Convergence and Divergence in Reading: Reflections on an Analysis of Summaries

The characteristics of an adequate summary of a discursive-argumentative text & the nature of the process of constructing one are studied. Mature, proficient readers (N = 5) were asked to write summaries of a newspaper article. The text was analyzed, following the model developed by S. Toulmin (The Uses of Argument, New York: Cambridge U Press, 1958), in order to determine its underlying logical & argument structure. The sequences selected by the readers for inclusion in their summaries were categorized & compared with the data, premises, & conclusions established by the prior analysis. It is concluded that the concept of rules of semantic reduction is totally inadequate as a model of discourse comprehension. An adequate summary of a text requires a "negotiated" reading: an interaction between the cognitive capacities of the reader & the conceptual structure elaborated by the author. 23 References. P. Farrell