Purposeful Summary Task

It Seems Counterintuitive that . . .

You’ll be writing a Purposeful Summary of the Fabienne Charisma story as discussed in today’s Purposeful Summary Lecture.

  1. Read the Purposeful Summary Lecture carefully and examine the models there as your guide for good summary.
  2. Write a Purposeful Summary of the Fabienne Charisma story.
  3. Publish your work in a new post.

Notes

You don’t need to be sincere. As long as your writing indicates an understanding of the counterintuitive nature of the topic, and summarizes the source material in such a way that your entries emphasize that counterintuitivity, I will consider any crazy conclusions you come to.

Forbidden Rhetoric for this Exercise

  • DO NOT begin by citing the article you’re summarizing.
  • In other words, DO NOT begin by saying “In the article, ‘Is This Photo Ethical?’ the author describes what happened in Haiti after the 2010 earthquake.”
  • DO NOT say that the author “talks about” an earthquake.
  • YOU ARE THE AUTHOR, and this is your summary of what you observed.

Required Rhetoric

  • Begin your summary with the phrase “It seems counterintuitive that . . . .”
  • Use what you’ve learned about the earthquake, its aftermath, the throng of reporters who descended on Haiti, the roles they have to balance to be both humane and professional. Make an argument of your own, very possibly one that contradicts any position the original author may have taken.
  • Suppress the identity of the article and its author(s).
  • Write as if you are describing the subject matter first hand.
  • Argue, demonstrate, persuade; in other words, use the material you are summarizing for a purpose!

ASSIGNMENT DETAILS

  • DUE Before midnight TUE SEP 24.
  • Publish your assignment in two categories: Purposeful Summaries and the category for your Username.
  • Give your post the title Summaries–Username, substituting your own username, of course.
  • Word count is irrelevant, but thorough analyses of whatever length will be graded higher than superficial writing that wastes words. Complex ideas briefly expressed are rewarded best.
  • You will receive just one grade for this draft, which is intended to diagnose your abilities and needs. If you request feedback, you’ll receive guidance to help you improve your grade, one time, with a Rewrite.