Single-source Summary and Response
Notetaking Template
Summary Notes Commentary / Response Notes
Main argument, critical idea, issue or Type(s) of response:
theme to respond to:
Source stance / perspective and their Details of response:
supporting evidence, ideas, points etc., to
respond to:
Works Cited:
Example of a completed Single-source Summary and Response
Notetaking Template
Summary Notes Commentary / Response Notes
Main argument, critical idea, issue or Type(s) of response: e.g., expand on source
theme to respond to: idea
e.g., what genre the film might be -
queer, classical narrative or feminist? Details of response:
e.g., shows that Wei-Wei does not have
Source stance / perspective and their same liberties as male characters in the
supporting evidence, ideas, points etc., to film so plot suggests:
respond to: o may not be a feminist film despite
e.g., Marxist-feminist view: In the plot its queer and gay themes
of The Wedding Banquet Wei-Wei o further shows Ang Lee not making a
subjects herself to “international sexual polemic but a classical narrative
division of labor” (Chiang 382), i.e. Wei- which explores themes on gender
Wei must be mother, but Wai-tung and and ethnicity
Simon are free to have gay relationship
(Chiang 382-4)
Works Cited:
Chiang, Mark. “Coming Out into the Global System.” Q&A: Queer in Asian America,
edited by David L. Eng and Alice Y. Hom, Philadelphia: Temple University Press,
1998, pp. 374-95.
Reading Strategies for Identifying Main Arguments, Critical Ideas, Issues and
Themes in Your Core Literature
Identifying main arguments, critical ideas, issues and themes in scholarly texts requires close
and critical reading of a text, often multiple times. Below are some methods you might try to
accomplish this:
Before first reading:
Think of your topic and what possible critical themes or ideas would logically fit under
that topic. Prediction is an important critical reading skill to develop.
Look carefully at the title and see if it suggests the themes that will be covered.
If you are reading an online journal article, key search terms or phrases are usually
listed under the abstract. These key terms/phrases are often the critical themes
covered.
Use this information and your own current knowledge about the topic to predict what critical
themes might be covered within the text.
During first reading:
Read the text in full, trying to understand the general arguments made. Try not to
stop during your first reading. You are just trying to get a general sense of the main
arguments.
During second close reading:
During your second reading, pay close attention to the abstract, concluding sections,
introductions, headings, subheadings, and topic/concluding sentences in paragraphs.
These are places where the author often states their perspective on the critical
themes being discussed.
When you identify a theme that is being discussed, also identify the scholar’s point of
view of this theme. Note the word choice that the writer uses e.g. words like
“concern” or “problematic”. Also look at hedging words and phrases where writers
express their level of certainty, e.g. “certainly”, “might”, “an unusual occurrence”,
“highly doubtful”, “improbable”, etc.
You might also find a place where the writer talks about his/her agreement or
disagreement with another scholar on this theme. It is worth finding and reading that
source. This will help you understand the critical arguments in this theme deeper and
might even become one of your 3-5 sources for your bibliographic essay.
As you identify the writer’s point of view, you also need to decide what YOU think
about the writer’s ideas.
Put notes into diagrams, mindmaps or tables to map out the connections and
relationships between one source and your other sources. Try using the “Multiple
Source Note Taking and Comparison Table” on the Master Moodle for this course. The
diagram below illustrates how different sources can be linked by shared themes while
having different stances or perspectives on that shared theme, e.g., Source 1, 3 and 4
share theme (a), but hold different stances, (i) and (ii). Note too how some texts will
discuss other themes (e.g., theme y and theme z) which you will not discuss in your
essay as these do not connect the sources.
List of Response Strategies & Tips
Agreeing / Disagreeing Responses
1. Do you (partially) agree with the arguments/ideas in the source?
2. Do you (partially) disagree with the arguments or ideas in the text?
3. Can you question or critique the logic / evidence of the source to justify your agreement or
disagreement with them?
TIPS: This is likely to be the strategy you are most familiar with. If you agree, make sure you say why.
If you disagree, rebut the arguments but be careful about the strength of your disagreement. How
confident are you? Use hedging to modify the strength of your claims where necessary. It usually
requires good disciplinary knowledge to do this. You need to have done quite a lot of reading on the
topic to do this well.
Methodological Responses
4. Can you identify limitations with the method / scope in any research done by the scholar into the
theme?
TIPS: This might be a useful response strategy for humanities disciplines which carry out empirical
research such as linguistics, but be careful here. Make sure that any criticism is warranted. All
empirical methods are naturally limited in certain ways because of limitations of time, cost, access to
data etc. You can’t expect any research to cover all people / all contexts / all time periods etc. Certain
disciplines also have preferences for certain types of research as well e.g. empirical research (e.g.
common in linguistics research) vs ethnographic research (common in anthropological research) vs
primary source research (common in historical research). Each of these types of research are valid,
depending on the research questions. In most cases, sources will be open about the limitations of their
research, and you must make this explicit when you summarize and respond to that source.
Relating Responses
5. Can you categorize the source ideas within broader themes, issues or ideologies (e.g. theoretical
frameworks such as Schools of Marxism, Feminism, Post-Modernism) that are relevant to your topic
of your essay?
6. How might different people have different perspectives on the ideas in the text?
7. How do ideas from one source connect to the ideas in other sources?
TIPS: These strategies enable you to relate ideas across texts. This could mean relating source ideas to
specific (disciplinary) knowledge, or relating ideas from the source to other academic sources you have
read. Consider using tables, mind maps or diagrams to map the connections and relationships across
texts while you are reading and taking notes for your essay. Again, you need to have a good
knowledge of the field of study to do this well. You need to have read quite a lot about your topic, not
just the sources you are going to discuss in your bibliographic essay.
Extending Responses
8. Can you elaborate or expand upon an idea/argument in the source?
TIPS: Discussing how an argument can be elaborated or extended further is a common response
strategy in the humanities. This may mean further building the source’s argument, or using ideas in
the source as a starting point to build new, relevant arguments. Just make sure that you don’t go off
on a tangent. Make sure you keep focus on your central topic. Again, extending or elaborate
appropriately requires a good understanding of your central topic.
Explicating Responses
9. Can you explain the ideas in the source (i.e., quote exact words, and then explain what it says, or
explain the implications of what is said or discuss what is implied)?
TIPS: This response strategy is very commonly used for primary sources for example with literary texts
or historical documents.
Other Responses
10. What other questions or issues does your reading of the source raise for the area of research?
