Summarizing

Getting to the Point

BY: SANGHARI ARUMUGAM

NURUL AINA UMAIRAH MOHD KHALID
 Summary
A summary is a shortened version of a text
It contains the main points in the text and is
written in your own words.
Summarisinginvolves taking the main ideas
from a piece of text and rewriting them in your
own words.
Summaries are not a place for
Opinions
Background knowledge
Personal information
 How To Summarize
1. Read the text//passage closely.
2. Ask, What was this text about?
.finding the main ideas and supporting ideas.
.briefly write down those ideas in a few sentences or
aparagraph.

Your Answer
Should be a complete sentence or two
Should cover main point and key ideas
Should be in your own words
Shouldnt just be a word or two
Another way to summarise:

Start by reading a short text and

highlighting the main points as you read.
Reread the text and make notes of the main
points, leaving out examples, evidence etc.
Without the text, rewrite your notes in your
own words; restate the main idea at the
beginning plus all major points.
 Think about the purpose of the text.

a. Ask what the authors purpose is in writing the

text
b. What is your purpose in writing your summary?
c. Are you summarising to support your points?
d. Or are you summarising so you can criticise the
work before you introduce your main points?
Main Idea and Key Points
The main idea is what the text is about.
Key points are arguments or information
that is used to support the main idea.

Key points may be developed or elaborated

with supporting details.

Your summary should only include main ideas

and key points, not supporting details.
 Only major ideas and necessary
information should go into a summary.

Ask
yourself:
Do you need this information to
understand the text?

If the answer is yes, put it into your own

words in your summary.
If you are working with younger
students:
Start by skimming the text to get an idea of what the text is
about.
Cross out sentences that are not necessary .
Mark key words and phrases and jot down notes about the main
idea.
Instruct students to look for signal words such astherefore, in
conclusion,orin summary.
Then, have them reread the text and write a summary paragraph.
In the summary, students should state the text's main idea in the
first sentence and include the most important information.
 Ask students the following framework
questions:
What are the main ideas?
What are the crucial details necessary for
supporting the ideas?
What information is irrelevant or unnecessary?
Have them use key words or phrases to
identify the main points from the text.
What is the difference between quoting paraphrasing
and summarizing?

Quotations must be identical to the original, using a

narrow segment of the source. They must match the
source document word for word and must be attributed
to the original author.

Paraphrasinginvolves putting a passage from source

material into your own words. A paraphrase is simply a
rewriting of a passage in your own words.
Paraphrasing Summarising Quotations
does not match the does not match the match the source
source word for source word for word for word
word word
are usually a
involves putting a involves putting the
passage from a main idea(s) into brief segment of
source into your your own words, but the text
own words including only the appear between
changes the words main point(s) quotation marks
or phrasing of a presents a broad mustbe
passage, but retains overview, so is
attributed to the
and fully usually much
communicates the shorter than the original source
original meaning original text
mustbe attributed mustbe attributed
Why is summarizing an important skill to learn?

learn to determine essential ideas and consolidate

important details that support them and how to ignore
irrelevant information
how to integrate the central ideas in a meaningful way.
It enables students to focus on key words and phrases
of an assigned text that are worth noting and
remembering.
It teaches students how to take a large selection of text
and reduce it to the main points for more concise
understanding.
 Summarizing allows both students and teachers to
monitor comprehension of material.
Summarizing helps students understand the
organizational structure of lessons or texts.
Summarizing is a skill at which most adults must be
proficient to be successful.
 Toclarify emotionsfor both the helper/counsellor and
the client.
Toreview the workdone so far, and to take stock.
Tobring a session to a close, by drawing together
the main threads of the discussion.
A summary may be used tobegin a subsequent
session, if appropriate.
Tostart the process of focusingand prioritising
'scattered' thoughts and feelings
Tomove the counselling process forward.
EXAMPLES
Source
The amphibia, which is the animal class to which our
frogs and toads belong, were the first animals to crawl
from the sea and inhabit the earth.

Summary
The first animals to leave the sea and live on dry land were the amphibia.

The phrase "which is the animal class to which our frogs and toads belong" is an
example, not a main point, and can be deleted. The rest of the text is rewritten
in your own words.
Exercise :
1
The itsy bitsy spider
Climbed up the water spout
Down came the rain and
Washed the spider out
Up came the sun and
Dried up all the rain
And the itsy bitsy spider
Climbed up the spout again.
2
Humpty Dumpty
Sat on a wall.
Humpty Dumpty
Had a great fall.

All the King's horses

And all the King's men
Couldn't put Humpty
Together again.
Answer:

An egg fell and was

irreparably broke.
3
Old Mother Hubbard
Went to the cupboard
To give her poor dog a bone.
But when she got there
The cupboard was bare,
And so the poor dog had none.
Answer:

An woman had no food to feed her

dog.
4
Jack and Jill went up the hill,
To fetch a pail of water.
Jack fell down and broke his crown,
And Jill came tumbling after.

Up Jack got and home did trot,

As fast as he could caper,
And went to bed to mend his head
With vinegar and brown paper.
Answer:

A boy fell, hurt his head, and

bandaged it.
5
Little Miss Muffet
Sat on a tuffet,
Eating some curds and whey.

Along came a spider

Who sat down beside her
And frightened Miss Muffet away.
Answer:
A spider scared away a girl.
 1
When one hears the term reality applied
to a television show, one might expect that the
events occurred naturally or, at the least, were
not scripted, but this is not always the
case.Many reality shows occur in unreal
environments, like rented mansions occupied
by film crews.These living environments do
not reflect what most people understand to be
reality.Worse, there have been accusations
that events not captured on film were later
restaged by producers.Worse still, some
involved in the production of reality
television claim that the participants were
urged to act out story lines premeditated by
producers.With such accusations floating
Reality TV shows are not very
realistic because they are filmed
in unrealistic places, may
contain restaged events, and
may be scripted.
 2
There are many types of lethal venom in
the animal kingdom, but perhaps no stranger
carrier than the platypus. The platypus is one
of few venomous mammals.Males carry a
venom cocktail in their ankle spurs that
paralyzes victims with excruciating
pain.Stranger still, the platypus is the only
mammal that uses electroreception.What
this means is that the platypus uses its bill to
sense the electricity produced by the
muscular movements of its prey.The
platypus neither sees, hears, nor smells its
prey while hunting but, rather, pursues it
through electroreception.Perhaps most odd,
the platypus is the only mammal that lays
The platypus is a strange
mammal because it has venom,
uses its beak to sense prey, and
lays eggs.
 3
YellowstoneNational Parkis mainly located
inWyoming, although three percent is located
in the state ofMontana.The Continental
Divide of North America runs diagonally
through the southwestern part of the
park.The park sits on the Yellowstone Plateau,
which is an average elevation of 8,000 feet
above sea level.This plateau is bounded on
nearly all sides by mountain ranges.There are
290 waterfalls that are at least fifteen feet in
the park, the highest being theLowerFallsof
the YellowstoneRiver, which falls 308 feet.
 Yellowstone Park, in Wyoming, is on
a large plateau & has a bunch of
waterfalls.
4
Screech!When a driver pushes on the
brake pedal, it starts a process that causes
the vehicle to stop.You literally trust braking
systems with your life every time you get
into a vehicle or cross a busy intersection,
but how does this process work?It begins
when the pedal is pushed.At this moment
brake fluid is released into the area where
the braking mechanisms are located.As the
fluid collects, leverage is created, which
causes a friction to be applied.If the braking
system is functioning properly, this friction
will create a force that will cause the wheels
When you step on the brakes,
fluid is stored in a chamber
that allows the car to stop.
THE END