Scribd Logo
Upload

Welcome to Scribd!

  • 128 views

    Summary Writing

    Uploaded by

    Meow Memyself
    A summary restates the key ideas and topic of the original text in shortened form, answering the question "what is it about?". It should be no more than a third of the original length and uses simple present tense. Details, examples, and rhetoric are removed. Direct speech is changed to reported speech. The summary is written in the summarizer's own words without copying phrases. It presents the author's point of view without attribution. Writing a good summary requires carefully reading the original twice, underlining key points, determining the topic in one sentence, remembering main ideas in logical order, writing a draft in the margins, checking word choice and logical flow, and producing a final version with paragraphs.

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    Summary Writing

    Uploaded by

    Meow Memyself
    128 views2 pages
    A summary restates the key ideas and topic of the original text in shortened form, answering the question "what is it about?". It should be no more than a third of the original length and uses simple present tense. Details, examples, and rhetoric are removed. Direct speech is changed to reported speech. The summary is written in the summarizer's own words without copying phrases. It presents the author's point of view without attribution. Writing a good summary requires carefully reading the original twice, underlining key points, determining the topic in one sentence, remembering main ideas in logical order, writing a draft in the margins, checking word choice and logical flow, and producing a final version with paragraphs.

    Copyright

    © Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)

    Available Formats

    PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    Did you find this document useful?

    Is this content inappropriate?

    A summary restates the key ideas and topic of the original text in shortened form, answering the question "what is it about?". It should be no more than a third of the original length and uses simple present tense. Details, examples, and rhetoric are removed. Direct speech is changed to reported speech. The summary is written in the summarizer's own words without copying phrases. It presents the author's point of view without attribution. Writing a good summary requires carefully reading the original twice, underlining key points, determining the topic in one sentence, remembering main ideas in logical order, writing a draft in the margins, checking word choice and logical flow, and producing a final version with paragraphs.

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    128 views2 pages

    Summary Writing

    Uploaded by

    Meow Memyself
    A summary restates the key ideas and topic of the original text in shortened form, answering the question "what is it about?". It should be no more than a third of the original length and uses simple present tense. Details, examples, and rhetoric are removed. Direct speech is changed to reported speech. The summary is written in the summarizer's own words without copying phrases. It presents the author's point of view without attribution. Writing a good summary requires carefully reading the original twice, underlining key points, determining the topic in one sentence, remembering main ideas in logical order, writing a draft in the margins, checking word choice and logical flow, and producing a final version with paragraphs.

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    You are on page 1of 2

    Basic writing skills: Summary writing

    1 The summary is a re-statement, in shortened form, of the topic


    and chief ideas of a text. A summary answers to the question:
    “What is the essay/newspaper article/short story/drama scene/…
    about; what does it treat of; what does it deal with?” The
    length of a summary is rarely more than a third of the
    original text and may be only one fifth.

    2 The summary is more or less a report of text facts, and like a


    report it must be written in the simple present.

    That applies even if the original text – e.g. a short story or


    novel – is in the simple past.

    As a report of textual facts, a summary gives only the gist of


    a text and leaves out repetitions, examples, illustrations,
    comparisons, colourful adjectives and other rhetorical ele-
    ments or stylistic ornaments.

    3 Direct speech must be avoided. Turn it into reported speech.


    (Direct speech can be permitted only if the precise wording of
    it is of importance to an understandung of the matter.)

    4 A summary is written entirely in the words of the person


    summarizing, i.e., in your own words, not in those of the
    original. Avoid to copy phrases or sentences of the original
    text.

    5 A summary is written from the point of view of the author of


    the original. You needn’t say (and repeat over and over
    again), “The author says… The author believes… The author is
    of the opinion that… The author gives an example by saying
    that… The author concludes…“

    Doing so may mecome necessary in a structured summary that n


    ot only reports the textual facts but also aims to describe
    the argumentative development of the original.

    6 Writing a summary means first of all that you read carefully


    the text to be summarized – twice, if necessary. Underline
    important points as you read.

    7 Then put aside the text and ask yourself: “What does the
    author want to say?” Answer the question in one sentence so as
    to form a clear idea of the subject or topic of the text.

    8 Now try to remember – still without looking at the original


    text – which points are closely linked to this topic. All the
    others are superfluous.
    9 Next, take a piece of paper and formulate the points that you
    remembered as simply as you can in your own words. While
    writing, leave a wide margin on both sides, and space your
    lines well apart – for later corrections and additions. This
    first version of your summary is called the draft.

    10 If the text contains technical terms which are indispensable,


    you may retain them; if not, find, synonymous expressions for
    “keywords” and try to include a few of them in one term that
    is more general (“Oberbegriff”).

    11 Arrange the main points in their logical order.

    12 Write the summary so as not to make it sound like a mere list


    of points; combine sentences by

    12.1 using connectives such as “but”, “yet”, “however”,


    “therefore”, “consequently”, “nevertheless”, “still”, “all the
    same”, “as a result”, “in addition” etc.

    12.2 subordinating some of the ideas to the others by means of


    words like “although”, “since”, “as”, “because”, “in order to”
    etc.

    13 Re-read your summary.

    13.1 Check if you have stuck to the maximum number of words (if
    such a maximum was given in the assignment); if not, condense
    further.

    13.2 Improve your choice of words (e.g. by doing away with repeti-
    tions).

    13.3 Check and improve your links (i.e., the logical development of
    ideas).

    13.4 Check your sentence structure and vary, if monotonous.

    14 Write the definitive version. For better readability, separate


    paragraphs by one empty line.

    In Anglo-Saxon countries, paragraphs are made to stand out by


    one empty line between them and by indenting the first line of
    the following paragraph.

    You might also like