Textbook: Chapter 9

Student Learning Objectives

Students will:

· Read the assigned article.

· Paraphrase the major contents of the article in an informative abstract of 150-200 words.

· Document the source of the article at the beginning of the abstract, using the MLA style of documentation.

Discussion

Abstracts present a shortened version of the original source, such as an article, seminar, lecture, or meeting. Minutes of meetings are considered abstracts.

Informative abstracts are written in the writer’s own words (paraphrased), using only the facts and no opinions while an evaluative abstract may include quotations and opinions. Minutes of meetings are considered abstracts. One way to analyze an article is to answer the journalism questions of: Who? What? When? Where? Why? How? Summary and informative abstract are used interchangeably in this course (see section 9.4 in the textbook).

Assignment

Use the link below to access the assigned article and write an informative abstract.

Paraphrase the content (85 points) and document the source (15 points) correctly with a complete citation at the beginning of the paragraph as shown on page p. 324. Use the format, but not the content since it is evaluative. Attach your abstract in a file, using the section below called Assignment Files; the text submission is a place to write a note to the instructor. Section 9.1 on pages 311- 321 expains the process of writing an abstract; the Case Study on page 314 explains the process in the sample (Figures 9.2, 9.3, and 9.4).

“Einstein’s Law of Focus: How to Be More Productive, Accomplished, and Fulfilled, Starting Today”

If the link does not work, search via the article title.