Academic writing is often quite compact, with lots of nouns and adjectives and embedded modifying phrases, much of which contributes to the difficulty we may face in trying to read it, especially when a lot of those terms are also unfamiliar. It takes practice to write this compactly and concisely. Indeed, if you’re struggling to write your summaries more concisely, yet still include all the important information about authors, audiences, purpose, claims, evidence, relevance, etc., then this exercise may help! 

Part I

Instructions: First (A) rewrite each of the following groups of sentences into a single sentence, then (B) consider how you did it. (Try to describe your choices, whether you have grammatical vocabulary to describe them or not.) 

Example: (1) This essay is from Writing Spaces: Readings on Writing. (2) Writing Spaces: Readings on Writing is an open-access textbook series for college students. (3) Natalie Singh-Corcoran is a composition scholar. (4) In this essay, Singh-Corcoran tries to convince skeptical first-year students that FYC classes are not a waste of time. (5) Singh-Corcoran also tries to convince FY students that FYC classes can prepare them for writing beyond the first year of college. (68 words)

Brian’s sentence: In this essay from Writing Spaces: Readings on Writing, an open-access textbook series for college students, composition scholar Natalie Singh-Corcoran tries to convince skeptical first-year college students that FYC classes, far from being a waste of time, can prepare them for writing beyond the first year of college. (48 words, a reduction of nearly 30%!)Brian’s comments: My strategies included deleting repeated words and using modifying phrases (in bold) that work because of their proximity to the nouns whose meanings they clarify. 

A. (1) Thonney encourages writing instructors to call their students’ attention to disciplinary differences and common moves. (2) Thonney teaches writing at Columbia Basin College. (3) Columbia Basin College is a two-year school. (30 words)

B. (1) Downs and Robertson argue that when students can articulate a more conscious theory of writing, they can more effectively take charge of their own learning. (2) A theory of writing is an understanding of how writing works, how writing is learned, and what makes writing effective. (3) Downs and Robertson are scholars of writing. (52 words)

C. (1) Howard, Serviss, and Rodrigue are scholars of writing. (2) Howard, Serviss, and Rodrigue suggest that patchwriting should be considered a necessary stage in writers’ development. (3) Howard, Serviss, and Rodrigue suggest that patchwriting should not be considered plagiarism. (4) Howard, Serviss, and Rodrigue define patchwriting as “reproducing source language with some words deleted or added, some grammatical structures altered, or some synonyms used” (p. 181). (60 words)

Part II

Now try this out with a string of sentences in at least one of your own draft rhetorical summaries. How much can you reduce by combining sentences with the strategies you used in A-C, above?