Writing a Directed News Summary and Personal Response.docx

Writing a Directed News Summary and Personal Response




Directed SummaryThe summaries should have the following:Author: Who wrote the article? Title: What is the title?Source: From what source did it come?Page: What page numbers does the article start and end on?Topic: What is this article about? (This can be one sentence.)Summary: What does the article say about the topic? (This can be four or five sentences.)Only use present tense.



Directed SummaryDo not include examples unless they are absolutely necessary.Do not include your own opinions or main points (reasons) not included in the essay.Do not shift to past tense.


*




Directed SummaryFirst sentence should include title, author and statement about subject matter.Template: In “title of essay,” full name of author discusses general statement of subject matter (Source in italics and page numbers).



Directed SummaryExample (color-coded): In “Nature Through the Looking Glass,” Roumpani Papadomichelaki and Lash Vance discuss the paradoxical ways that most Americans view nature (Compass 3-5). The authors argue that we need to experience nature in its natural state on a daily basis instead of reserving our visits with nature to special trips and vacations. However, they go on to say that most of us try to control nature, subjugate it, by building cities, dams, farms and roads in areas that are not very conducive to human life. In addition, we set aside preserves and parks so that we can be reminded of the natural look of the land. It is this dual view of nature then that disconnects us from the natural world and makes it a place of marvel and retreat instead of part of our daily lives.Identifying SentenceThesisSupporting Reasons



Personal ResponseMay use a combination of verb tenses; however, opinion should be in present tense.Use evidence and reason to support your opinion.Evidence can come from personal experiences, observations, other readings or general knowledge.Do not research any information for your personal response.



Personal ResponseExample: While the authors believe that Americans’ views of nature are unbalanced and need correcting, I feel that humans and nature cannot co-exist in harmony. It seems that we constantly struggle with nature, almost as if we are at war with it. Look at what happened to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina a few years ago. The city was destroyed by nature. Some may say that we should not have built a city in that location to begin with and that the city should not be rebuilt, but that is wishful thinking. Once we have a sense of living in a place, of owning it, we are reluctant to give it up. Instead, we rebuild and make bigger dams and levies to buffer us from nature. We build stronger houses to keep us safe from earthquakes and tornadoes, and we control nature so that we can stay alive. Natural parks and reserves are okay to visit, but we want to live in comfort and safety from the elements. That is human nature.



Writing a Directed.

1. Writing a Directed News Summary and Personal Response




Directed SummaryThe summaries should have the
following:Author: Who wrote the article? Title: What is the
title?Source: From what source did it come?Page: What page
numbers does the article start and end on?Topic: What is this
article about? (This can be one sentence.)Summary: What
does the article say about the topic? (This can be four or five
sentences.)Only use present tense.



Directed SummaryDo not include examples unless they are
absolutely necessary.Do not include your own opinions or main
points (reasons) not included in the essay.Do not shift to past
tense.


*




Directed SummaryFirst sentence should include title, author and
statement about subject matter.Template: In “title of essay,”
full name of author discusses general statement of subject
matter (Source in italics and page numbers).

2. Directed SummaryExample (color-coded): In “Nature Through
the Looking Glass,” Roumpani Papadomichelaki and Lash
Vance discuss the paradoxical ways that most Americans view
nature (Compass 3-5). The authors argue that we need to
experience nature in its natural state on a daily basis instead of
reserving our visits with nature to special trips and vacations.
However, they go on to say that most of us try to control nature,
subjugate it, by building cities, dams, farms and roads in areas
that are not very conducive to human life. In addition, we set
aside preserves and parks so that we can be reminded of the
natural look of the land. It is this dual view of nature then that
disconnects us from the natural world and makes it a place of
marvel and retreat instead of part of our daily lives.Identifying
SentenceThesisSupporting Reasons



Personal ResponseMay use a combination of verb tenses;
however, opinion should be in present tense.Use evidence and
reason to support your opinion.Evidence can come from
personal experiences, observations, other readings or general
knowledge.Do not research any information for your personal
response.



Personal ResponseExample: While the authors believe that
Americans’ views of nature are unbalanced and need correcting,
I feel that humans and nature cannot co-exist in harmony. It
seems that we constantly struggle with nature, almost as if we
are at war with it. Look at what happened to New Orleans after
Hurricane Katrina a few years ago. The city was destroyed by
nature. Some may say that we should not have built a city in

3. that location to begin with and that the city should not be
rebuilt, but that is wishful thinking. Once we have a sense of
living in a place, of owning it, we are reluctant to give it up.
Instead, we rebuild and make bigger dams and levies to buffer
us from nature. We build stronger houses to keep us safe from
earthquakes and tornadoes, and we control nature so that we can
stay alive. Natural parks and reserves are okay to visit, but we
want to live in comfort and safety from the elements. That is
human nature.



Writing a Directed Summary and Personal Response





“Pass out the cigars! Pluto is a papa” 1

2


By Michael D. Lemonick 3

July 25, 2011 Time Magazine 4


http://www.time.com/health/article/0,8599,2084606,00.html 5

6

7


Before reading the passage, please do the following: 8

• Go to the file called “pre-reading activity “ and anwer the
questions. For 9


this activity, there is no right or wrong answer. The activity is
designed to 10

get you to think about the topic, and to use information you may
already 11


4. have to help you understand the reading. 12


• When you have completed the “pre-reading” activity, you
may return to 13

this document to read the grammar note and the vocabulary
explanations 14

before you read the passage. 15


_________________________ 16

17

Please read the grammar note and the vocabulary or expressions
information 18

carefully before reading the passage. 19

20

21

Grammar Note:

In this article, you will find the author is discussing an activity
that will take place
in the future while also discussing concurrent activities
happening now.

There are multiple ways to talk about the FUTURE:

Structure Example
will + verb I will travel.
be going to + verb He is going to travel.
the present form of a verb + a future
time marker, such as tomorrow, next
week, yet, etc.


She leaves tomorrow.

time clauses, such as when we arrive She leaves when we
arrive.

5. 22


23

Some expressions you may not immediately recognize

Expression or Vocabulary item Meaning
It’s Granted: it will be given
All but impossible: almost impossible
Get bombarded: is hit frequently and hard
Fields pitches: considers as a choice
Shouting distance: nearby
Tossing around ideas: considering the use of certain ideas
Caused anguish: made to feel very bad




24

_______________________________________ 25


26

27


READING 28

Read the following article, thinking about the previous ideas,
that is, what you 29

already know about this topic, how the language may shift in
time, and which 30

expressions may be confusing for you: 31


32

“Pass out the cigars! Pluto is a papa” 33


34

By Michael D. Lemonick 35


6. July 25, 2011 Time Magazine 36

http://www.time.com/health/article/0,8599,2084606,00.html
37


38

With all the attention places like Jupiter and Mars have been
getting as NASA 39

prepares to send two new probes their way, it's easy to forget
that a spacecraft is 40

currently heading toward the edge of the solar system at speeds
exceeding 41

50,000 m.p.h. (80,000 km/h), aimed straight at Pluto. Even at
that blistering 42

speed, the New Horizons probe, launched back in 2006 before
Pluto was 43

downgraded from a fully certified planet to a dwarf planet,
won't arrive until 2015. 44

45

But mission scientists don't want to waste a moment when it
finally gets there, so 46

they've been scouting ahead with the Hubble Space Telescope to
see if there's 47

anything unusual to photograph or any hazards to avoid — like
rings, which could 48

damage or even destroy a probe that smashes through them at a
high speed. 49

50

The image that popped up in Hubble's gallery on June 28 didn't
show any rings 51

— but it did show that Pluto has a moon nobody knew about.
Temporarily known 52

as P4 until it's granted a real name, it joins Charon, discovered
by a U.S. Naval 53

Observatory telescope in 1978; and Nix and Hydra, spotted by
Hubble in 2005. 54

There's a good reason P4 escaped notice until now: its diameter,

7. somewhere 55

between 8 and 21 miles (13 and 33 km), makes it all but
impossible to see from 56

Earth. "We always knew it was possible there were more moons
out there," says 57

Alan Stern of the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder,
Colo., the principal 58

investigator of the New Horizons mission and a co-discoverer of
the new moon. 59

"And lo and behold, there it was." 60

61

It almost wasn't, as far as the astronomers were concerned.
Stern, along with 62

planetary scientist Mark Showalter of the SETI Institute in
Mountain View, Calif., 63

put in a proposal about a year ago asking for some of Hubble's
precious time to 64

look for rings around Pluto. "It must have rings, at least from
time to time," says 65

Stern. The reason: Nix and Hydra, like pretty much every other
object in the solar 66

system, get bombarded with meteorites or bits of comet every so
often. "I 67

guarantee that when we get there," says Stern, "we'll see
craters." Those impacts 68

will throw particles of ice into space and those particles will
form themselves into 69





rings. "The only question," says Stern, "is how long they last."
The Hubble folks, 70

though, turned the scientists down. So they appealed, and the
second time 71

around their project was approved. 72


8. 73

Showalter and Stern are not done yet. Along with several
colleagues, they have 74

submitted a second proposal to the Hubble time-allocation
committee, which 75

fields hundreds of such pitches per year. Scientists whose
requests are granted 76

don't always have as much time as they'd like, but Showalter
and Stern will take 77

what they can get, since they wouldn't be at all surprised if
there are still more 78

Plutonian satellites to be found. That's because the four known
moons were likely 79

born when something huge smacked into Pluto ages ago. If that
collision 80

produced big debris chunks, it surely produced smaller, still
undetected ones too. 81

82

There's not a lot of time to lose. Even though New Horizons
won't get within 83

shouting distance of Pluto for nearly four more years, the
mission scientists have 84

to lock in their sequences of observations well in advance. "We
have to write that 85

script, test it, make sure it's all worked out," says Stern, and
that takes time. "If 86

we start discovering things too late, we're not going to be able
to adjust." 87

88

Even though New Horizons will be flashing past Pluto at a
blinding speed, the 89

total encounter will last for weeks. "Lots of people think we're
going to go by on a 90

Tuesday or something," says Stern. But while the probe's
closest approach will 91

indeed be a one-day event, occurring on July 14, 2015, to be

9. precise, New 92

Horizons will start getting better images than the Hubble — and
thus the best 93

ever taken of Pluto and its moons — starting 10 weeks before
the flyby and 94

lasting 10 weeks afterward. 95

96

By that time, tiny P4 should have a real name. "We're tossing
around some 97

ideas," says Showalter, "but the name has to come out of Greek
mythology 98

associated with Hades and the underworld." That's according to
the International 99

Astronomical Union (IAU), which formally approves the names
of heavenly 100

objects — and which has strict and sometimes arcane guidelines
for what's 101

permitted. Underworld myths are the rule for moons of Pluto;
for moons of 102

Uranus, it must be characters from the works of Shakespeare
and Alexander 103

Pope — specifically Pope's poem "The Rape of the Lock." That
required 104

Showalter to learn the verses well. "I'm the discoverer of two
moons of Uranus," 105

he says. "We named them Cupid and Mab." 106

107

The IAU is also responsible for the decision in 2006 to demote
tiny Pluto, just 108

one-half the size of Earth's moon, to the status of dwarf planet.
That ruling 109

caused anguish to schoolchildren around the world while
making some scientists 110

rejoice. Stern, an unabashed Pluto lover, is philosophical. He
has no doubt that 111

Pluto is indeed a planet no matter what the IAU says, but he's

10. not considering 112

trying to get the decision reversed. "We've moved past that," he
says. "I believe 113

that most planetary scientists know it's a planet, and we don't
need the IAU to tell 114

us it is." 115





116

Showalter, on the other hand, doesn't think it matters what you
call Pluto. "I don't 117

see dwarf planet as a demotion," he says. "Think of bonsai
trees. The fact that 118

they're so small is what makes them interesting. So if you don't
like the term 119

dwarf planet, just think of Pluto as a bonsai planet. 120

121

122


End of reading passage. 123

124

125



Now that you have read the passage, go to the file (in
Blackboard) entitled
“Comprehension Check Activity” and answer the questions.
You may refer back
to the article to answer the questions. The questions have
points to allow you to
see how well you have understood the reading.

11. 126