Sample of summary writing process

Summarizing Tony Kornheiser's article about memory loss and the Rolling Stones

(step 2) After forgetting to use tickets he had for a Rolling Stones concert, Washington Post humor columnist Tony Kornheiser lamented another aspect of getting old--memory loss--and made some tongue-in-cheek suggestions about how to deal with the problem.

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(step 5) After forgetting to use tickets he had for a Rolling Stones concert, Washington Post humor columnist Tony Kornheiser lamented another aspect of getting old--memory loss--and made some tongue-in-cheek suggestions about how to deal with the problem. He cited some suggestions he had read in his paper’s "Health" section. The suggestions were "rehearse-repeat" and "use cues." Rehearse-repeat wouldn’t seem to work because if you have memory loss you might forget why you’re trying to remember whatever it is. And cues wouldn’t work because you can forget what the cues stand for. He joked with a friend about whether she was going to use contraband drugs at the Stones concert for old times sake, but she chose to use ginkoba, a memory improvement drug.

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(step 7) Summary of article

After forgetting to use tickets he had for a Rolling Stones concert, Washington Post sports and humor columnist Tony Kornheiser lamented another aspect of getting old--memory loss--and made some tongue-in-cheek suggestions about how to deal with the problem. He cited some suggestions he had read in his paper’s "Health" section. The suggestions were "rehearse-repeat" and "use cues." Rehearse-repeat wouldn’t seem to work because if you have memory loss you might forget why you’re trying to remember whatever it is. And cues wouldn’t work because you can forget what the cues stand for. His examples of how these techniques might fall apart were very funny because they were gross exaggerations. One example resulted in a fictional person being committed for continually babbling "I’m out of Feen-a-Mint," while trying the rehearse-repeat technique. He also pointed out that using cues such as HOMES to remember the names of the Great Lakes might not work if you can’t recall that the E stands for Erie and not Evelyn. He joked with a friend about whether she was going to use contraband drugs at the Stones concert for old times sake, but she chose to use ginkoba, a memory improvement drug.
 
 

Kornheiser, Tony. "The Stones? Forget About it." Reprinted from The Washington Post, 26 Oct. 1997: FO1. <http://www.clearlight.com/~jtrosen/tony_stuff/october261997.html>.
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