Summarising &

Paraphrasing Ideas II

CC2001 English Skills for Academic

Studies
(pp. 35-37)
How to Summarise an Article
Steps 1-6:
Preview the work.
Read through the article and mark as
you read.
Go back and re-read more carefully
the most important areas identified.
Take notes – concentrate on the main
ideas and supporting details.
Prepare the first draft.
Revise your first draft to come up with
the final draft.
How to Summarise an Article

Step 1. Preview the work for clues:

Title
Subtitle
First and last several paragraphs
Other items such as heads or
subheads, illustrations, words in
italics or boldface types
How to Summarise an Article

Step 2. Read through the article once

quickly:
Do not slow down or turn back
Mark the main ideas & key
supporting details (turn heads
into questions and look for
answers)
How to Summarise an Article

Step 2. Read through the article

once quickly (continued):
Pay attention to items noted in the
preview
Look for definitions, examples &
enumerations (lists of items)
How to Summarise an Article

Step 3. Go back and re-read more

carefully the most important areas
identified.

Step 4. Take notes – concentrate on

the main ideas and supporting
details.
How to Summarize an Article
Step 5. Prepare the first draft:
Identify at the start the title,
author, and date of the work
Express the points in your own
words (paraphrasing)
Quote from the materials only
when you need to illustrate key
points
How to Summarise an Article
Step 5. Prepare a first draft (continued):
Preserve the balance and proportion
of the original work
Do not write an overly detailed
summary
Do not begin with expressions like “the
author says…”
How to Summarise an Article

Step 5. Prepare a first draft

(continued):
Do not introduce your opinion
with comments like “another good
point made by the author…”
Do not censor the author’s ideas
How to Summarise an Article

Step 6. Revise your first to come up

with the final draft:
Pay attention to unity, support,
coherence, clear and error-free
sentences.
Model Summary (p.37 of textbook)
In “How to Heal a
Title of work in quotation
Hypochondriac” (Time, marks
October 6, 2003),
Michael Lemonick Name and date of
reports on research into publication in parenthesis
ways of dealing with (brackets), with name of
hypochondria, a thinking publication underlined
disorder that makes
Full name of author (use only
healthy people believe last name in subsequent parts)
that they are suffering
from one or more
Write in present tense
serious diseases. Not
only do hypochondriacs…
How to Summarise an Article

Class Practice

Complete Worksheet Summary

Writing