WRITING EFFECTIVE SUMMARIES A summary offers someone who hasn't read a particular text an accurate understanding

C ·C .. S ··F of the major ideas of that text: it is a concise, distilled statement of what the text is WRITING LAB about.

KEYTERMS

SUMMARY: A condensed restatement of another writer's central idea or point, written in your own words. A swrunary is much shorter than the original text, hitting only the most important aspects of the source. It can range from a few sentences to several pages, depending on the length of the text being summarized and the context in which the summary will be used.

PARAPHRASE: A retelling or re-presentation of an author's argument, stories, or thoughts in your own words, presenting key information and details from the original text. Paraphrases are shorter than the original text, but include more details than summaries. Often they concentrate on a particularly relevant part of a larger text.

QUOTATION: Lines, phrases, or words that are identical to the original text, enclosed within "quotation marks" (or indented in a block quotation).

Things 10 nOlice:

~Summary, paraphrase, and quotation differ in terms of how close the writing is to the author's original text and in length.

~ Summaries often employ some short quotations and even some paraphrase.

~ Whether you are summarizing, paraphrasing, or quoting from a text, always make sure to attribute the ideas to the original author.

READING TO WRITE STRONG SUMMARIES

Summaries are as much about careful reading as they are about accurate writing. In order to summarize a text effectively, you first need a clear idea of what the major ideas in that text are. This means you must decide not only what is important, but also what is not so important to the essential ideas or argument of the text. Here are some suggestions to help you get started:

1. Read through the text carefully to understand the main idea. 2. Read the article again thoroughly, using a highlighter to pick out the main idea in each

paragraph. Highlight main ideas and terms only, not supporting details. 3. Write a brief outline of the article to help you focus, organize, and understand the main points. 4. Once you feel confident that you understand the author's main points and terms well enough that

you can explain them in your ov.n words, you're ready to draft your summary.

~ HINT: Before you begin drafting your summary, put the text aside. Your goal is to provide a broad overview ofthe text, and writers who look closely at the text as they write it often get caught up in details and the presentation and order a/the ideas, rather than stepping back and thinking big.

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FEATURES OF EFFECTIVE SUMMARIES

Effective summaries:

~ limit the scope of the summary to the most essential points in the original text. ~ mention the title of the reading, the name of the author, and the author's thesis or purpose right

away. (For example: In Marie Muniz's article "Back, but Not Horne, M the author expresses her desire to go back to the cultural roots she left behind when her family moved to the U.s.)

~ are explicit about the author's argument and purpose. ~ focus on the author. (A summary should not be written as though the ideas are yours.)

~ are about what the author says, rather than about what you think or whether you agree.

~ talk about what the writer says in present tense .

~ use quotations sparingly, if at all. (Quotations should consist only of particularly memorable phrases or things you simply couldn '/ put in a better, clearer way.)

CHECKLIST FOR STRENGTHENING A DRAFT SUMMARY

Ask yourself:

o Have I captured the author's primary meaning accurately? Have I included all of the main points?

o Are the connections between the author's ideas clear? Are there places that need clearer transitions to show how the author moves from one major point to another?

o Are the author and the source clearly and accurately named in the first sentence?

o Is my summary only about what the author says? Is there any point where my own ideas, examples, or opinions enter the \\Titing?

o Are all references to the text or author in the present tense?

o If any direct quotations are included, have I copied them word-for-word? Have I enclosed them in quotation marks and documented the page number appropriately?

o Would someone who had not read this text get a clear and accurate overview of it from my summary? (If you're not sure, try it out!)