Example of summarizing a text, using key concepts
Robert Scholes wrote piece on how to watch video texts. To summarize it you can first write a list of key concepts in the essay, along with definitions where necessary:
- power/pleasure of video texts
- cultural reinforcement
- myth of America itself (racial melting pot, etc.)
- story of initiation
- ideology--a set of beliefs that guides a person, an organization, a political party, a country
- critical analysis--breaking something into parts so that you better understand it
- culture = myth of America = ideology
Next you can summarize the Scholes essay by connecting all the key concepts together in one paragraph (key concepts are italicized):
Video texts give a sense of power or pleasure through the visual component, but they're especially important for how they reinforce cultural values, such as the myth of America as the racial melting pot, the home of the free, etc. In the Bud ad, the story of the initiation of the black umpire provides a powerful mechanism for reinforcing the myth of America. Because of the power of TV ads, we need to be able to critically analyze the ideology that is being sold to us.
