How would one write an objective summary of Tom Godwin's short story "The Cold Equations"?

An objective summary is a summary of a text in which we don't express any of our own opinions about the text. We remain completely objective, or unbiased. Objective summaries are useful because they allow us to take a more careful look at and gain a greater understanding of a text by expressing the writer's intentions in the text in our own words, without expressing our opinion. Gaining a greater understanding of a text helps us shape our own thoughts.

To summarize any work of fiction, such as a short story, we focus on the most important details, which are the setting, the characters, and the elements of the plot. Depending on how long your summary needs to be, you will probably not need to summarize all elements of the plot, including the rising action, conflict, climax, falling action, and resolution. The two key elements of plot to focus on are conflict and resolution.

Depending on how long your summary needs to be, you'll start your first paragraph by introducing the title, author, setting, and characters. An opening sentence for your first paragraph might look like the following:

• Tom Godwin's science fiction short story "The Cold Equations" is set in outer space as it is being explored and colonized and features the Emergency Dispatch Ship (EDS) pilot named Barton and a stowaway named Marilyn Lee Cross.

You would then continue to describe details of their characterization such as what their circumstances are, what they are feeling, and what their goals are.

In your second paragraph, you would explain the conflict of the story. The conflict concerns the fact that, per regulations, all stowaways on-board emergency ships must immediately be ejected because emergency vehicles are only given exactly enough fuel to make it to their destinations, and stowaways add additional weight that consumes fuel at a faster rate, ensuring that the pilot crashes before reaching the destination, costing the lives of many. Barton's particular stowaway is an innocent girl completely naive of the threat she is posing and of the necessary consequences of her actions.

You would continue in your second paragraph, or in a third paragraph, depending on how long your summary needs to be, to explain the resolution of the conflict, which is that Barton did all he could for Marilyn prior to her death, yet knew he must sacrifice Marilyn's life to preserve the lives of many.