ESOL 0354 Advanced Composition

Summary-Response Essay Outline

IMPORTANT Reminder #1: You MUST completely paraphrase the main ideas and major details in your summary.  NONE of the original language from the reading should be left.  You MAY NOT use direct quotations from the reading in your introduction or summary paragraphs.

IMPORTANT Reminder #2: You cannot summarize (repeat) information from the text to explain WHY you agree/disagree with it (this shows a lack of critical thinking skills – I agree with it because it sounds good, NOT I agree with it because I can PROVE it to be true).  To explain why you agree/disagree, you will need to give your own, personal experience/ideas.

Introduction:

• Author’s name and the title of the article: David Brooks, ‘’The Gender Gap at School.’’
  • Author’s main idea(s) in your own words: Boys and girls tend to like and dislike different books
  • Background information about audience and purpose: Gender affects the manner in which children think about their surroundings. In school girls are interested in the books that talks about emotions and society while boys like books about masculine men defeating criminals.
  • Thesis statement giving your response to the main idea:

I agree that boys and girls differs in terms of emotions and thinking

I disagree that selecting customized books for boys and girls might be helpful in ensuring that students are focused to reading since diversity will be discouraged.

• Summary Paragraph:

• Topic Sentence restating author’s main idea (in different words than the introduction):

Girls read better than boys in school for several reasons.

• Key supporting ideas from the text in your own words:

Each gender has a different brain structure and thinking abilities.

The education system should prioritize these gender differences.

Response Paragraph #1 (Point You AGREE With): Boys and girls are different in terms of emotions and thinking.

• Topic sentence identifies idea & your opinion about it:

Brooks (390) notes that evidence suggest that the male and female brains operate differently. I agree with this statement because both genders respond different to various situations.

• Explain why you agree: Boys have proven to be competent in natural science which is characterized by complexity while girls are good at social sciences due to the emotions involved.  
• Examples to illustrate why you agree OR evaluate how well the author explains the ideas:

For example girls are good at expressing themselves since they tend to talk more than boys. Another example is that girls can differentiate more colors than boys.

Response Paragraph #2 (Point You DISAGREE With): creating a different education system might help to improve their ability to read.

• Topic sentence identifies idea &s your opinion about it: Brooks asserts that the learning curriculum was designed to create equal interest of reading among both genders. I do not think that differentiating the curriculum will be beneficial since school only need to customize learning to suit the needs of each student.
• Explain why you disagree:  While most boys are interested in books that talk about masculinity some of them might also be interested in books dealing with societal issues or those that encompasses emotions.
• Examples to illustrate why you agree OR evaluate how well the author explains the ideas:

Not all girls and boys are interested in the same things when it comes to books. Girls tend to be feminist but boys can also get to learn that being emotional is not wrong.

Conclusion:

• Restate main idea of the reading: people respond differently to various events based on their brain structure and social encounters. Schools provides opportunities for students to discover their strengths and explore opportunities.
• Restate thesis: Boys and girls think differently which influences their books choice.
• Prediction or Call to Action: The reading curriculum should remain as diverse to allow students to discover what they like.