3-page Summary of the documentary Mankiller: Activist. Feminist. Cherokee Chief. (2019)
Budget: $10 – $30 USD
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8n0soGu7i0
TAKE NOTES!
1: Re-read your notes, marking the central point (main idea, thesis) and all other major points. If you do not find a clear or complete statement of the central point in your notes, you should be able to infer the central point while completing the next step.
2: Organize your notes into sections that reflect the component parts of the film. Identify the content, emphasis, and purpose of each part. If earlier you could not find a statement of the film's central point, you should now be able to draw a conclusion as to the film's overall thesis. Even if you have already identified the thesis, you may find that you want to revise it to reflect more accurately the film's intention.
3: Once you have organized the film into its component parts and written a thesis, consider and write down how each of the parts helps support the thesis. If a part does not support the thesis, either your thesis needs revision or the film includes material that is not tightly related to the central point. First, attempt to re-write your thesis. If this approach doesn't correct the problem, you may not have included in your original notes a statement that connects the parts. If you think you may have overlooked something, you will need to view the film again. If after viewing the film, you still do not understand how a particular part supports the thesis, the fault may lie in the film, a point you can artfully include in your summary.
4: If, when organizing your notes into the film's component parts, you did not re-write them, you should re-write the notes so that they accurately reflect the order and content of each part. Include a note to yourself as to how each part is connected to the next
-If in your summary you plan to include any comments on the quality of the film ( its scholarship, presentation, coherence, balance, fairness, thoroughness, entertainment and/or educational value, etc.), write them down now. Just remember that the assignment is to write a summary, not an evaluation. Even so, informal summaries do allow for the inclusion of limited, judicious comment on the quality of the work, as long as you support what you say.
-Finally, I strongly recommend that at this point you check all terms, facts, and spellings. If you complete this step now, you will not have as difficult a time revising and editing your first draft.
-Completing all the groundwork described above is vital to your confidence and competence as a summary writer.
5: Write a first draft. Your summary should include an introductory paragraph, body paragraphs, and a concluding paragraph. Writers often use the concluding paragraph to voice their opinion on the quality of the work. If you choose to do this, you still must include in that paragraph evidence that what you say is well founded.
Introductory Paragraph:
A) Begin by identifying the work being summarized. Include the title of the film (underlined or italicized), the distributor (PBS), the medium (theater film, VHS, DVD), and the date of release (2003). In the same or following sentence identify the subject and general scope of the film.
B) State the film's thesis and identify its component parts. ( If you have not already stated the scope of the film, do so here.)
Body Paragraphs:
A) The easiest way to recount a work's material is to describe it in the same order as it appears in the original. Your preparatory analysis of the film into its component parts will prove invaluable here. Just follow the outline you have already developed.
B) An important element in producing a well-written summary is to include a statement of how each component part of the original material supports or relates to the thesis. Often this statement can appear at the beginning of the discussion of each part and serve as a transitional statement that not only connects the paragraph to the thesis but connects the paragraph to the one which precedes it. Showing the reader the logical connections between the parts of the film will provide your summary with coherence. -When an essay has coherence, the reader can see how the entire essay supports the thesis and can follow the logical connections between one sentence and the next and one paragraph and the next.
Conclusion:
A) Your conclusion should mirror the conclusion of the original work. If the original work does not summarize how the film's content supports the thesis, you should do so yourself.
B) As mentioned before, you may include evaluative comments here.
-After you have written your first draft, you need to re-read it carefully and check for the clarity and accuracy of the following:
-Identification of the work summarized
-Thesis
-Organization
-Coherence
Make necessary revisions. Check the same elements again. Make necessary revisions ( as many as needed) Edit for the following: Complete, clear, logical sentences Appropriate word choice Correct spelling Correct capitalization Correct punctuation No omitted words No misused words Proper use of apostrophes Correct verb tense use the PRESENT TENSE when writing about a work that still exists
TAKE NOTES!
1: Re-read your notes, marking the central point (main idea, thesis) and all other major points. If you do not find a clear or complete statement of the central point in your notes, you should be able to infer the central point while completing the next step.
2: Organize your notes into sections that reflect the component parts of the film. Identify the content, emphasis, and purpose of each part. If earlier you could not find a statement of the film's central point, you should now be able to draw a conclusion as to the film's overall thesis. Even if you have already identified the thesis, you may find that you want to revise it to reflect more accurately the film's intention.
3: Once you have organized the film into its component parts and written a thesis, consider and write down how each of the parts helps support the thesis. If a part does not support the thesis, either your thesis needs revision or the film includes material that is not tightly related to the central point. First, attempt to re-write your thesis. If this approach doesn't correct the problem, you may not have included in your original notes a statement that connects the parts. If you think you may have overlooked something, you will need to view the film again. If after viewing the film, you still do not understand how a particular part supports the thesis, the fault may lie in the film, a point you can artfully include in your summary.
4: If, when organizing your notes into the film's component parts, you did not re-write them, you should re-write the notes so that they accurately reflect the order and content of each part. Include a note to yourself as to how each part is connected to the next
-If in your summary you plan to include any comments on the quality of the film ( its scholarship, presentation, coherence, balance, fairness, thoroughness, entertainment and/or educational value, etc.), write them down now. Just remember that the assignment is to write a summary, not an evaluation. Even so, informal summaries do allow for the inclusion of limited, judicious comment on the quality of the work, as long as you support what you say.
-Finally, I strongly recommend that at this point you check all terms, facts, and spellings. If you complete this step now, you will not have as difficult a time revising and editing your first draft.
-Completing all the groundwork described above is vital to your confidence and competence as a summary writer.
5: Write a first draft. Your summary should include an introductory paragraph, body paragraphs, and a concluding paragraph. Writers often use the concluding paragraph to voice their opinion on the quality of the work. If you choose to do this, you still must include in that paragraph evidence that what you say is well founded.
Introductory Paragraph:
A) Begin by identifying the work being summarized. Include the title of the film (underlined or italicized), the distributor (PBS), the medium (theater film, VHS, DVD), and the date of release (2003). In the same or following sentence identify the subject and general scope of the film.
B) State the film's thesis and identify its component parts. ( If you have not already stated the scope of the film, do so here.)
Body Paragraphs:
A) The easiest way to recount a work's material is to describe it in the same order as it appears in the original. Your preparatory analysis of the film into its component parts will prove invaluable here. Just follow the outline you have already developed.
B) An important element in producing a well-written summary is to include a statement of how each component part of the original material supports or relates to the thesis. Often this statement can appear at the beginning of the discussion of each part and serve as a transitional statement that not only connects the paragraph to the thesis but connects the paragraph to the one which precedes it. Showing the reader the logical connections between the parts of the film will provide your summary with coherence. -When an essay has coherence, the reader can see how the entire essay supports the thesis and can follow the logical connections between one sentence and the next and one paragraph and the next.
Conclusion:
A) Your conclusion should mirror the conclusion of the original work. If the original work does not summarize how the film's content supports the thesis, you should do so yourself.
B) As mentioned before, you may include evaluative comments here.
-After you have written your first draft, you need to re-read it carefully and check for the clarity and accuracy of the following:
-Identification of the work summarized
-Thesis
-Organization
-Coherence
Make necessary revisions. Check the same elements again. Make necessary revisions ( as many as needed) Edit for the following: Complete, clear, logical sentences Appropriate word choice Correct spelling Correct capitalization Correct punctuation No omitted words No misused words Proper use of apostrophes Correct verb tense use the PRESENT TENSE when writing about a work that still exists