Expository Summary

All About Expository Text Expository text makes up the bulk of what we read. Expository texts include essays, speeches, lab procedures, journals, government documents, newspaper and magazine articles, and directions, among other things. While each type of text shares certain characteristics with the others, they each make their own demands on the reader through the unique use of structure, devices, features, and conventions. Students must know how to read each type as they encounter it if they are to read them successfully.

Why Summarize? Summarizing is a comprehension device that allows a reader of any type of text, specifically texts of expository nature, to explain what information was read and understood. If a reader can accurately and effectively summarize what was read through verbalization or written expression, then it is assumed that the reader comprehended the text.

Expository Summary Essentials An expository summary must include the following: Main idea Supporting Details Concluding Sentence

Main Idea The main idea of a summary of an expository text should include the following: Title of text Author of text Basic idea of the entire piece; What is it that the author trying to tell the audience? General information about the structure of the text (compare/contrast, cause/effect, problem/solution, sequential/descriptive, process/how-to)

Supporting Details Supporting details should do just that; support the main idea of the text. Be sure to include only the most important information from the text in this part of your summary, eliminating any details that the reader doesn’t need to know in order to comprehend the text. Supporting details must include the following: Quotes/examples directly from the text Paraphrased information from the text Author’s attitude/opinion/perspective toward the topic (bias, supports, against) Author’s purpose for writing the text Sentences that explain the topic

Concluding Sentence Brings the summary to a close: Re-state the main idea Refer to the author again by last name Further suggestions/questions to ponder presented by the author; not by you Remind the reader of the author’s purpose Make the reader feel like the paragraph is complete Do not introduce any new topics