Jay's Summary - "Dead Marilyn"

Estimados Estudiantes,

Below I share with you my step-by-step strategy for incorporating a summary of a research article into my essay.  I hope you have as much fun with it as I did.  Look below for a finished product.

Summary:  Dead Marilyn by J. Lewenstein

1.     What is the topic of the essay?

Marilyn Monroe’s untimely death.

2.     What is the thesis of the essay?

When Marilyn Monroe first began living the life a Hollywood legend, she of all people probably knew she would soon become a dead one.   

3.     What are the main arguments

a.       As a famous star, Marilyn lived her life under enormous scrutiny and criticism.

b.      Drugs became an avenue of escape.

c.        Marilyn already had a history of mental illness in her family.

d.      The combination of  pressure,  drugs, and  anxiety took her down a dark road for which there was no return.

4.       Can you give an example or two of the main argument.

a.       At the age of four, Marilyn’s mother was placed in an asylum.  Marilyn grew up in an orphanage.  Later she found out her own grandmother had committed suicide.  She must have thought mental illness ran in her genes.

b.      At age thirty six, when she felt herself losing her looks, she intensified her drug use.   She didn’t know who she was anymore. She didn’t know if she was Norma Jean or Marilyn.

5.     What is the essay’s conclusion?

The writer makes little comment about Marilyn’s suicide or murder.  Instead, the writing reinforces the image of Marilyn’s living a life underneath a microscope.  What may have pushed Marilyn to her death just may have been us – a public that didn’t want to see her grow old.

6.       Wait!  Don’t forget to include the title of your article at the beginning of your essay.

“Marilyn  Monroe” from the anthology Tortured Artists.

7.     Here is how my summary paragraph will look:

In Tortured Artists, we learn the sordid details of Marilyn Monroe’s untimely death.  When she first began living the life a Hollywood legend, she of all people probably knew she would soon become a dead one.   As a famous star, Marilyn lived her life under enormous scrutiny and criticism.  Drugs became an avenue of escape.  Sadly, she already had a history of mental illness in her family.  The combination of  pressure,  drugs, and  anxiety took her down a dark road for which there was no return.   For example, at the age of four, Marilyn’s mother was placed in an asylum.  Marilyn grew up in an orphanage.  Later she found out her own grandmother had committed suicide.  She must have thought mental illness ran in her genes.  At age thirty six, when she felt herself losing her looks, she intensified her drug use.   She didn’t know who she was anymore. She didn’t know if she was Norma Jean or Marilyn.  The writer makes little comment about Marilyn’s suicide or murder.  Instead, the writing reinforces the image of Marilyn’s living a life underneath a microscope.  What may have pushed Marilyn to her death just may have been us – a public that didn’t want to see her grow old.