1. JC Clapp, North Seattle Community College
How to Write Summaries
JC Clapp, North Seattle Community College

2. 1. Consider the Rhetorical Situation
Who will be reading the summary?
Why are you writing it?
How long should it be to achieve your purpose?
Is the reader familiar with the text you’re summarizing?

3. 2. Read the Text
Determine the structure – briefly outline the text to help you understand how it all fits together
Identify the author’s purpose (to help you distinguish between more and less important points)
Identify the author’s primary claim (or thesis)

4. 3. Reread the Text Mark the author’s major points or ideas
Mark off the major sections of the text and label them
Mark the author’s supporting examples and evidence
Underline any key ideas or terms
Write notes in the margins

5. 4. Write the Bare-Bones
On a sheet of paper, write a one-or-two-sentence summary of the author’s major claim/thesis
Write one-sentence summaries of each major section of the text
You should now have a good outline of the text

6. 5. Draft your Summary
Combine the thesis and summary sentences of the major ideas into complete sentence/paragraph form.
Disregard minor details and only but the most important supporting evidence that the author uses.

7. 6. Check and Adjust
Compare your summary against the original text to be sure it’s accurate.
Consider how long the summary needs to be based on the rhetorical situation, and cut details as necessary (or flesh out more) to meet the space requirements.

8. 7. Get Feedback
Have somebody who is unfamiliar with the text read your summary and give you feedback. Is it clear? If not, fix it.

9. 8. Revise and Polish
Introduce the title of the text, the author, and the date in the first sentence.
Insert transitions to ensure coherence.
Avoid a series of short, choppy sentences.
Use strong verbs. (try to eliminate all uses of the verb “to be” – is, are, was, were, am, be, being, been)
Check for grammatical correctness, punctuation, and spelling.

10. Paraphrasing and Quoting
Summary’s little cousins . . .

11. Summarizing vs. Paraphrasing
Paraphrasing is putting the text into your own words. The original and the paraphrase are about the same length.
Summaries significantly condense down the length of the original. = =

12. How to Paraphrase Make sure you understand the text
Don’t borrow words or sentence structure from the original
Put entirely into your own words

13. Use a Quote when . . .
You can’t paraphrase and do the original justice
You need the original to lend authority and credibility to your point
The original is especially compelling or memorable

14. The Art of Quoting
Quotes must be exact repeats of what the author said.
ANY change to a quote must be indicated. Brackets indicate you added something. Ellipsis indicate you deleted something.
Examples:
Clapp reminds us that, “We [teachers and students] are tired” (48).
“Learning to study well entails reading,” emphasizes Holt (374).

15. Framing your Quotes
No drive-by quoting! All quotes must be lead into and out of with your own words and ideas.
Never assume your reader is going to understand the quote the way you do. Explain all quotes.

16. Using PIE
Regardless of whether or not you summarize, paraphrase, or quote, you must embed your evidence into your paragraph. Use PIE: P (Point): The point your are making I (Illustrate): Insert evidence/example to illustrate the point you’re making E (Explain): Explain how your illustration supports your point