Summary Writing = What is a summary, steps
- 2. Reading Comprehension The best way to understand any text is to condense it into its main points. Before you can summarize, you must understand the information that you are condensing.
- 3. Research Paper Summarizing is important when you need to condense ideas from sources (e.g., books, articles, websites) for a research paper.
- 4. Summary & Analysis Summary and analysis assignments require you to express and analyze the main ideas of a text.
- 5. Summary A condensed version of text that only includes the main ideas. It may consist of a single word a single phrase several sentences and/or several paragraphs
- 6. Summaries Should be written in your own words Should match the tone of the original text Should not include any of your opinions Should make specific reference to the author and/or title and the page(s) of the text
- 7. Weak Summary Original Text One of the first problems I had to confront in junior high school was my ethnic background. Redlands is in southern California and had a large Mexican population, consisting mainly of immigrants and illegal aliens who came up from Mexico to pick fruit. At school they banded together, speaking Spanish – the girls with mountains of black hair, fizzed from sleeping all night long on masses of pin curls, wearing gobs of violet lipstick, tight skirts and nylons, and blouses with the collars turned up in back. The boys were pachucos, tough guys, who slicked back their gorgeous hair with Three Roses Vaseline tonic and wore their pegged pants so low on the hip that walking without losing them had become an art. Few Mexicans were interested in school and they were ostracized by the whites. So there I was, with a Mexican name, skin, and hair: the Anglos couldn’t accept me because of all three, and Mexicans couldn’t accept me because I didn’t speak Spanish. -Joan Baez, And a Voice to Sing With Weak Summary In Redlands, CA, Joan Baez attended a junior high with Spanish speaking girls, who wore violet lipstick, and Spanish speaking boys, who were pachucos, neither of whom accepted her (201). Explanation The details in this summary are too specific and do not relate to the author’s main idea. Excerpt from lnlandia
- 8. One of the first problems I had to confront in junior high school was my ethnic background. Redlands is in southern California and had a large Mexican population, consisting mainly of immigrants and illegal aliens who came up from Mexico to pick fruit. At school they banded together, speaking Spanish – the girls with mountains of black hair, fizzed from sleeping all night long on masses of pin curls, wearing gobs of violet lipstick, tight skirts and nylons, and blouses with the collars turned up in back. The boys were pachucos, tough guys, who slicked back their gorgeous hair with Three Roses Vaseline tonic and wore their pegged pants so low on the hip that walking without losing them had become an art. Few Mexicans were interested in school and they were ostracized by the whites. So there I was, with a Mexican name, skin, and hair: the Anglos couldn’t accept me because of all three, and Mexicans couldn’t accept me because I didn’t speak Spanish. -Joan Baez, And a Voice to Sing With This summary states the author’s main idea without including any specific details. Original Text Strong Summary In junior high school, Joan Baez felt unaccepted by her Mexican classmates because she did not speak Spanish and unaccepted by her Caucasian classmates because she was Mexican (201). Explanation Strong Summary Excerpt from lnlandia
- 10. Preview Subtitle Other Items First and last several paragraphs A title usually condenses the main idea of the article. The subtitle, caption, or any other words in large print under or next to the title may highlight important ideas . The first and last several paragraphs often introduce and conclude the author’s argument or main point Bold-faced words, pictures, charts, or diagrams can “illustrate” main ideas. Before you read the text… Title Headings and Subheadings Headings and subheadings break down the article into sections that relate to the author’s main idea.
- 11. Read Read once through without stopping. Do not focus on the details during your first reading. Just try to understand the main idea.
- 12. Evaluate Carefully read the text a second time. Use the surrounding context to understand words that are unfamiliar. Or use a dictionary! Look for definitions, examples, lists, tables, and graphs, which indicate key terms. Underline important ideas. Circle key terms. Note the main idea of each paragraph. Find the author’s main point or argument of the whole entire text.
- 13. Organize 1. Start the summary with the title and author of the work. 2. Write the author’s main point or argument in your own words. 3. Write the remaining important ideas in your own words. • Do not include examples, statistics, specific details, and quotations, if possible. 4. Write the article’s conclusion in your own words. 5. Organize the summary similar to the original text’s organization.
- 14. ACADEMIC LANGUAGE REPORTING VERBS Other words you can use instead of “says” or “tells” or “talks about”
- 15. Maintains Suggests Explains Observes Notes Establishes Believes Implies Contends Insists Asserts Claims Asks Advises Describes Reports Point out Finds Reveals Declares Proposes
- 16. Academic Language • Some introductory phrases : 1. (The author) states in (this article) that... 2. (The author, in (this article) shows that... 3. In (this article), (the author) writes that... 4. As (the author) says in (this article), ... 5. The main idea of (the author's article) is
- 17. Check List Make sure that the summary is no more than 20% of the original. Do not use technical words from the original; use your own words as much as possible. Do not include too many details from the original. Do not plagiarize. • Cite author and page numbers Proofread. Meet with a tutor at the Writing Center to receive feedback on your summary.
- 18. Beginning Summary • Mention the full name of the author and the title of the piece (text). • Introductory sentence should be general – in one sentence try to provide a general overview (consider the purpose) of the article
- 19. Body of Summary (Middle) • After your introductory sentence,insert all of the sentences you wrote. • Now you have a body. • Now work with the language. Change all those “says”, “talks about” to different verbs “describes” “states”, etc.
- 20. Using transitions in the body • You will have to use transitions and other kinds of language to make your summary flow (sound better).
- 21. Using transitions in the body • First the author …………. •The author begins by stating that users should………. • He then points out that……. • In the second part of the article…….. • In the final section of the article, the author suggests……………..(Signals an End!)