Guidelines for Writing a Summary

When you underline and annotate a text, when you ask yourself questions about its contents, when

you work out an outline of its structure, you are establishing your understanding of what you are

reading. When you write a summary, you are demonstrating your understanding of the text and

communicating it to your reader.

To summarize is to condense a text to its main points and to do so in your own words. To include every

detail is neither necessary nor desirable. Instead, you should extract only those elements that you think

are most important—the main idea (or thesis) and its essential supporting points, which in the original

passage may have been interwoven with less important material.

Many students make the mistake of confusing summary with analysis. They are not the same thing. An

analysis is a discussion of ideas, techniques, and/or meaning in a text. A summary, on the other hand,

does not require you to critique or respond to the ideas in a text. When you analyze a piece of writing,

you generally summarize the contents briefly in order to establish for the reader the ideas that your

essay will then go on to analyze, but a summary is not a substitute for the analysis itself.

If you are writing a literature paper, for example, your teacher probably does not want you to simply

write a plot summary. You may include some very brief summary within a literature paper, but only as

much as necessary to make your own interpretation, your thesis, clear.

It is important to remember that a summary is not an outline or synopsis of the points that the author

makes in the order that the author gives them. Instead, a summary is a distillation of the ideas or

argument of the text. It is a reconstruction of the major point or points of development of a text,

beginning with the thesis or main idea, followed by the points or details that support or elaborate on

that idea.

If a text is organized in a linear fashion, you may be able to write a summary simply by paraphrasing

the major points from the beginning of the text to the end. However, you should not assume that this

will always be the case. Not all writers use such a straightforward structure. They may not state the

thesis or main idea immediately at the beginning, but rather build up to it slowly, and they may

introduce a point of development in one place and then return to it later in the text.
However, for the sake of clarity, a summary should present the author’s points in a straightforward

structure. In order to write a good summary, you may have to gather minor points or components of

an argument from different places in the text in order to summarize the text in an organized way. A

point made in the beginning of an essay and then one made toward the end may need to be grouped

together in your summary to concisely convey the argument that the author is making. In the end, you

will have read, digested, and reconstructed the text in a shorter, more concise form.

WHEN AND HOW TO SUMMARIZE

There are many instances in which you will have to write a summary. You may be assigned to write a

one or two page summary of an article or reading, or you may be asked to include a brief summary of

a text as part of a response paper or critique. Also, you may write summaries of articles as part of the

note-taking and planning process for a research paper, and you may want to include these summaries,

or at least parts of them, in your paper. The writer of a research paper is especially dependent upon

summary as a means of referring to source materials. Through the use of summary in a research paper,

you can condense a broad range of information, and you can present and explain the relevance of a

number of sources all dealing with the same subject.

You may also summarize your own paper in an introduction in order to present a brief overview of the

ideas you will discuss throughout the rest of the paper.

Depending on the length and complexity of the original text as well as your purpose in using summary,

a summary can be relatively brief—a short paragraph or even a single sentence—or quite lengthy—

several paragraphs or even an entire paper.

QUALITIES OF A SUMMARY

A good summary should be comprehensive, concise, coherent, and independent. These qualities are

explained below:

§ A summary must be comprehensive: You should isolate all the important points in the original
passage and note them down in a list. Review all the ideas on your list, and include in your summary
all the ones that are indispensable to the author's development of her/his thesis or main idea.

§ A summary must be concise: Eliminate repetitions in your list, even if the author restates the
same points. Your summary should be considerably shorter than the source. You are hoping to
create an overview; therefore, you need not include every repetition of a point or every supporting
detail.
§ A summary must be coherent: It should make sense as a piece of writing in its own right; it should
not merely be taken directly from your list of notes or sound like a disjointed collection of points.

§ A summary must be independent: You are not being asked to imitate the author of the text you
are writing about. On the contrary, you are expected to maintain your own voice throughout the
summary. Don't simply quote the author; instead use your own words to express your
understanding of what you have read. After all, your summary is based on your interpretation of
the writer's points or ideas. However, you should be careful not to create any misrepresentation or
distortion by introducing comments or criticisms of your own.

TWO TECHNIQUES FOR WRITING SUMMARIES

Summarizing Shorter Texts (ten pages or fewer)

§ Write a one-sentence summary of each paragraph.

§ Formulate a single sentence that summarizes the whole text.

§ Write a paragraph (or more): begin with the overall summary sentence and follow it with the
paragraph summary sentences.

§ Rearrange and rewrite the paragraph to make it clear and concise, to eliminate repetition and
relatively minor points, and to provide transitions. The final version should be a complete, unified,
and coherent.

Summarizing Longer Texts (more than ten pages)

§ Outline the text. Break it down into its major sections—groups of paragraphs focused on a common
topic—and list the main supporting points for each section.

§ Write a one or two sentence summary of each section.

§ Formulate a single sentence to summarize the whole text, looking at the author's thesis or topic
sentences as a guide.

§ Write a paragraph (or more): begin with the overall summary sentence and follow it with the section
summary sentences.

§ Rewrite and rearrange your paragraph(s) as needed to make your writing clear and concise, to
eliminate relatively minor or repetitious points, and to provide transitions. Make sure your summary
includes all the major supporting points of each idea. The final version should be a complete,
unified, and coherent.


Paraphrase: Write It in Your Own Words
Paraphrasing means rewording. It requires you to re-write a narrative/sentence/an essay
in YOUR OWN WORDS. You can neither add any detail nor delete any information. You
have to simply reproduce the content in your own language.

Paraphrasing is one way to use a text in your own writing without directly quoting source
material. Anytime you are taking information from a source that is not your own, you
need to specify where you got that information.

A PARAPHRASE IS...

• Your own rendition of essential information and ideas expressed by someone

else, presented in a new form.
• One legitimate way (when accompanied by accurate documentation) to borrow
from a source.
• A more detailed restatement than a summary, which focuses concisely on a single
main idea.

PARAPHRASING IS A VALUABLE SKILL BECAUSE...

• It is better than quoting information from an undistinguished passage.

• It helps you control the temptation to quote too much.
• The mental process required for successful paraphrasing helps you to grasp the
full meaning of the original.

6 STEPS TO EFFECTIVE PARAPHRASING

1. Reread the original passage until you understand its full meaning.
2. Set the original aside, and write your paraphrase on a note card.
3. Jot down a few words below your paraphrase to remind you later how you envision
using this material. At the top of the note card, write a key word or phrase to
indicate the subject of your paraphrase.
4. Check your rendition with the original to make sure that your version accurately
expresses all the essential information in a new form.
5. Use quotation marks to identify any unique term or phraseology you have
borrowed exactly from the source.
6. Record the source (including the page) on your note card so that you can credit it
easily if you decide to incorporate the material into your paper.

Sometimes you only need to paraphrase the information from one sentence. Here
are some examples of paraphrasing individual sentences:

• Original: Her life spanned years of incredible change for women as they
gained more rights than ever before.
Paraphrase: She lived through the exciting era of women's liberation.
 • Original: Giraffes like Acacia leaves and hay, and they can consume 75
pounds of food a day.
Paraphrase: A giraffe can eat up to 75 pounds of Acacia leaves and hay daily.

• Original: Any trip to Italy should include a visit to Tuscany to sample the
region's exquisite wines.
Paraphrase: Be sure to make time for a Tuscan wine-tasting experience when
visiting Italy.

EXAMPLE.

THE ORIGINAL PASSAGE:

Students frequently overuse direct quotation in taking notes, and as a result they
overuse quotations in the final [research] paper. Probably only about 10% of your final
manuscript should appear as directly quoted matter. Therefore, you should strive to limit
the amount of exact transcribing of source materials while taking notes. Lester, James
D. Writing Research Papers. 2nd ed., 1976, pp. 46-47.

A LEGITIMATE PARAPHRASE:

In research papers, students often quote excessively, failing to keep quoted material
down to a desirable level. Since the problem usually originates during note taking, it is
essential to minimize the material recorded verbatim (Lester 46-47).

AN ACCEPTABLE SUMMARY:

Students should take just a few notes in direct quotation from sources to help minimize
the amount of quoted material in a research paper (Lester 46-47).

Note Making
Notes are short written record of facts to aid the memory. Notes are usually taken to
record a speech or dictation while listening to it or after reading a book, magazine or
article. They are referred back whenever needed and may be reproduced in the
desired way.

The necessity of note making

Knowledge is vast and unlimited, but our memory is limited. We cannot remember all
the information all the time. Hence note-making is necessary. With the help of notes
we can recall the entire information read/heard months ago. Note-making is quite
useful to students preparing so many subjects. At the time of examinations, it is not
possible to go through voluminous books. At such critical times, notes are quite
handy. Hence note-making fulfils three useful functions:

1. It keeps a lot of information at our disposal for ready reference.

2. It helps us reconstruct what was said or written and thus accelerates the
process of remembering/recall. .
 3. It comes in handy in delivering a speech, participation in a debate/discussion,
writing an essay and revising lessons before an examination.

How note making helps us

While making notes we do not simply read the passage/listen to speech but consider
various points made by the writer/speaker and draw our own inferences about what
is being presented. Thus note-making helps us in understanding the passage in a
better way and organising our thoughts systematically.

Characteristics of good notes

1. Short and Compact: Good notes must be short and compact.

2. Complete Information: They must contain all the important information.
3. Logical: They must be presented in a logical way.
4. Understandable: They should be understandable when consulted at a later
stage.

Mechanics of note making

While making notes we follow certain standard practices. These may be listed as
follows:
(a) Heading and Sub-headings
(b) Abbreviation and Symbols
(c) Note-form
(d) Numbering and Indentation

Heading and sub-headings

The heading reflects the main theme whereas the sub-headings point out how it has
been developed. The selection of proper heading and sub-heading reveals the grasp
of the passage by the students. In the absence of proper assimilation of main ideas
and subsidiary points it is impossible to make notes.

Abbreviations and symbols

They are used for precision and economy of words and hence quite helpful in note-
making. At least four recognisable abbreviations are to be used in note-making in
your board examination.
These are essential components of note-making. Students often make use of
abbreviations and symbols in doing their written work.

How to write note making

Follow the following steps:

Step 1 : (i)Read the passage carefully.
(ii)Try to get the theme and subject of the passage. You may ask yourself: “What is
this passage about?” This will provide you the gist.
Step 2 : Read carefully. Identify main ideas and important supporting details.
Step 3 : Make notes of the main ideas under headings and add sub-points under
sub-headings.
Step 4 : Use proper layout/format, e.g.,
(a) Indented, linear form
(b) Sequential form
(c) Tabular form
(d) Flow chart
(e) Pie chart, graphs or diagrams, etc.
Step 5 : Use recognisable abbreviations wherever possible