SUMMARY WRITING

Writing a Summary

A summary is a brief restatement of the essential thought of a longer composition. It reproduces the theme of the original with as few words as possible. When one writes a summary, one should not interpret or comment. All one has to do is to give gist of the author’s exact and essential meaning.

A Summary

condenses a paragraph, an essay, or a book to its controlling idea and main points. It should be written in complete sentences and reworded, as in paraphrasing. Summarizing, like outlining, is an effective study skill, for it requires the student to differentiate between what is essential and what is insignificant. The relative importance of ideas must also be recognized. Once the main idea has been rewritten, the information will be easier to recall later on a test or in a paper.

Uses of summary writing

1) Summary writing is a very good exercise for improving reading comprehension.

Some students read carelessly, and gain only a vague idea of what they have read. Summary writing can force them to try to understand what they read, for one can write a summary of any passage unless he has grasped its meaning. So summarizing is also training in concentration of attention. It requires one to read with the mind, as well as with the eye, on the page.

Summary writing is also helpful to composition writing.

It trains one to express one’s thought clearly, concisely and effectively. It is an excellent corrective of vague and disorderly thinking and loose and diffuse writing. When writing a summary, one has to work within strict limits. One must express a certain meaning in a fixed number of words. So it is important to chose words carefully, to make sentences with an eye to accuracy and brevity, and to write the summary in logical order.

3) Summary writing has practical uses.

The ability to grasp quickly accurately what is read, or heard, and to reproduce it in a clear and concise way is of great value to people of many professions.

2. Qualities of a good summary

1)Objectivity:

No idea that is not the author’s should be included in the summary, and no opinion of the writer should be in the summary. No judgments (whether the article was “good” or “interesting”) are permitted in a summary.

2)Completeness

Depending on the assignment, the summary should contain every main idea in the article. Stating only the first main idea, or only one main idea and details to support it, will not give the reader a complete idea of what the article was about.

3)Balance:

Giving equal attention to each main idea, and stressing ideas that the author stressed, will result in an accurate summary.

3. Questions to judge a valid summary include

Did I include all the important ideas? Did I omit all unnecessary words and

phrases? Does the summary read smoothly? (Have

I made good use of transitions: also, thus, therefore, however, etc? Have I made every word count?)

Would a reader of my summary who had not read the article get a clear idea of the article?

4. The goal of the summary is

To give readers an objective, complete, accurate, balanced view of an article they have not read.

5. Procedure of summary writing

1) Read the article quickly, looking for main ideas. 2) Read it again carefully, absorbing the

information. 3) Look for the thesis and topic sentences; they will

often give you the main ideas of the article that you will need for your summary.

4) Depending on the assignment, select the major ideas you will need to use in your summary. Arrange these ideas carefully in order to achieve balance and completeness.

5) Begin the summary with a sentence that informs your reader of the title and author of the article.

6. Experiences in Writing Summary

1)      Omit unnecessary details In order to make the passage

powerful and convinced, the origin will quote examples, quotations of authorities, definitions, details and rhetorical phrases. Such details can be omitted.

2) Keep some plots, reduce the examples

Follow the chronological order of the origin.

Simplify the descriptions, eliminate all repetition.

Elimination of all examples, statistics, lists, figures, opinions and judgments.

4) Compress wordy sentences and change phrases to words and move from general to specific

In general cite the writerEx. The writer explains……Ex. The writer states……

• Or use the writer’s name. The firsttime use complete name. After thatonly last nameCatherine Coleman explains…Coleman states ….

Academic Language Reporting VerbsOther words you can use instead of “says” or“tells” or “talks about”

1. reports 12. reveals2. points out 13.declares 3. finds 14.proposes 4. asks 15. observes 5. advises 16. notes6. describes 17. establishes 7. insists 18. maintains8. asserts 19.suggests 9. claims 20. explains10. believes 21. contends11. implies

Academic Language

Some introductory phrases :1. (The author) states in (this article) that...2. (The author, in (this article) shows that...3. In (this article), (the author) writes that...4. As (the author) says in (this article), ...5. The main idea of (the author's article) is

Using transitions in the body

You will have to use transitions and other kinds of language to make your summary flow (sound better).

Examples:

1. First the author …………. 2. The author begins by stating that users

should………. 3. He then points out that……. 4. In the second part of the article…….. 5. In the final section of the article, the author

suggests……………..(Signals an End!)

ADDITIONAL NOTES ON SUMMARY WRITING

6) Use the shortest possible transitions, e.g. but, thus, yet, for, etc.

7) Put the main points of a dialogue in indirect speech.

8)   Analyze the origin Try to analyze the origin. Try to find out the main

idea, topic sentences and so on. 9)   Take the use of topic sentences and key

words 10) Pay attention to Persons A formal summary should be written by the third

person and in past tense.

Tips for Writing Good Responses

• In academic writing, 1. Responses are based on facts that you can support (facts from experts, class discussions, assigned reading in your text, and the like), not on hearsay or emotions

2. Responses are based on the original author’s purpose and audience.

3. You must provide support for the opinions you express in your response.

4. Your opinions and interpretations appear only in your response, not in your summary of the author's work.

5. Sometimes an instructor will ask you for a gut reaction or a reaction based on your own experience. In that case, and only in that case, you may stray from Point 4 above. Still, you should try to analyze your reaction so that you can state why you responded as you did.

Writing a Summary: Points to Remember

• Do not write an overly detailed summary: the point is to reduce the work to its essence.

•Quote from the material sparingly to illustrate major ideas -- stick to paraphrase for the most part.