1. AHSGE Reading Objective II-5
Recognize Summary Statements

2. Summaries
A summary is a shortened version of a longer work, including the main idea and the MOST important details.
An effective summary of the passage should not only contain the most relevant information from the original passage, but it should also convey the original’s underlying message or theme.

3. Summaries
When you summarize a piece of writing, your try to capture its essential points, and restate them more concisely. What does it mean to be concise?

4. Concise
Writing concisely means that you eliminate any unnecessary words or phrases that don’t contribute to the meaning of the sentence.

5. Ways to be concise…
Omit there was there were there is there are it is Omit modifiers such as clearly obviously really undoubtedly totally

6. Omit OF prepositional phrases Omit unnecessary adjective clauses
Ways to be concise…
Omit OF prepositional phrases Omit unnecessary adjective clauses

7. WE DECIDE….Wordy or Concise
It is the manager who makes that decision. There was a wreck that stopped traffic for hours. The records showed the movie producer’s wife. There are many students in the area who are planning to attend the meeting.

8. YOU DECIDE…Wordy or Concise?
The tournament was undoubtedly the most competitive in history. The police officer questioned the friend of the girl who robbed the bank. The traffic cop made the mistake.

9. Remind me….What is a summary??
Back to summaries…
Remind me….What is a summary??

10. Read this sample passage
Read this sample passage. Ask yourself, “What Main point does the author want me to understand about the topic?” Then notice how all the important elements of the passage can be put together to create a brief summary.

11. Although many people believe that John
F. Kennedy was the youngest man ever
to be president of the United states, that
distinction actually belongs to Theodore
Roosevelt. When William McKinley was
elected to a to a second term in 1900, he
named Roosevelt as his vice president.

12. Soon after, McKinley was assassinated.
Roosevelt then became president at the
age of 42. John F. Kennedy took office in
1961at 43 years old, just slightly older
than Roosevelt. While Roosevelt was
younger when he became president,
Kennedy still seems the most youthful
U.S. president.

13. end of World War I. We need to remember
Read the passages on the next few slides. Then select the best summary.
We need to remember as well to celebrate the
end of World War I. We need to remember
the dead and the wounded, the widows and
orphans, the destroyed and broken homes,
farms, and businesses. We need to remember
these casualties of war. We must prevent
another such war from happening.

14. What is the best summary for this passage?
A) Widows and orphans should
remember the dead and wounded.
B) War is a part of the human condition.
C) Remember those who were lost or
wounded in the war.
D) We must prevent war in the future.

15. group of elephants from his herd gathered around this male, trying
An old male elephant was dying in the African wilderness. A
group of elephants from his herd gathered around this male, trying
to get him to stand up. They tried to stroke him with their trunks,
raise him with their tusks, and put food in his mouth. Nothing
seemed to work, so the herd left. However, a mother and her calf
remained, standing with their backs to the dead elephant. The
mother tried to touch the dead elephant with one foot. Then the
herd returned and began circling the dead companion. After a
time, they gathered tree branches and grass clumps, scattering
these items on or around the body.

16. What is the best summary for the passage?
A) Elephants often die alone in the wilderness.
B) Some animals perform rituals to mourn their
dead.
C) Death is a fact of life in the African
wilderness.
D) The elephant population in Africa is
declining because they are hunted and
killed.