PART 1: A SUMMARY OF THE WORK
To develop the first part of a report, do the following:
- Identify the author and title of the work and include in parentheses the publisher and publication date.
- Write an informative summary of the material. Summarize the material so that the reader gets a general
sense of all key aspects of the original work. - Condense the content of the work by highlighting its main points and key supporting points.
- Use direct quotations from the work to illustrate important ideas.
- Do not discuss in great detail any single aspect of the work, and do not neglect to mention other equally
important points. - Also, keep the summary objective and factual. Do not include in the first part of the paper your personal
reaction to the work; your subjective impression will form the basis of the second part of your paper.
PART 2: YOUR REACTION TO THE WORK
To develop the second part of a report, do the following: - Focus on any or all of the following questions.
- How is the assigned work related to ideas and concerns discussed in the course for which you are
preparing the paper? For example, what points made in the course textbook, class discussions, or lectures are
treated more fully in the work? - How is the work related to problems in our present-day world?
- How is the material related to your life, experiences, feelings and ideas? For instance, what emotions did
the work arouse in you?