Summarizing

Getting to the Point

 What is a summary?
• A summary is a shortened passage, which
retains the important and necessary
information of the original. It is a fairly brief
restatement --- in your own words ---of the
contents of a passage.
• Note: you simply report back what the
writer has said, without making value
judgments (giving your opinion).
What is a Summary?
A summary is a shortened version
of an original text. It includes the
main idea and major supporting
points, and should reveal the
relationship between the major
points and the main idea.
Summarizing is a powerful
reading
strategy. It increases
comprehension and
retention of information.
• What’s the importance of
summarizing in academic
writing?
When you summarize, you
discern the most important
ideas in a text, ignore
irrelevant information, and
integrate the central ideas
in a meaningful way.
• Learning to summarize can help us
• stay on topic
• improve our ability to convey the most important
information concisely and accurately
• arrange sentences in a logic order

Academic writing should be concise, coherent, and

cohesive.  学术写作应该是简洁、连贯和一致的。
How To Summarize
1. Read the text.
2. Don’t let big words scare you.
3. Ask, “What was this text about?”

Your Answer…

Should cover main point and key ideas

Should be in your own words
Shouldn’t just be a word or two
Should It Go in My Summary?
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.
 Summarizing is:

• Keeping
• Deleting
• Paraphrasing
 Keeping

Keep only the

important information and
main ideas.
 Deleting

Do not include supporting

details in your summary.
 Paraphrasing

Use your own words!!!

Summary

Your Turn!
Example Text
A penny for your thoughts? If it’s a 1943
copper penny, it could be worth as much as
fifty thousand dollars. In 1943, most pennies
were made out of steel since copper was
needed for World War II. As a result, the 1943
copper penny is very rare. Another rarity is
the 1955 double die penny. These pennies
were mistakenly double stamped, so they
have overlapping dates and letters. If it’s not
being used, it could easily be worth $25,000
at an auction. Now that’s a pretty penny.
Incorrect Example Response 1
This text is about pennies.
 This response is too short.
 It does not include key ideas.
Incorrect Example Response 2
The 1943 copper penny is worth a lot of
money. Copper was hard to get during the
war so there aren’t many of them. The 1955
double die penny is worth a lot too. These
pennies were stamped twice on accident.
 Too much unnecessary stuff.
 Main idea is not clear.
 Correct Example Response
This text is about two very rare and
valuable pennies: the 1943 copper penny
and the 1955 double die penny.

 Includes key information.

 Doesn’t include unnecessary information
 Is a complete sentence.
 Example paragraphs…
A tornado is a powerful, twisting windstorm.
It begins high in the air, among the winds of
a giant storm cloud. People who have
watched a tornado’s howling winds reach
down from the sky have said it’s the most
frightening thing they have ever seen. In
some parts of the United States, these
windstorms are called twisters or cyclones.
 Main Idea

Supporting Supporting Supporting

Detail Detail Detail
 Main idea and supporting details

Tornado is
powerful, twisting
windstorm

Also called
Part of giant
Frightening twister
storm cloud
or cyclone
 Sentence Summary…

Tornadoes are frightening,

powerful, twisting windstorms
sometimes called twisters or
cyclones that start in giant
storm clouds.
 Tornadoes cont…
Tornadoes are not the only whirling
windstorms that move through the earth’s
air. Dust devils, hurricanes and typhoons
all have twisting winds. But these
windstorms differ from tornadoes in
important ways.
 Main idea and supporting
details
Dust devils, hurricanes,
and typhoons have
twisting winds

Whirling windstorms Differ from tornadoes

 Sentence Summary…

Dust devils, hurricanes and typhoons

also have twisting winds, but they are
different from tornadoes.
 People used to play football bareheaded.
After many injuries, players began to use
plain, leather caps. Plastic helmets and
masks appeared later. Still, many players
were getting hurt. To make helmets better,
designers studied woodpeckers! Their
tough, spongy skulls became the model for
modern football helmets.
 Now, summarize the text
from the previous slide.
Remember to paraphrase.
Your summary should only
be a few sentences.
Here is an example of a summary
for the passage you read.

During football’s early days, many

injuries occurred due to little or no
head protection. Improved football
helmets were designed using
woodpecker skulls as a model.
 Your summary and
paraphrase will not be
exactly the same as the
example shown.
However, it should
include the following
important details.
•Football was originally played
with little or no head protection
•Injuries occurred
•Improved helmets/head
protection were modeled after
woodpecker skulls
REMEMBER
• Summaries are short restatements of a work's main
points.
• When writing a summary, be sure to record the
work's major ideas.
• Summaries condense a text's main ideas into a few
concise sentences.
• A summarized work is always much shorter than the
original.
• A summary should be written in your own words.