Summarize

             Some documents have more than one hundred pages long. Someone wants to know what’s the important (the main ideas) in the document. Then we need to summarize the document. The readers can get plenty information to decide which parts they need in the document from a good summary. 

         A summary presents the essential points of the writing and put it in the fewest words, not necessarily in the same order as in the original.

DEFINITION  

         A summary explains the most important ideas that are in something you read. Usually, a summary contains the main idea and 2 or 3 important supporting details that explain what you have just read is about. 

WHAT ARE THE STEPS IN WRITING A SUMMARY? 

1.  Read through the whole writing (paragraph, essay, piece, or paper). Make some notes in the margins, highlight or underline the important part of the piece as you read.

2.  When you finish the reading, look back for the sentence (or sentences) that state the author’s main point, which is the thesis statement. You can write it (or them) down or make notes in the margin of your book. Most of the writing, the thesis statement appears in the first paragraph; if not, it may appear in the end of the writing.

3.  Read the piece again, you could divide it into parts. Each part may be one paragraph; each part will include several paragraphs.

4.  Write a or two sentence(s) about the main idea for each part of thought.

5.  At the beginning of your summary, you should including the name of the author, the article, or chapter. You should also include the thesis statement;

Example: "In our excerpt from The Idea of a University, John Henry Newman argues that the real purpose of a university education is to help students become wise, enable each one to understand as much as possible of the world in which (s)he lives and to see clearly how each piece of knowledge relates to each other piece of knowledge."

Then, put your summary sentences for each paragraph or part in the same order as the author wrote in the writing;

Finally, don’t forget to use your own words when you write down the main idea. Also you can use the author’s words by using the quotation marks.

6.  Edit your draft.

7.  Compare your draft to the author’s.

WHAT GOES IN A SUMMARY?

         The main ideas of the author should be included in a summary. These could include the following: objective, methods, results, and conclusions. The summary writer should omit background details, descriptions, illustrations, explanations, literature review, detailed description of methods, and references to other documents.

WHAT IS THE STYLE OF A SUMMARY?