In the short story "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty," author James Thurber humorously presents a

character who fantasizes about himself as a hero enduring incredibly challenging circumstances. In
his real life, Walter Mitty lives an ordinary, plain life; he is a husband under the control of an
overbearing, critical wife. Thurber uses lively dialogue to give readers an understanding of Mitty's
character. The story takes place over a period of about twenty minutes; during this brief time, Mitty
drives his wife to the hairdresser and runs errands that his wife has given him while he waits for her.
In between his worrying that he is not doing what she wants him to do, he daydreams about himself
as a great surgeon, brilliant repair technician, expert marksman, and brave military captain. This
story shows that fantasy is often a good alternative to reality.

In writing the summary, let your reader know the piece that you are summarizing. Identify
the title, author and source of the piece. You may want to use this formula:

In "Title of the Piece" (source and date of piece), author shows that: central idea of the piece.
The author supports the main idea by using _____________________ and showing that

While reading the original work, take note of what or who is the focus and ask the usual
questions that reporters use: Who? What? When? Where? Why? How? Using these questions
to examine what you are reading can help you to write the summary.

1.
 ARTICLE:

In his/her article (or lecture) "________________________,” _____________________

(year)
(title, first letter capitalized) (author/lecturer's last name)

argues/claims/reports/contends/maintains/states that
__________________________________________________.
(main idea/argument; S + V + C)

Example: In his article "Michael Dell turns the PC world inside out," Andrew E. Serwer
(1997) describes how Michael Dell founded Dell Computers and claims that Dell’s
low-cost, direct-sales strategy and high quality standards account for Dell’s enormous
success.

 BOOK:

In his book The Pearl, John Steinbeck (1945) illustrates the fight between good and
evil in humankind.

 INTERVIEW:

In my interview with him/her (date), __________________(first name, last name)

stated that ....

Reporting Verbs:
 STRONG
ARGUMENT==>NEUTRAL==>COUNTERARGUMENT==>SUGGESTION==>C
RITICISM

refute the
argue state suggest criticize
claim
argue
claim report recommend
against
contend explain
maintain discuss
insist illustrate
posit observe

Other examples of frames:

 According to ___________________ (year),

________________________________________.
(author's last name) (main idea; S + V + C)
 ___________'s article on ______________ (year) discusses the
____________________.
(author's last name) (topic) (main idea; Noun Phrase)
 ___________ (year), in his/her article, "________________" argues that
________________.
author's last name) (title of article) (main idea; S + V + C)
 According to "Title of the Article" (year),
____________________________________________.
(main idea; S+V+C)
 _____________ has a major impact on ________ (author's last name,
year).
(topic/NP) (NP)