SUMMARY WRITING

WHAT IS A SUMMARY?

A summary is a shortened version of an original piece of writing

or text.

Simply put, a summary condenses a larger piece of work

down to its essential parts.
WHAT CAN BE SUMMARIZED?

Material by other authors, such as:

✓Articles
✓Plays
✓Films
✓Lectures
✓Stories
✓Presentations
PURPOSE OF A SUMMARY

❖The purpose of a summary is to quickly give the reader or

listener an idea of what the material is saying.

❖Summarizing is also an excellent way to double-check that you

understand a text–if you can summarize the ideas in it.
 CHRACTERISTICS OF AN EFFECTIVE SUMMARY
• Complete
A summary should include all of the main ideas that is essential to
the author's main thesis.

• Concise
A summary should be considerably shorter than the passage. Do
not included inessential information.

• Accurate
A summary should represent the author's ideas. Do not distort the
author's views.
• Objective
A Summary should recapitulate the author's point. Do not include
objections or criticisms in the summary.

• Coherent
A Summary should make sense to someone who has not read the
original.

• Independent
A summary should be written in your own words.
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PARAPHRASE & SUMMARY

• Paraphrase • Summary
▪ Contains all the information ▪ Contains only the most
in the source. important information of the
original.
▪ No part of the original is left
out. ▪ Do not have to follow the
organizing of the original
▪ Writer phrases original in his order
own words.
PREPARING TO WRITE
• Read the material and identify the main ideas.
Distinguish the main ideas from the details

• Write the main ideas in phrase form.

The main ideas can be noted in a list, or in the left column of two-
column notes.

• Begin the summary with an introductory statement.

• Turn the main ideas into sentences, occasionally including details
when it is necessary to convey the main idea.

• Combine the sentences into one or more paragraphs.

• Use transition words to connect the sentences and the paragraphs.

• Proofread your summary to ensure that you have included all

sailent points.
INTRODUCTION
❑ Introduce the name of the author whose work you are summarizing.

❑ Introduce the title of the text being summarized.

❑ Introduce where this text was presented (if it’s an art installation, where is it
being shown? If it’s an article, where was that article published?

❑ State the main ideas of the text you are summarizing—just the big-picture
components.

❑ when summarizing a book written by one author, the title of the book and name
of that author are sufficient information for your readers to easily locate the work
you are summarizing).
ORGANIZE: MAKE A MAP!
➢ Make a map with the
information you underlined
and marked.
MAIN
IDEA
➢ Write a summary that includes
all the important information
you’ve identified. Detail 1 Detail 2 Detail 3

➢ Paraphrase - don't copy the Conclusion

exact words from the reading;
try to put the information in
your own words.
READ: Identify the main idea and the most important details:

Computers have become a necessity for both small and large

businesses today. It takes a computer less than a second to
retrieve information that takes a person several hours to obtain. It
is for this reason that banks, airlines, and fast food restaurants rely
so heavily on them. In addition, computers can store large
amounts of data in a relatively small space. Because of this,
offices need less storage space equipment such as file cabinets
and supply closets.
Annotation
• Main Idea
[Computers have become a necessity for both small and large businesses today.]

• Supporting detail 1
It takes a computer less than a second to retrieve information that takes a person
several hours to obtain. It is for this reason that banks, airlines, and fast food
restaurants rely so heavily on them. In addition,

• Supporting detail 2
computers can store large amounts of data in a relatively small space. For this
reason, offices need less storage space such as file cabinets and supply closets.
SUMMARY MAP

Computers are
important for
businesses

Speed in Store large

information amounts of
retrieval information of data
THE SHORT SUMMARY

Computers are important for businesses because of their speed in

retrieving information and their ability to store large amounts of
data in small spaces.
OTHER INTRODUCTORY EAMPLES

▪ According to Mary Johnson in her essay, "Cats Make Good

Pets," the feline domestic companion is far superior to the
canine one.

▪ In "Global Warming isn't Real," Steven Collins, a professor at

the University of Michigan, claims that ..
CONCLUSION

✓ When writing a summary, remember that it should be in the form of a paragraph.

✓ A summary begins with an introductory sentence that states the text’s title, author
and main point of the text as you see it.

✓ A summary is written in your own words.

✓ A summary contains only the ideas of the original text. Do not insert any of your
own opinions, interpretations, deductions or comments into a summary.
✓Identify in order the significant sub-claims the author uses to
defend the main point.

✓Copy word-for-word three separate passages from the essay that

you think support and/or defend the main point of the essay as you
see it.

✓Cite each passage by first signaling the work and the author, put
“quotation marks” around the passage you chose, and put the
number of the paragraph where the passages can be found
immediately after the passage.
✓Using source material from the essay is important. Why?
Because defending claims with source material is what you will
be asked to do when writing papers for your college professors.

✓Write a last sentence that “wraps” up your summary; often a

simple rephrasing of the main point.
ACTIVITY

Summarise any article, book, movie or play of your choice.