1. Understanding Summary
Writing
Rhetoric and Composition 1001

2. The Importance of the
Summary
Applicableinallfieldsofeverything
Sometimesalsoreferredtoasanabstract

3. Criteria for an Effective
Summary
•Represents the original piece accurately and fairly
•Direct and concise
•Reveal the author’s main points without giving your opinion
on those points
•Use your own words to express the original author’s ideas
•Attributive tags!!
•Quotes are used sparingly, if at all
•The summary is its own unique piece of writing- coherent
and thorough
•Properly cited

4. Me Talk Pretty One Day
Representing the essay fairly
•He is the protagonist– objective
focus on the essay
•Economic language: If there is a
effective way to say it…
•Avoid overly descriptive language
•While his writing is sarcastic and
at times even culturally caustic,
you don’t want your own prose to
be sarcastically written

5. Me Talk Pretty One Day
Use your own words to convey his
ideas about living in Paris and
speaking French
•Distinguish between your
summary of his ideas and his
ideas by using attributive tags
•ATTRIBUTIVE TAGS ARE
GREAT!!!
•Quotations are not really
essential and can be a hindrance
to the summary

6. Me Talk Pretty One Day
The summary is a unified piece
of writing in its own right
•Your reader will not have to refer
to the original piece in order to get
the gist of the essay
•For your own essay in this class,
you will HAVE to limit the number
of words in your summary to about
200-250 words, typical of an
academic abstract
•Examples of citations can be
found on page 102-103 (MLA of
course)

7. In his essay, Me Talk Pretty One Day, David Sedaris sarcastically details his life in Paris and
a horrible French teacher who would berate him and his fellow French-learning classmates.
He talks about how cruel his teacher was, and then he talks about how her cruelty connects
to his family life in the United States as well as how learning French was like joining a gang.
Obviously, Sedaris wrote this essay as a metaphor for the obstacles we all must face through
life. While his writing style is a bit non-linear, it is apparent that a reader can recognize and
sympathize with the struggles that we all face.
In Me Talk Pretty One Day, originally published in a collection of essays by
that same title, David Sedaris recounts a time that he had spent learning
French in a school in Paris. He chronicles conversations that weave his
personal, humorously portrayed emotions with experiences that he has had in
his past, all while sympathizing with his fellow classmates during months of
French immersion. Throughout the essay, Sedaris constructs his French
teacher to be belittling and sadistic, yet toward the concluding paragraphs, he
begins to feel a sense of “great joy” toward his high immersion education, as
he has begun to understand every word that she speaks. “The world opened
up” for Sedaris at this pinnacle conclusion, capturing his gratitude at the
beauty that comes with comprehension.
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8. TO RECAP
The Basics of an
Effective Summary If you’d like a little
more David
Sedaris and his
trips around the
world– copy and
paste this link:
http://www.yo
utube.com/wat
ch?
v=Vo98DQnv
YOMk