Lecture 7

Summary Writing
Summary Writing Process

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Essential Skills
Understanding the text

Selecting the main points

Selecting supporting ideas and relevant details

Selecting supporting ideas and relevant details

Expressing the selected information in fewer words

Maintaining factual and grammatical accuracy

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Structure of a Summary
• A summary essay should be
organized so that others can
understand the source or evaluate
your comprehension of it.
• There are three parts of a
summary:
• Introduction
• Body
• Conclusion

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Introduction
• Contains a one-sentence thesis statement that sums
up the main point of the source.
• This thesis statement is not your main point; it is
the main point of your source
• Write this statement
• Do not quote it from the source text
• It is a one-sentence summary of the entire text
that your essay summarizes
• The introduction should not offer your own opinions
or evaluation of the text you are summarizing.

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Body
• Paraphrases and condenses the original piece.
• In your summary, be sure that you:
• Include important data but omit minor
points and examples;
• Do not include your own ideas, illustrations,
metaphors, or interpretations.

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Conclusion

• Summarize the main idea and the

underlying meaning of the article.

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A Good Summary:
• includes the main ideas and the major supporting points of
what you have read
Brief without any
• does NOT include minor/repeated details unnecessary
detail
• does NOT include your own ideas/opinion
• is much shorter than the original
• can be understood without reference to the original;
• is a faithful reproduction of, or contains only the ideas or
information of, the original;
• is a readable unified whole

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Steps in Writing A Summary
understand
Read the passage Read the question Read the passage again
once, to get its carefully, taking note and identify the
general meaning of its requirements. relevant points for the
summary. Underline
the points in the
passage.
don’t understand

Write the first draft

of your summary Write down the
based on the notes relevant points in
that you have made. the form of notes on
a piece of paper.

Read your draft and check not satisfied

for the following: Write your final
• Grammatical accuracy
• Missing or irrelevant points
draft. Proofread
• Number of words and edit it.
• Cohesion of the summary satisfied
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1. Infectious diseases 4. Party preparation
malaria clean the house
tuberculosis buy some chips & salsa
scarlet fever make some pizza
diphtheria bake a cake
set the table
measles
cool the drinks
2. Administrative building/office 5. Places of worship/religious
personnel department buildings
marketing department cathedral
executive suite church
warehouse temple
cafeteria mosque
chapel
3. Parts of speech/word classes
verb
noun
adjective
pronoun
adverb
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Summarizing a Sentence
• By using summary words and phrases to take the
place of groups of words about the same topic.
• Descriptive words ( adjectives/adverbs) should be
left out.
• Keep words that tell the main point of the sentence
• Use as few words as possible
• Should still be a complete sentence

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Cont.
• Example: The tall cowboy put the saddle on his horse,
untied him from the fence, waved good-bye, and rode
off into the sunset.
• Summary: The cowboy left

Tall = descriptive word (adjective) → leave out

Put the saddle on his horse, untied him, waved good-

bye, rode off = cowboy’s action
→ can be summarized into ‘left’
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Summarizing a Paragraph
• If the paragraph has a topic sentence, use it for your
summary.
• Make the topic sentence shorter by using summary
words/phrases (no descriptive words)
• If the topic sentence is not a good statement of the
main idea, write a main idea statement and make it
shorter using summary words/phrases leaving out
descriptive words

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Example
Shopping malls have produced a revolution in
shopping and living habits in many industrialized
countries. Before 1950, there were no malls, but now
almost every city or region in industrialized countries
has at least one . In fact, shopping malls have become
a part of daily life. Many people even think of them as
social centers. In a way, malls have taken the place of
the main streets of a town or city. Shops and services
that were once spread over several city blacks are now
in one place at the mall. Everyone can save time by
doing their shopping at the mall. And people young
and old, with time on their hands, often say, “Let’s go
to the mall!”
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Cont.
• Topic sentence: Shopping malls have produced a
revolution in shopping and living habits in many
industrialized countries.
• Summary: Shopping malls have changed the
cultures of many industrialized countries.

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Techniques in Summary
Writing
1. Paraphrasing
2. Condensation
3. Use of cohesive devices / indicators /
logical connectors

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Paraphrasing
• To completely and correctly express other
people’s ideas in one’s own words.
• One legitimate way (when accompanied by
accurate documentation) to borrow from a
source.
• Paraphrasing is a valuable skill because:
• it is better than quoting information from
an undistinguished passage.
• it helps you control the temptation to
quote too much.
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Example of Paraphrasing
1.People trying to interpret a situation often look at
those around them to see how to react. (base
reactions on)
People trying to interpret a situation often base their
reactions on those around them.

2.There are three things bystanders must do if they

are to intervene in an emergency. (necessary)
Three things are necessary for bystanders to
intervene in an emergency.
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3.In a crowd, then, each person is less likely to notice a
potential emergency than when alone. (tends to....less)
In a crowd, then, each person tends to notice a potential
emergency less than when alone.

4.Even if a person defines an event as an emergency...

(decides)
Even if a person decides that an event is an emergency...

5.... the presence of other bystanders may still make each

person less likely to intervene. (may feel less inclined)
...each person may feel less inclined to intervene in the
presence of other bystanders.
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Do’s and Don’ts when
Paraphrasing
• Do • Don’t
• change words to their • use quotation marks
synonyms • include your own
• change passive to
opinion
active
• change active to • change words that
passive have no synonyms
• use different • change specialized
conjunctions with the or technical
same meaning vocabulary
• change sentence
structure
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Condensation
A. Use synonyms or synonymous phrases
• He had a good command of English.→(He knew
English well.)
B. Change the structure of simple sentences
• My brother has an appreciation of modern
art.→(My brother appreciates modern art.)
C. Turn complex sentences into simple sentences
• He received a welcome that was as cold as
ice.→(He received an icy welcome.)
D. Combine the sentences
• Hurry up. If you don’t, you’ll miss the
train.→(Hurry up or you’ll miss the train.)
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Use of cohesive devices /
indicators / logical connectors
• Words such as first, second, finally, therefore or
phrases such as in conclusion and as a result
• Functions:
i. a similar idea (similarly ; moreover ; furthermore ;
in addition)
ii. an opposite idea (however ; in contrast)
iii. an example (for instance)
iv. a result (as a result)
v. a conclusion (in conclusion ; in short)
• Easier for your reader to follow your ideas

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Pitfalls to Avoid
1. Do not include information not found in the text.
2. Do not include your own ideas or opinions.
3. Do not spend too much time paraphrasing as you might
end up losing marks for content unless you can do so without
altering/distorting meaning.
4. Do not repeat ideas. Sometimes, an idea is repeated in the
text and you may not notice it as it may have been
paraphrased.
5. Do not include material from other lines in the text.

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Example
Original Passage:

Language is the main means of communication

between peoples. But so many different languages
have developed that language has often been a
barrier rather than an aid to understanding among
peoples. For many years, people have dreamed of
setting up an international, universal language which
all people could speak and understand. Then
arguments in favour of a universal language are
simple and obvious. If all peoples spoke the same
tongue, cultural and economic ties might be much
closer, and good will might increase between
countries (Kispert). UALE1083 Basic Professional Writing 23
Summary:

People communicate mainly through

language; however, having so many different
languages creates communication barriers.
Some think that one universal language would
bring countries together culturally and
economically and also increase good feelings
among them (Kispert)
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