Précis writing:

Précis (French word): A concise summary of essential points, statements or facts.

It is a training in the concentration of attention. Precis writing helps you retain and remember the
most important points of a passage.

Who makes use of it? Lawyers, businessmen, and government.

A precis is an exercise in compression. Summarizing.

➢ You have to write the gist of the paragraph in as few words as possible.
➢ It should be lucid, succinct, and full (i.e., including all essential points), so that
anyone on reading it may be able to grasp the main points and general effect of the
passage summarised.
➢ You can either write precis in a box or without a box. (Since you have to work within a fixed limit,
express the idea clearly in a few words).
➢ A precis should not contain more than a third of the number of words in
the original passage. (Should be one third of the original length).

Difference between a precis and a summary?

A precis is more crisp than a summary. In the summary, the main ideas of the extract are
discussed. In the precis, only the most important idea is discussed.
Please write the precis inside a box, give it a title and write the word count towards the end.

How to write a precis?

➢ Read the passage carefully 2-3 times and clearly grasp the meaning.
Ask yourself- What is the subject of this passage?

What is said about the subject?

What does the author mean?

What are the main theme/themes?

➢ Distinguish the important parts from the unimportant parts.

➢ Write a rough draft. You may have to write out several drafts before you find how to express the
gist of the passage fully within the limits set.
➢ Write the fair draft in a box and give a title.
Try to think of a title for the precis- think of a word, phrase or short sentence that will describe
the main theme of the subject discussed.

Important points to keep in mind while writing a precis:

1. It must be written in your own words. Don’t borrow words and phrases directly from the
passage.
(Marie Curie had a brilliant mind and a blithe personality -don’t borrow directly)
2. The precis must be a connected whole.
3. The precis must be complete and self-contained.
4. It is only the gist, main purport, or general meaning of the passage which you have to
express. (Avoid redundancy and circumlocution).
5. The precis must be in simple and direct.
6. You can follow the original structure of the passage. But you are not bound to follow the
original order of thought of the passage.
7. Don’t make any personal comments, don’t add your own opinion.
8. Write down the word count (number of words) at the end of the precis.

Sample Passage:
Hospitality is a virtue for which the natives of the East in general are highly and
deservedly admired; and the people of Egypt are well entitled to commendation on
this account. A word which signifies literally "a person on a journey" ("musafir") is the
term most commonly employed in this country in the sense of a visitor or guest. There
are very few persons here who would think of sitting down to a meal, if there were a
stranger in the house without inviting him to partake of it unless the latter were a menial;
in which case, he would be invited to eat with the servants. It would be considered a
shameful violation of good manners if a Muslim abstained from ordering the table to be
prepared at the usual time because a visitor happened to be present. Persons of the middle
classes in this country, if living in a retired situation, sometimes take their supper before
the door of their house, and invite every passenger of respectable appearance to eat with
them. This is very commonly done among the lower order. In cities and large towns,
claims on hospitality are infrequent; as there are many wekalehs, or khans, where
strangers may obtain lodging; and food is very easily procured; but in the villages,
travellers are often lodged and entertained by the Sheikh or some other inhabitant; and if
the guest be a person of the middle or higher classes, or even not very poor he gives a
present to his host's servants, or to the host himself. In the desert, however, a present is
seldom received from a guest, by a Sunneh law, a traveller may claim entertainment from
a person able to afford it to him, for three days.

An appropriate title can be- Eastern Hospitality

Compression examples:
1. "He was hard up for money and was being pressed by his creditor."
He was in financial difficulties.

2. "They acted in a manner that rendered them liable to prosecution."

They acted illegally.

Example passage and precis:

One great defect of our civilization is that it does not know what to do with its
 knowledge. Science, as we have seen, has given us powers fit for the gods, yet we use
them like small children. For example- we do not know how to manage our machines. Machines
were made to be man's servants; yet he has grown so dependent on them that they are in a fair
way to become his masters. Already most men spend most of their lives looking after and
waiting upon machines. And the machines are very stern masters. They must be fed with
coal, and given petrol to drink, and oil to wash with, and must be kept at the right
temperature. And if they do not get their meals when they expect them, they grow sulky
and refuse to work, or burst with rage, and blow up, and spread ruin and destruction all
round them, so we have to wait upon them very attentively and do all that we can to keep
them in a good temper. Already we find it difficult either to work or play without the
machines, and a time may come when they will rule us altogether, just as we rule the
animals. (206 words)

Precis:
MEN AND MACHINES
We do not know what to do with our knowledge. Science has given us superhuman
powers, which we do not use properly. For example, we are unable to manage our
machines. Machines should be fed promptly and waited upon attentively; otherwise, they
refuse to work. We already find it difficult to do without machines. In the future, they might rule
over us.

(63 words)

OR (6*12 boxes- as per the number of words to be written)

(63 words)

2. The great Roman orator, Cicero, in his celebrated treatise on Friendship, remarks with truth that it
increases happiness and diminishes misery by doubling of our joy and the dividing of our grief.
When we do well, it is delightful to have friends who are so proud of our success that they receive as
much pleasure from it as we do ourselves. For the friendless man the attainment of wealth, power,
and honour is of little value. Such possessions contribute to our happiness most by enabling us to
do good to others but if all those whom we are able to benefit are strangers, we take far less
pleasure in our beneficence than if it were exerted on behalf of friends whose happiness is as dear
to us as our own. Further, when we do our duty in spite of temptation, the mental satisfaction
obtained from the approval of our consciences is heightened by the praise of our friends; for their
judgement is as it were a second conscience, encouraging us in good and deterring us from evil. Our
amusements have little zest and soon pall upon us if we engage in them in solitude, or with
uncongenial companions, for whom we can feel no affection. Thus, in every case our joys are
rendered more intense and more permanent by being shared with friends. It is equally true that, as
Cicero points out, friendship diminishes our misery by enabling us to share the burden of it with
others. When fortune has inflicted a heavy unavoidable blow upon us, our grief is alleviated by
friendly condolence, and by the thought that as long as friends are left to us, life is still worth living.
But many misfortunes which threaten us are not inevitable and in escaping such misfortunes, the
advice and active assistance of our friends may be invaluable. The friendless man stands alone,
exposed, without protection to his enemies and to the woes of fortune; but whoever has loyal
friends is thereby provided with a strong defence against the worst that fortune can do to him.
(345 words)

Precis-

Cicero on Friendship

Cicero in his treatise on Friendship highlights the value and importance of friends. He says that friendship
doubles our joys and divides our grief. We would not be able to enjoy our amusements in solitude. Joys
are thus rendered more intense by sharing it with our friends. It also diminishes our misery by sharing it
with others Attainting wealth, power and honour is of little value to a friendless man. He further adds- a
friend’s judgement is like a second conscience to us, saving us from the evil. However, suffering and
misfortune is inevitable. Here, our friends’ assistance can be of much value because when a friend gives
us his/her condolence, our grieving state is alleviated.

(116 words)