Summarizing effectively a short story

A summary is a significant reduction of the original source.

To summarize effectively follow these guidelines:

As You're Reading/Watching 1.Take notes You'll need to take notes as you watch the short film. If necessary pause the video. Use the graphic organizer to take notes. Look for the "who? what? when? where? why?" These will give you the basis for what you want to cover in your summary.

As You're Reading/Watching 2. Find the main characters. You'll need to know who the story is about, after all, and you need to figure out which characters aren't as important to the narrative. For example: Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, because they are the main characters. You might even note down Hagrid, Dumbledore, Snape, Quirrell, and Voldemort because they figure importantly in the story.

As You're Reading/Watching 3. Note down the setting. The setting is where the events take place. For example: Hogwarts

As You're Reading/Watching 4. Note the story's conflict. This means whatever is the main problem that the characters are having to overcome. It doesn't necessarily have to be a villain, like with Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings.. For Harry Potter 1, the main conflict is Voldemort's attempt to steal the Sorcerer's Stone and return to menace the Wizard World (and kill Harry).

As You're Reading/Watching 5. Note the main events. These are the most important parts of the story. You don't need to note down every single thing that a character does. In fact, that is exactly what you're supposed to not do! Just look for the events that further the main conflict, or help resolve it. For Harry Potter 1, some main events would be Harry finding out he's a wizard, or Harry meeting the three-headed dog and, of course, Harry, Ron, and Hermione defeating Voldemort.

As You're Reading/Watching 5. Note the resolution of the conflict or the conclusion. This is the big event, usually, that wraps up the story's conflict and resolves the problems. Even in a book that is part of a series there is usually some sort of conclusion to the story. For Harry Potter 1, y Potter the conclusion is defeating Voldemort. The story after that isn't important to the summary, even if it is important to the overall story. You won't need to go into the conversation between Dumbledore and Harry at the end, or even the Gryffindor House winning points, because it isn't really part of the main Voldemort storyline

Some important ideas to consider…

Use what you remember from the viewing.

Write the summary in your own words.

Do not express an opinion about the source. Neither disagree...

Now it is your turn to summarize. Show me what you can do!

References How to Summarize a Story. (n.d.). Retrieved March 13, 2015, from Simmons, R.L. (2005). Writing an effective summary [PowerPointslides]. Retrieved from rlsimmons.blogs.com/enc1102/files/summarize.ppt