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The Documentary Summary from Down Below

Technological frustrations may be the bane of a peaceful modern life, suggests research | Daily Sabah

    I thought I knew what I was doing when I set out to write my Doc. Summary, which I did because I knew how to set up my paper.  I started with a thesis statement, and then outlined the rest of my paper.  I have been writing objective summaries since elementary school, so I wasn’t too worried about that part.  I was a little iffy on the analysis part because I didn’t know what my professor was looking for, and it took a while for me to get the hang of it.

    At first, I set up my essay almost as two separate papers; the first half was the summary, and the second half was the analysis.  Both had their own introduction and conclusion paragraphs and their own thesis statements.  I took this paper to class with me, and my professor wasn’t too keen on the set up, so I kind of had a mental breakdown because my brain couldn’t figure out how to organize a paper like she wanted. I sat on her comments for a couple days.

    I went back and rearranged the whole paper.  I completely deleted the second half and figured out how I was going to insert the analysis into the summary portion of the essay.  The more difficult part was ahead, however.  My professor had told me she thought my answer to the question, what is this documentary doing, was too surface level, so I had to figure out what the documentary was doing in a different way than I had been thinking of for over three weeks.  I then had another mental breakdown, and my roommate walked in on me.  She talked me through it, and even helped me figure out one the answer to my problem.

    All-in-all I am glad that this paper is over.  Additionally, I am glad that I was challenged, and I am glad that I was able to find a way through those challenges.

Comments

  1. Andy Pham4:05 PM

    I can definitely agree on being glad that the Documentary Paper is over. I also had the same issue as you. I had a section of my paper that is the summary and another section that is the analysis part. I asked the professor on the turn in day and found out that I needed to incorporate the analysis with my summary. Luckily I worded it in a way I could just copy and paste it.

    ReplyDelete
  2. dr. kyburz12:13 PM

    I appreciate the challenge you describe, though the instruction to integrate the summary with the analysis was always in play, from the start. Much class instruction focused upon the use of signal phrases, analytical adjectives and adverbs, and the elements of argument, all as components to integrate into your summary.

    The most important reply I have here is that you made it through the challenge, and I'm proud of you for your efforts!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Casey Aikman3:49 PM

    I appreciate your honesty because I had a lot of the same struggles with this essay. Now that it's over, I'm also glad I was challenged because I know it helped my writing overall.

    ReplyDelete

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