Newspaper Abstract Guidelines

Soc 332 [M]
Society and Environment

David A. Sonnenfeld, Ph.D.
Washington State University Tri-Cities
Spring 2005

This exercise is meant to help connect course topics with the every-day-world of society and environment.  Please follow these guidelines in writing your weekly abstract:

• Select an article from the Tri-City Herald relevant to the course.  Choose an article of some substance (not a short news brief). 
   
• Limit your abstract to one, double-spaced, typed paragraph (max. 150 words). In your own words, summarize the article's main point/ theme and arguments/ substantiating points.  Answer "the 5 W's" of good news reporting:  Who? What? When? Where? and Why?  
   
• Conclude your paragraph with a few sentences regarding the relevance of the article for this class:  Why is this topic interesting to you?  How does it relate to the study of society and environment, and to the more particular topics addressed in the course? 
   
• Append a full citation for the article you are summarizing/ commenting on. For printed sources, include the author's name, full article title, date, and page no.:

Lee, Mike, "Decisions on Water Rights Loom," Tri-City Herald, September 4, 2001, p. A1; or

For online articles, include the full URL (web address) and both publication and access dates:

Lee, Mike, "Decisions on Water Rights Loom," Tri-City Herald, September 4, 2001. Retrieved September 5, 2001, from <http://www.tri-cityherald.com/news/2001/0904/story2.html>.

• To clarify the difference between proper and improper paraphrasing, quotations, and citations, see Earl Babbie's "Plagiarism" website:

http://www.csubak.edu/ssric/Modules/other/plagiarism.htm

Soc 332 Home Page

last updated January 10, 2005