Basic writing skills: Summary writing

The summary is a re-statement, in shortened form, of the topic and chief ideas of a text. A summary answers to the question: What is the essay/newspaper article/short story/drama scene/ about; what does it treat of; what does it deal with? The length of a summary is rarely more than a third of the original text and may be only one fifth. The summary is more or less a report of text facts, and like a report it must be written in the simple present. That applies even if the original text e.g. a short story or novel is in the simple past. As a report of textual facts, a summary gives only the gist of a text and leaves out repetitions, examples, illustrations, comparisons, colourful adjectives and other rhetorical elements or stylistic ornaments.

Direct speech must be avoided. Turn it into reported speech. (Direct speech can be permitted only if the precise wording of it is of importance to an understandung of the matter.) A summary is written entirely in the words of the person summarizing, i.e., in your own words, not in those of the original. Avoid to copy phrases or sentences of the original text. A summary is written from the point of view of the author of the original. You neednt say (and repeat over and over again), The author says The author believes The author is of the opinion that The author gives an example by saying that The author concludes Doing so may mecome necessary in a structured summary that n ot only reports the textual facts but also aims to describe the argumentative development of the original.

Writing a summary means first of all that you read carefully the text to be summarized twice, if necessary. Underline important points as you read. Then put aside the text and ask yourself: What does the author want to say? Answer the question in one sentence so as to form a clear idea of the subject or topic of the text. Now try to remember still without looking at the original text which points are closely linked to this topic. All the others are superfluous.

Next, take a piece of paper and formulate the points that you remembered as simply as you can in your own words. While writing, leave a wide margin on both sides, and space your lines well apart for later corrections and additions. This first version of your summary is called the draft. If the text contains technical terms which are indispensable, you may retain them; if not, find, synonymous expressions for keywords and try to include a few of them in one term that is more general (Oberbegriff). Arrange the main points in their logical order. Write the summary so as not to make it sound like a mere list of points; combine sentences by using connectives such as but, yet, however, therefore, consequently, nevertheless, still, all the same, as a result, in addition etc. subordinating some of the ideas to the others by means of words like although, since, as, because, in order to etc. Re-read your summary. Check if you have stuck to the maximum number of words (if such a maximum was given in the assignment); if not, condense further. Improve your choice of words (e.g. by doing away with repetitions). Check and improve your links (i.e., the logical development of ideas). Check your sentence structure and vary, if monotonous. Write the definitive version. For better readability, separate paragraphs by one empty line. In Anglo-Saxon countries, paragraphs are made to stand out by one empty line between them and by indenting the first line of the following paragraph.

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