Summary

Writing
Techniques
1/31/2023
Titles
● The purpose of a title is to:
• Grab Attention – Compel the reader to read the lead-in.
• Predict Content – Set an expectation of what awaits them.
• Establish Tone – Create an atmosphere appropriate to the subject
matter.
• Impact of Social Media on our Lives.
• Role of Education in Society.
• Benefits of Exercise.
• Importance of Family.
• Impact of Technology on our Lives.
• Role of Religion in Society.
 Topic Sentences
A topic sentence essentially tells readers about the rest of the paragraph. All sentences after
it have to give more information about that sentence, prove it by offering facts about it, or
describe it in more detail.

● There are many reasons why pollution in ABC Town is the worst in the world.

● Dogs make wonderful pets because they help you to live longer.

● Graduating from high school is important for many different reasons.

● To be an effective CEO requires certain characteristics.
Objectives
By the end of this session, students will be able to:
• Justify the purpose of summary writing
• Describe basic summary writing techniques
• Summarize
Practice summarizing nursery rhymes
Directions
1. We will read each nursery rhyme.

2. Summarize the nursery rhyme in as few words as

possible.

3. Include key information.

4. We will discuss our answers

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
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.
Mary had a little lamb,
It's fleece was white as snow;
And everywhere that Mary went
The lamb was sure to go.
He followed her to school one day
Which was against the rule;
It made the children laugh and play,
To see a lamb at school.
And so the teacher turned him out,
But still he lingered near;
And waited patiently about
Till Mary did appear
Other useful condensation techniques
● Use synonyms or synonymous phrases
● Change the structure of simple sentences
● Turn complex sentences into simple sentences
● Combine sentences
 Condense the following
sentences.
● He had a good command of English. (use a synonym or a
synonymous phrase)

● My brother has an appreciation of modern art. (change the

structure of the sentence)

● He received a welcome that was as cold as ice. (change the

complex sentence to a simple sentence)

● Hurry up. If you don’t, you’ll miss the train. (combine the
sentences)
 Summarize the following sentences
 I invited Bruno to the concert, but he can only go if one of us gives him a ride.

 Kaci has a bountiful vegetable garden, so she is always outside when it is

sunny.

 As soon as I heard the news, I called Nathan, and we made plans to celebrate.

 I passed the test, but I would have gotten a perfect score if I had studied for
the vocabulary section.