SUMMARY-WRITING

Process &Hints to Summary Writing:

1. Read the piece to be summarized, for under standing without editing.
Make sure you under stand the content, including major and minor
sections, as well as the overlying, message being conveyed. Look closely at
topic sentences and keywords repeated throughout.
2. Read through the material and cross out use less information while
underlining what you believe to be the most important points, even if
those points are words or phrases.
3. Write your summary in your own words. Follow both the organization of
the original as well as its tone, though you need to make sure your own
point of view is objective. Opinions should not appear in a summary. Any
words or phrases from the original need to be properly documented and
punctuated.
4. Your summary should be 15 to 20 percent of the length of the original.
5. Be sure to go back when you’ve finished your summary and compare it to
the original for accuracy.

Example:
“For nearly 1,400 years Islam, though diverse in sectarian practice and ethnic
tradition, has provided a unifying faith for people’s stretching from the Atlantic
to the Indian Ocean and beyond. Starting in1500s Western ascendancy, which
culminated in colonization, eroded once glorious Muslim empires and reduced
the influence of Islam. After the breaking of Ottoman Empire following World
War I and the decline of European colonial Empires following WorldWar II,
Muslim nations adopted western ideologies—communism socialism, secular
nationalism, and capitalism. Yet most Muslims remained poor and powerless.
Their governments secular regimes often backed by the west, were corrupt
and repressive.(Belt78).

Well written summary:

For nearly 1400 years Islam has united people globally. Western interference
through colonization and political ideologies, has’nt improved Muslim’s lives.
(Belt78)