Summarizing

A summary of a reading text should be short.

It should cover all the main ideas and give an
overall idea of the text. It may include some
important supporting points, but it should
NOT emphasize smaller points.
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Think of a summary as an outline or a graphic

organizer in paragraph form (see Unit 4 for
more on outlining).
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The best summaries come from a good

understanding of the whole reading. There
are, however, some techniques that can help
you prepare a good summary:
•State the main idea of the whole text in your
first sentence.
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• Look at headings to help you identify some

of the main ideas.
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• Scan paragraphs to identify their topics. Do

not simply look for “topic sentences.” Not
every paragraph has one, and those that
exist are not always easy to locate.
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Look for more

than just “topic
sentences”
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• For each main point, add one reason from

the text that explains why it is important.