 A summary is a brief restatement of the essential thought of a longer composition. It reproduces the theme of the original with as few words as possible. When one writes a summary, one should not interpret or comment. All one has to do is to give gist of the author’s exact and essential meaning.

 condenses a paragraph, an essay, or a book to its controlling idea and main points. It should be written in complete sentences and reworded, as in paraphrasing. Summarizing, like outlining, is an effective study skill, for it requires the student to differentiate between what is essential and what is insignificant. The relative importance of ideas must also be recognized. Once the main idea has been rewritten, the information will be easier to recall later on a test or in a paper.

 1) Summary writing is a very good exercise for improving reading comprehension.  Some students read carelessly, and gain only a vague idea of what they have read. Summary writing can force them to try to understand what they read, for one can write a summary of any passage unless he has grasped its meaning. So summarizing is also training in concentration of attention. It requires one to read with the mind, as well as with the eye, on the page.

 It trains one to express one’s thought clearly, concisely and effectively. It is an excellent corrective of vague and disorderly thinking and loose and diffuse writing. When writing a summary, one has to work within strict limits. One must express a certain meaning in a fixed number of words. So it is important to chose words carefully, to make sentences with an eye to accuracy and brevity, and to write the summary in logical order.

 The ability to grasp quickly accurately what is read, or heard, and to reproduce it in a clear and concise way is of great value to people of many professions.

 No idea that is not the author’s should be included in the summary, and no opinion of the writer should be in the summary. No judgments (whether the article was “good” or “interesting”) are permitted in a summary.

 Depending on the assignment, the summary should contain every main idea in the article. Stating only the first main idea, or only one main idea and details to support it, will not give the reader a complete idea of what the article was about.

 Giving equal attention to each main idea, and stressing ideas that the author stressed, will result in an accurate summary.

 Did I include all the important ideas?  Did I omit all unnecessary words and phrases?  Does the summary read smoothly? (Have I made good use of transitions: also, thus, therefore, however, etc? Have I made every word count?)  Would a reader of my summary who had not read the article get a clear idea of the article?

 To give readers an objective, complete, accurate, balanced view of an article they have not read.

 1) Read the article quickly, looking for main ideas.  2) Read it again carefully, absorbing the information.  3) Look for the thesis and topic sentences; they will often give you the main ideas of the article that you will need for your summary.  4) Depending on the assignment, select the major ideas you will need to use in your summary. Arrange these ideas carefully in order to achieve balance and completeness.  5) Begin the summary with a sentence that informs your reader of the title and author of the article.

 1) Omit unnecessary details  In order to make the passage powerful and convinced, the origin will quote examples, quotations of authorities, definitions, details and rhetorical phrases. Such details can be omitted.

 Follow the chronological order of the origin.  Simplify the descriptions, eliminate all repetition.  Elimination of all examples, statistics, lists, figures, opinions and judgments.

In general cite the writer Ex. The writer explains…… Ex. The writer states…… Or use the writer’s name. The first time use complete name. After that only last name Catherine Coleman explains… Coleman states ….

Academic Language Reporting Verbs Other words you can use instead of “says” or “tells” or “talks about” 1.reports 12. reveals 2.points out 13.declares 3.finds 14.proposes 4.asks 15. observes 5.advises 16. notes 6.describes 17. establishes 7.insists 18. maintains 8.asserts 19.suggests 9.claims 20. explains 10.believes 21. contends 11.implies

 Some introductory phrases : 1. (The author) states in (this article) that (The author, in (this article) shows that In (this article), (the author) writes that As (the author) says in (this article), The main idea of (the author's article) is

 You will have to use transitions and other kinds of language to make your summary flow (sound better). Examples: 1. First the author …………. 2. The author begins by stating that users should………. 3. He then points out that……. 4. In the second part of the article…….. 5. In the final section of the article, the author suggests……………..(Signals an End!)

 6) Use the shortest possible transitions, e.g. but, thus, yet, for, etc.  7) Put the main points of a dialogue in indirect speech.  8) Analyze the origin  Try to analyze the origin. Try to find out the main idea, topic sentences and so on.  9) Take the use of topic sentences and key words  10) Pay attention to Persons  A formal summary should be written by the third person and in past tense.

 Tips for Writing Good Responses In academic writing, 1. Responses are based on facts that you can support (facts from experts, class discussions, assigned reading in your text, and the like), not on hearsay or emotions 2. Responses are based on the original author’s purpose and audience. 3. You must provide support for the opinions you express in your response. 4. Your opinions and interpretations appear only in your response, not in your summary of the author's work. 5. Sometimes an instructor will ask you for a gut reaction or a reaction based on your own experience. In that case, and only in that case, you may stray from Point 4 above. Still, you should try to analyze your reaction so that you can state why you responded as you did.

Do not write an overly detailed summary: the point is to reduce the work to its essence. Quote from the material sparingly to illustrate major ideas -- stick to paraphrase for the most part.