Sample 2-Sentence Summaries and Analytical Paragraphs

Analytical Paragraph (General): Response to an article, short story, chapter/book, play, poem, television show/episode, film, lecture, etc. (7-10 sentences)

• Choose one sentence from the summary as the topic sentence of the paragraph.
• Support from the text (paraphrase or quote w/acknowledgement)––Explain the first piece of support
• Another piece of support from the text (paraphrase, quote w/acknowledgement)––Explain the second piece of support 
• Make a connection to another article, poem, chapter, short story, television show, film, class, etc.––Explain the connection
• Finish with “So what? Now what?” or "Why does it matter? What does it mean? What does it change?"

Summaries

• What was it about?
• What was the message?
• If nonfiction: 
• Is the source/information reliable? How do you know?

Literature Example
Summary
Old Man created everything and everyone on the Great Plains. When the people stopped listening to Old Man's messengers, they lost everything (their land, their families, and their stuff).

Paragraph
According to "Blackfoot Genesis", Old Man created everything and everyone on the Great Plains. We see this when he creates the big horn sheep and the antelope. With each of these creatures he provides for his people and for the animals, showing how much he cares about what he creates. He also takes care of the people he creates when he protects them from the buffalo. He shows the people how to use bows and arrows which allows them protection and food. Old Man doesn't just create things, he protects and cares for what he creates.

Article Example
Summary
"Chipotle Treats Customers Like Idiots" is about the importance of carefully checking sources and intentions, even in advertising. People too easily get sucked into a clever marketing campaign without finding out the truth behind it and that can, unfortunately, inform their decisions. This article is fairly reliable, because the author makes the information easy to access and fact-check.

Paragraph 1
People too easily get sucked into a clever marketing campaign without finding out the truth behind it and that can, unfortunately, inform their decisions as shown in "Chipotle Treats Customers Like Idiots." One example from Bailey's article is shown when he writes "every independent scientific body that has ever evaluated the safety of modern biotech crops has deemed them safe for human beings to eat." Bailey is referring to a Chipotle ad campaign where they claim, in the interest of customer health, they will go GMO free in their products. This is disingenuous at best, he goes on to argue that they manipulate the information and the consumer. He also points out that the prices of organic or natural foods are inflated based on nutritional value which fools some customers into believing they get what they pay for. What people need to remember is that Chipotle is taking GMOs out of their products for marketing, not integrity.

Paragraph 2
"Chipotle Treats Customers Like Idiots" is about the importance of carefully checking sources and intentions, even in advertising. Bailey shows this when he writes, "every independent scientific body that has ever evaluated the safety of modern biotech crops has deemed them safe for human beings." This illustrates how companies keep playing on people's fears instead of encouraging consumers to find out about the safety of GMOs for themselves. He continues by giving examples of Chipotle, individually, trying to take advantage of customer's ignorance through their campaign's implied claim that they are making changes in order to promote the health of their customers. The irony is clear when consumers acknowledge that Chipotle is a chain restaurant that caters to quantity over quality. Checking facts becomes even more important when reading articles like "Government Deception of GMOs" which is full of unsupported suppositions. Ultimately, consumers need to check facts rather than relying on ad campaigns for information on any type of decision making.