Back to the Future - Sixties Research Paper - Summary - Marilyn Monroe

“That's the way you feel when you're beaten inside. You don't feel angry at those who've beaten you. You just feel ashamed.”
― Marilyn Monroe

Estimados Estudiantes,

Here we go. Your ability to summarize important ideas from your reading will help you elevate the quality of your writing.

This week, I ask you to share important ideas from one of your research articles.

Below I provide you with a step-by-step guideline for an article about Marilyn Monroe's death I have summarized:

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.

Here is what you do:

1. Answer the writing prompts above.

2. Copy and paste your responses together

3. Post your paragraph on the discussion board.

This will be great. You will see.

Paz,