Times

Kent, Ohio, May 4, 1970 -- Four students at Kent State University, two of them women, were shot to death this afternoon by a volley of National Guard gunfire. At least 8 other students were wounded.

 

The burst of gunfire came about 20 minutes after the guardsmen broke up a noon rally on the Commons, a grassy campus gathering spot, by lobbing tear gas at a crowd of about 1,000 young people.

 

In Columbus, Sylvester Del Corso, Adjutant General of the Ohio National Guard, said in a statement that the guardsmen had been forced to shoot after a sniper opened fire against the troops from a nearby rooftop and the crowd began to move to encircle the guardsmen.

 

Frederick P. Wenger, the Assistant Adjutant General, said the troops had opened fire after they were shot at by a sniper.

 

This reporter, who was with the group of students, did not see any indication of sniper fire, nor was the sound of any gunfire audible before the Guard volley. Students, conceding that rocks had been thrown, heatedly denied that there was any sniper.

 

Students here, angered by the expansion of the war into Cambodia, have held demonstrations for the last three nights. On Saturday night, the Army Reserve Officers Training Corps* building was burned to the ground and the Guard was called in and martial law was declared.

 

Today's rally, called after a night in which the police and guardsmen drove students into their dormitories and made 69 arrests, began as students rang the iron Victory bell on the commons, normally used to herald football victories.

 

A National Guard jeep drove onto the Commons and an officer ordered the crowd to disperse. Then several canisters of tear gas were fired, and the students straggled up a hill that borders the area and retreated into buildings.

 

A platoon of guardsmen, armed- as they have been since they arrived here with loaded M-1 rifles and gas equipment - moved across the green and over the crest of the hill, chasing the main body of protesters.

 

The youths split into two groups, one heading farther downhill toward a dormitory complex, the other gathering around a parking lot and girls' dormitory just below Taylor Hall, the architecture building.

 

The guardsmen moved into a grassy area just below the parking lot and fired several canisters of tear gas from their short, stubby launchers.

 

Three or four youths ran to the smoking canisters and hurled them back. Most fell far short, but one landed near the troops and a cheer went up from the crowd, which was chanting "Pigs* off campus" and cursing the war.

A few youths in the front of the crowd ran into the parking lot and hurled stones or small chunks of pavement in the direction of the guardsmen. Then the troops began moving back up the hill in the direction of the college.

 

 

The students in the parking lot area, numbering about 500, began to move toward the rear of the troops, cheering. Again, a few in front picked up stones from the edge of the parking lot and threw them at the guardsmen. Another group of several hundred students had gathered around the sides of Taylor Hall watching.

 

As the guardsmen, moving up the hill in single file, reached the crest, they suddenly turned, forming a skirmish line and opening fire.

 

The crackle of the rifle volley cut the suddenly still air. It appeared to go on, as a solid volley, for perhaps a full minute or a little longer.

 

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·  * ROTC – an abbreviation for Army Reserve Officers Training Corp – a group of students training to enter the Army as officers after graduation

·  *pigs - a rude nickname for the police

 

 

1. Which answer correctly lists the events in chronological order?

 

 

a.     National Guard opens fire – tear gas – arrests – ROTC building burned

b.     ROTC building burned – tear gas – Victory bell - National Guard opens fire

c.     Tear gas – gunfire – ROTC bldg. burned – Victory bell

d.     ROTC building burned – Victory bell – tear gas - gunfire

 

2. Why were the students protesting?

 

 

 

 

 

3. List the two pieces of evidence that there was not a sniper.

 

 

 

 

4. Why was martial law declared?

 

 

 

 

 

5. Predict what would have happened if police officers rather than National Guard soldiers were in charge of campus security the day of the shooting.

 

6. The author’s purpose is to

 

a.     entertain

b.     inform

c.     persuade

d.     question

 

7. What would be a good title for this article? Explain.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

8. Decide if the National Guard was right to open fire on the protestors. State your reasons.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

9. The main idea of this article is

 

a.     protestors threw rocks and tear gas at soldiers

b.     69 students were arrested

c.     four college students were killed

d.     the Vietnam war was expanding into Cambodia

 

 

 

 

Name _________________________________

 

 

Directions: Find the simple predicate and simple subject in each sentence. Hints: Ask who or what after you find the simple predicate. Remember to include helping verbs as part of the simple predicate. List the simple predicate and simple subject on the lines below each sentence.

 

 

 

1. A sniper in the Book Depository shot and killed President Kennedy.

 

            Simple predicate _______________________   Simple subject ___________________

 

2. The hunters encircled the frightened deer.

 

            Simple predicate _______________________   Simple subject ___________________

 

 

3. The savage thunder was audible for miles.

 

            Simple predicate _______________________   Simple subject ___________________

 

 

4. The criminal conceded that there was overwhelming evidence of his guilt.

 

            Simple predicate _______________________   Simple subject ___________________

 

 

5. The expansion of the English Empire was halted long ago.

 

Simple predicate _______________________   Simple subject ___________________

 

 

6.  Cambodia was heavily bombed by US Air Force bombers during the Vietnam War.

 

Simple predicate _______________________   Simple subject ___________________

 

 

7. The governor declared martial law after the hurricane in order to prevent widespread looting and lawlessness.

 

            Simple predicate _______________________   Simple subject ___________________

 

 

8. The Boston Herald provides a summary of news to its readers.

 

            Simple predicate _______________________   Simple subject ___________________

 

 

9. The three-legged dog straggled about town looking for the bone he thought he buried next to Saddam’s weapons of mass destruction.

 

Simple predicate _______________________   Simple subject ___________________

 

 

 10. From the crest of the hill, we could see the Boston skyline glitter like the morning sun on Cohasset Harbor.

 

            Simple predicate _______________________   Simple subject ___________________

 

 

11. Nolan Ryan hurled a 100 m.p.h. fastball perilously close to Manny’s dreadlocks.

 

            Simple predicate _______________________   Simple subject ___________________

 

 

12. The skirmish line of intrepid soldiers was no match for the approaching blizzard of tanks.

 

            Simple predicate _______________________   Simple subject ___________________

 

 

13. The deafening volley of weapons caused considerable panic.

 

 

sniper – a person skilled in shooting, esp. with a rifle, usually from a hidden location; noun. A sniper in the Book Depository shot and killed President Kennedy.

encircle – to surround as if the person or object becomes enclosed in a circle; verb. The hunters encircled the frightened deer.

audible – able to be heard; adj. The savage thunder was audible for miles.

concede – to acknowledge as true; verb. The criminal conceded that there was overwhelming evidence of his guilt.

expansion – growth; noun. The expansion of the English Empire was halted long ago.

Cambodia – Asian country next to Vietnam, was heavily bombed by US Force bombers during the Vietnam War even though President Nixon had promised not to send troops into Cambodia

martial law - the law temporarily imposed upon an area by state or national military forces when civil authority has broken down or during wartime military operations; noun. The governor declared martial law after the hurricane in order to prevent widespread looting and lawlessness.

herald –to give news; verb. The Boston Herald provides a summary of news to its readers.

disperse – to drive or send off in various directions; scatter: to disperse a crowd; verb. The boys dispersed eagerly after a rabid skunk ran onto the playground.

straggle - to wander about in a scattered fashion; verb. The three-legged dog straggled about town looking for the bone he thought he buried next to Saddam’s weapons of mass destruction.

crest – top; adj. From the crest of the hill, we could see the Boston skyline glitter like the morning sun on Cohasset Harbor.

hurl – to throw; verb. Nolan Ryan hurled a 100 m.p.h. fastball perilously close to Manny’s dreadlocks.

skirmish line – a line of soldiers in a fighting formation; noun. The skirmish line of intrepid soldiers was no match for the approaching blizzard of tanks.

volley - the simultaneous discharge of a number of missiles or firearms; noun The deafening volley of weapons caused considerable panic.