Summarizing Academic

Texts
Suppose you told your friend
that you just watched a great
film, and your friend asks what
the story is. What would you
do?
Would you tell the story as it is
from the opening scene to end
credits or would you simply
talk about the essential parts of
the movie?
Summarizing Academic
Texts
Definition:

*summarizing as reducing text to one-

third or one-quarter its original size,
clearly articulating the author’s meaning,
and retaining main ideas. Buckley (2004),
in her popular writing text Fit to Print
Definition:

*summarizing involves stating a work’s

thesis and main ideas “simply, briefly, and
accurately” Diane Hacker (2008), in A
Canadian Writer’s Reference
Summarizing is also essential skill
that is needed in the workplace and
in the community. In some cases,
writing a summary is an excellent
learning strategy that allows students
to monitor their own progress in
learning course material.
What is summarizing?

- as an important skill in critical

reading, summarizing is often
used to determine the essential
ideas in a book chapter, an
article.
These essential ideas include
the gist or main idea, useful
information, or key words or
phrases that help you meet
your reading purpose.
Summarizing is usually done
after reading. However, it can
be done as well while reading
a text.
Summarizing is an important
skill because it helps you…
1. deepen your understanding
of the text.
2. Learn to identify relevant
information or key ideas;
3. combine details or
examples that support the
main idea/s.
4. Concentrate on the gist or
main idea and key word
presented in the text.
5. capture the key ideas in the
text and put them together
clearly and concisely.
What is NOT summarizing?
- write down everything;
- write down ideas from the
text word-for-word;
- write down incoherent &
irrelevant ideas;
- write down ideas that are not
stated in the text; or
- write down a summary that has
the same length or is longer than
the original text.
Basic Rules
1.Erase things that don’t matter.
- Delete trivial material that is
unnecessary to understanding.
2.Only write down important
points.
- If it is not something that will help
you understand or remember, then
don’t write it down. Think of it this
way . . . If you had to pay money for
every word you write down, which
words would you choose to include in
your notes?
3.Erase things that repeat.
- Delete redundant material. In
note taking, time and space are
precious. If a word or phrase says
basically the same thing you have
already written down, then don’t
write it again!
4.Trade, general terms for specific
names. Substitute superordinate terms
for lists (e.g., flowers for daisies,
tulips for roses). Focus on the big
picture. Long, technical lists are hard
to remember. If one word will give
you the meaning, then less is more.
5.Use your own words to write
the summary.
-Do not just copy the sentences
from the original text. However,
do not inject your opinion in your
summary .
Techniques
1. Outlining.
- An outline is a map of your
essay. It shows what information
each section or paragraph will
contain and in what order.
I. Main Idea
A. Supporting Details
B. Supporting Details

II. Main Idea

A. Supporting Details
B. Supporting Details
2. Somebody Wanted But So Then.
Each word represents a key question related to a
text’s essential elements:

Somebody—Who is the text about? Wanted—

What did the main character want?
But—What was the problem encountered?
So—How was the problem solved?
Then—How did it end?
3.SAAC Method.
This method is particularly helpful in learning the
format of a summary. This includes the title and
author’s name.
State— The name of the article, book, movie
Assign—the name of the author
Action—what the author is doing (ex. Tells,
explains)
Complete—complete the sentence or
summary with keywords and important
details.
4. 5W’s, 1 H.
- This technique relies on six crucial
questions: Who, What, When, Where, Why,
How. These questions make it easy to
identify the main character, important details
and main idea. Your summary may not
necessarily follow this order as long as it
contains all of these information.
Who is the text about?

What did he/she do?

When did it happen?

Why did he/she do it?

How did he/she do what he/she did?

5.First Then Finally.
- This technique helps summarize events or
steps in chronological order or in sequence.
First– What happened first?
Then– What key details took place
during the event/action?
Finally – What were the results of the
event/action?
ACTIVITY: Use ½ crosswise
Direction: Summarize your
personal experience/s during the
quarantine period of pandemic to a
one-paragraph only. You may use
the technique that you think best
fits the nature of your summary.