Chapter 7

Annotating, Summarizing,
Responding

By Ximena Perez and Ximena del Campo

 What is it?
Annotating Summarizing Responding
Process of taking notes, Synthesize the ideas in Engage with the text
underline important what you are reading, directly
information and marking consolidate your
significant passages understanding and
remember important
points. .
 Annotating
• Think about your purpose for reading
■ Why are you reading this text?
■ What do you need to be able to do with this text?
Annotating
• Preview the text
■ What do you already know?
■ Who are the authors or sponsors?
■ Who published the text?
■ What does the title tell you?
■ Read the abstract
■ Any headings?
■ First-impression
 Annotating
• Annotate as you read
■ What is the author saying?
■ How the author is expressing their ideas?
■ How are you reacting?
What’s the text saying?

Thesis

Reasons & Evidence

Counter Arguments
Who’s the intended audience?

• Is it for students? Teachers? Doctors? General Audience?

■ What do you know about the audience’s values?
 About the author
• Who wrote the text?
■ Demonstrates authority
• What’s is the author’s stance?
• How would you describe the author’s style and tone?
• What kinds of language choices does the author make?
What are your reactions?
What we think, experience, believes and even emotions are important at
understanding a text

Or both? Do you agree or disagree?

Any claims? Is it confusing?

Counter Consider yourself!

Arguments
Read more than once and take time to annotate to help you being
engaged!
 Summarizing
Helps you understand and engage with it. Focus on:

● Central Ideas
● Claims
● Theories
 What to do?
1. Read carefully and annotate
2. Be brief, state main points and leave minor
details
3. Be fair and accurate
4. Use signal phrases and use quotations
5. Consider visuals
 Responding
- The act of responding is nothing new. We all
respond in our day to day by simply liking a
friend’s social media post or talking in a
class group chat!
- In academic settings we will be expected to
respond in professional ways.
- In written documents, discussions, exams or
a presentations.
 ANNOTATIONS
Looking over ANNOTATIONS will help you generate ideas to
RESPOND formally. They make help you reveal patterns in
your writing that can help with a final response.
Making ANNOTATIONS will help analyze and reflect on your
response.
 ARGUMENTS
However you may respond you will be making an
ARGUMENT for what you say.
In order to respond carefully you must question the author’s
REASONS, EVIDENCE and what the text CLAIMS.
- Do you agree or disagree with the author's position?
- What is the larger context?
 4

ARGUMENTS
- What does the text CLAIM? Is it stated explicitly—and if not, should
it be? Has it been carefully qualified—and if not, does it need to be?
- Look for and assess the REASONS and EVIDENCE provided in
support of the claim
- Does the author use emotional, ethical, or logical appeals?
- Has the writer mentioned any COUNTER ARGUMENTS or
alternative points?
- How does the author use LANGUAGE?
- How does the author establish AUTHORITY?
REFLECT on a text’s ideas by drawing
connections to your own personal
experiences, beliefs or way of thinking!
* What impact has the reading had on you-as a student, scholar, citizen, and researcher? What are the big takeaways
for you personally?

* Which past experiences or memories did you recall while reading the text? Can you relate to anything in the text?

* Does the text challenge or uphold any of your beliefs? Or cause you to question some of your assumptions and
biases?

* What other texts, images, videos, recordings, etc., does the text remind you of?

* What lessons, insights, or ideas has the text taught you? How might you apply those lessons in your own writing or
thinking?
SUMMARY/RESPONSE ESSAYS
- A summary/response essay demonstrates that you have
engaged with a text, understand its main message, and have
something to say as a result.
- Your summary should cover the following grounds as these
assignments are common in first year writing.
 A Fair, Accurate and Concise Summary

State the Author, Be concise.

- Most summaries of
Use an even and
Title, and Author’s
credentials. full texts are 100 to objective TONE
125 words
- Give readers enough
Include MAIN claims information to Make it CLEAR by
and PRIMARY understand what you using SIGNAL
supporting points are responding to.
PHRASES.
A Clear Response, Supported by Evidence
- Your response is the meat of a summary/response essay.
- Think about what you’re most interested in doing: responding to what
the text says, analyzing how the text works, reflecting on the text’s
ideas.
- If you're responding to what the text says, take a position– agreeing or
disagreeing, or both. State your position explicitly in a THESIS
STATEMENT.
- Think about and address any COUNTER ARGUMENTS to your response.
A Clear Response, Supported by Evidence
- Examine how the text communicates its message. Look at its structure, word choice,
style, and other elements. Support your analysis with evidence from the text and
state your main conclusion in a clear thesis statement.

- If reflecting on the text's ideas, explain how it personally impacted you. Use specific
passages as evidence and connect your own beliefs or experiences to your response.
 LOGICAL ORGANIZATION
A Summary/Response can be organized in different ways, and your assignment may ask
for a specific structure.
- Summarize first, and then respond: introduce and summarize the text, then state your
thesis. Respond to the text, providing supporting points for your thesis. End by summing
up your response and its implications.
- Summarize and respond point-by-point; Introduce the text and state your thesis. Then
summarize a claim or strategy from the text and respond to it. End by summing up your
response and its implications.
THANK YOU!