VV064 Week 6
Day, Trevor. Success in Academic Writing. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2015.
Swales and Feak. Academic Writing for Graduate Students. 3rd ed. Michigan. 2013
SUMMARY
- A condensed version of a longer text
- Often helps to introduce the background/previous research
- Not a rewrite!
- Use your own words
- Focus on the main idea and relevant details
- Highly valued in academia:
o Shows you understand the subject
o Shows your ability to focus on the important points
o Shows you have grasped a wide range of sources
A) Summarizing Information
Which of these five texts seems best as a general background paragraph for a paper arguing that
energy drinks are a potential public health problem? Explain your choice.
1. In the U.S., 200 new energy drink brands were launched in the 12-month period ending July 2007
(Packaged Facts, 2007). From 2002 to 2006, the average annual growth rate in energy drink sales was
55% (Packaged Facts, 2007) (Fig. 1). In 2006, the total U.S. retail market value for energy drinks (from
all sources) was approximately $5.4 billion and has shown a similar annual growth rate over this
same period (47%) (Packaged Facts, 2007). These drinks vary widely in both caffeine content (ranging
from 50 to 505 mg per can or bottle) and caffeine concentration (ranging from 2.5 to 171 mg per
fluid ounce).
2. According to Packaged Facts (as cited in Reissig et al., 2009), between 2006 and 2007 hundreds of
energy drink brands were introduced into the U.S. market. This was likely a result of producers
recognizing energy drinks as a very profitable product with growth potential. In fact, the average
annual growth rate in energy drink sales was 55% (Packaged Facts, 2007) (Fig. 1). Research by
Packaged Facts (as cited in Reissig et al., 2009) shows that the total U.S. retail market value for
energy drinks (from all sources) was estimated to be $5.4 billion in 2006 and has shown a similar
annual growth rate over this same period (47%). These drinks vary widely in both caffeine content
(ranging from 50 to 505 mg per can or bottle) and caffeine concentration (ranging from 2.5 to 171
mg per fluid ounce). Since the long-term effects of these high levels of caffeine are not known, there
is a chance that consumption of these drinks may be harmful.
3. In 2002, sales of energy drinks in the United States were just over $100 million. By 2006, however,
this figure was $700 million. Although this tremendous growth is welcome news for producers and
retailers, it is unclear what the long-term health consequences may be (Reissig et al., 2009). This
uncertainty may even encourage higher levels of consumption, leading to possible health issues.
VV064 Week 6
Day, Trevor. Success in Academic Writing. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2015.
Swales and Feak. Academic Writing for Graduate Students. 3rd ed. Michigan. 2013
4. Hundreds of new energy drink brands have been introduced into the market over the past decade
Oohnson, 2006). Along with this growth, sales have also dramatically increased, reaching a market
value of billions of dollars in the U.S. alone. Clearly, the demand for caffeine, which varies widely in
these drinks, is insatiable and a public health crisis is about to emerge.
5. Energy drink consumption is rapidly growing, which is a source of concern among health
professionals (Reissig et al., 2009). Specifically, researchers do not know what the long- and short
term effects of caffeine and other additives in these drinks may be (Reissig, 2009). Thus, we may
soon be facing a public health crisis.
B) Summary as a Genre
Look at the hypothetical student’s summary below, and identify the parts that relate to the
background/context, aim, method, results and conclusion of the report.
A) Which sentence(s) of the summary relate(s) to:
a. Background/context
b. Aim
c. Method
d. Results
e. Conclusion?
B) Do you consider this abstract to be balanced?
(1) Approaches to e-learning range from instructional (one-way) to collaborative and contested (twoway).
(2) The existing literature is quite mixed as to the efficacy of the different approaches, with
strong and distinct preferences between individuals in some studies. (3) The experience of students
completing a life sciences e-learning module was investigated to reveal the extent to which different
e-learning approaches were favored by students. (4) A questionnaire census of all students (n = 85)
was carried out immediately after students completed the module, with a stratified sample of
students (n = 10) being interviewed within a week. (5) Analysis of questionnaire returns and interview
themes reveals a complex pattern, with sizeable percentages of students favoring all approaches, but
with strong preferences among a few students (n = 14). The findings largely agree with the reviewed
literature. (131 words)
The Case of Piltdown Man
1) Complete the words in the text about a scientific hoax.
2) Summarize the text in roughly 3 sentences.
There has been co________________ interest in the case of Piltdown Man, not for what it reveals
about the evolution of mankind but for the way in which it demonstrates so cl________________ the
im________________ powerful desire in humans to, as Carmichael (2004:2) describes it, “believe
VV064 Week 6
Day, Trevor. Success in Academic Writing. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2015.
Swales and Feak. Academic Writing for Graduate Students. 3rd ed. Michigan. 2013
against the facts”. When Charles Dawson announced in 1912 that fragments of an early human skull
had been discovered at the Piltdown gravel pit, many of his colleagues in the scientific community
were profoundly sc________________, responding to his pro________________ that the find might
represent the “missing link” between humans and apes with a strong measure of disbelief.
Despite these doubts and the publication of a ca________________ documented article (Waterson,
1913) within a year of the discovery, arguing that Piltdown Man’s jawbone was that of an ape rather
than a human, some forty years were to pass before it was established con________________ by
Oakley and Clark (1953) that the skull was a forgery. This time lapse can be explained in part by the
fi________________ competitive atmosphere in which contemporary paleontologists operated. As
Brooker (2001) suggests, there was a wi________________ assumption that, after
imp________________ contributions to the science of evolution had been made by fossil discoveries
in Germany and France, Britain’s turn had come.