Summarizing Literature Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf, the Big Bad Wolf, the Big Bad Wolf…

What is Summarizing? Picking out essential details and important ideas or themes in: an article a piece of literature a speech Then writing those ideas in your own words

For our purposes today, we will focus on summarizing literature. You will learn later how to summarize other types of writing.

Steps to Summarizing Literature Note the following information – Characters – Setting – How the story begins – What is the central problem, or conflict? – How is the problem solved?

Let’s try with a familiar story.

The Three Little Pigs

Who Were the Characters? The Three Little Pigs and the Big Bad Wolf. Fifer PigFiddler Pig Practical PigBig Bad Wolf

Where is it set? The story takes place in the countryside.

How Does the Story Begin? The three pigs each build a house for themselves. Two houses are flimsy and one is made from strong brick.

What is the Central Problem (Conflict)? The Big Bad Wolf would like to catch the pigs and eat them for dinner. He destroys their houses and chases them.

How is the Conflict Resolved? The pigs end up in the house of brick and set a trap for the wolf. The trap works and the pigs are not eaten.

Summary Paragraph “The Three Little Pigs” is the story of three pigs and the Big Bad Wolf. In the beginning of the story, the pigs build houses for themselves in the countryside. Because they are lazy, two of the pigs build houses out of flimsy material. The last pig is smarter and builds a house of brick. The Big Bad Wolf would like to catch the pigs and eat them for dinner. He blows down the two flimsy houses and chases the pigs who live inside. Eventually, all of the pigs end up in the house of brick and set a trap for the wolf. The trap works and the pigs are not eaten.