Paraphrasing keeps the original author’s ideas and facts, but states them in your words. Paraphrasing provides several advantages: you use your style of writing instead of requiring the reader to adapt to another writer’s style; you may choose a simpler vocabulary to make your paper more interesting to read, being careful not to change the meaning; any unnecessary information (for the purposes of this paper) can be eliminated; and you may add explanatory comments to help the reader understand. Your paraphrase must not change the author’s meaning or intent, and it will contain all the

important details. Summarizing is a shorter way of including some of the original information. Key points are noted, but few details are included. The material may be presented in a different order or format, but the meaning remains true to the original author's writing.

Direct quote

The first paragraph below is a direct quote from Deborah Tannen’s That’s Not What I Meant: How Conversational Style Makes or Breaks Your Relations with Others. Because it is a direct quote of more than forty words, it is indented one-half inch from the left margin and is not typed inside quotation marks. The introductory sentence clearly identifies it as a quotation.

Example of blocked quotation:

Citing cultural differences which create confusion in conversation, Deborah Tannen (1986) explains varying volume as one aspect which causes misunderstanding:

When you hear others talking more loudly than you expect, they seem to be shouting--and seem angry or brash. When you hear others talking more softly than you expect, they seem to be whispering--and withholding or unassertive. If they use loudness at unexpected points in their talk, you can get confused about what’s important, or even what the point is. If you expect extra loudness to express emotion--for example, anger--and you don’t hear it, you may not notice when those with different styles are angry. If you discover they are, you may think there’s something wrong with them for not expressing it in what seems to you a normal way. (p.50)

A paraphrase of the above material

According to Deborah Tannen (1986), people with different conversational styles may be confused by such a simple thing as the volume of speech. If you are used to people speaking quietly, people who do talk louder will seem to be shouting; you may decide they are angry. If you speak more quietly than that person expected, they may think you are whispering or trying to hide something from them. You may miss the whole point of a conversation because the speaker spoke loudly when you least expected it. Because you speak more quietly than they expect, they may not realize when you are angry. Just because you use an unexpected volume, your message and feelings are misunderstood (p.50).

A summary of the above material

Even the volume of speech may create confusion. People from a culture in which most conversation is conducted quietly may judge someone from a louder culture to be angry or rude when they are simply conversing in their normal tone of voice (Tannen, 1986, p.50).

Paraphrasing

Directions : Choose the answer which is the best paraphrase of the given

statement.

1. No sooner had she seen the ghost than she screamed.

a. She screamed before she saw the ghost.

b. She saw the ghost and then she screamed.

c. She did not scream when she saw the ghost.

d. She didn’t see the ghost but she screamed.

2. The interest rate on a minimum balance’ savings account is a little higher than the interest rate on a regular savings account.

a. A regular saving account draws higher interest than an account

which has a minimum balance.

b. The interest rate is lower for a minimum balance savings

account than for a regular account.

c. A savings account in which a minimum balance is maintained

draws higher interest than a regular saving account.

d. A minimum interest rate, lower than a regular rate, is drawn on

a balanced savings account.

3. Notwithstanding his courage, he retreated.

a. Because he was brave, he didn’t retreat.

b. He retreated because he was not brave.

c. Although he was brave, he retreated.

d. He didn’t retreat, but he was not brave.

4. They took Lakeshore Drive home because the traffic was so heavy on the freeway.

a. They drove home in heavy traffic on Lakeshore Drive instead of taking the freeway.

b. The drove home to Lakeshore Drive in the heavy traffic on the freeway.

c. They took the freeway home because the traffic was not as heavy as it was on Lake-shore drive.

d. Since there was so much traffic on the freeway, they went home by way of Lake-shore Drive.

5. Good as the play was, many did not appreciate it.

a. Although the play was good, not so many people liked it.

b. The play was too good to be appreciated by people.

c. Many people liked the play but some didn’t as the play was not so good.

d. People believed the play used to be good and then it was not as good.

6. Mobil oil corporation points out that if a driver reduces his speed from 70 to 50 miles per hour, the car driven will average 25 percent more mileage per gallon.

a. More gasoline is needed in order to drive slowly according to

Mobil Oil Corporation.

b. Mobil Oil Corporation reports that a reduction in speed will result in an increase in the consumption of gasoline.

c. According to Mobil Oil Corporation, an increase in speed causes an increase in mileage per gallon of gasoline.

d. Less gasoline is consumed at slower speed according to Mobil Oil Corporation.

7. The equipment was only as effective as the men who operated it.

a. The equipment would be worthless without skillful men.

b. Either the equipment or the men would be considered effective.

c. The equipment was considerably effective despite the men.

d. The equipment helped the men to be more efficient.

8. Despite the great difference in size, shape, and function, all cells have the same 46 chromosomes.

a. All cells are similar because the 46 chromosomes govern size, shape and function.

b. Differences in size, shape and function are not very great because all cells have the same 46 chromosomes.

c. The size, shape and function of cells are similar, but the 46 chromosomes are different.

d. Although the 46 chromosomes are similar in all cells, there are differences in the size, shape and function.

9. Most Thai voters are not well-informed enough to vote wisely.

a. To be able to vote wisely, most Thai voters should have been well-informed.

b. Most Thai voters should be clever so that they can be well-informed and vote for good people.

c. Most Thai voters are not clever enough to vote because they are not informed how to.

d. Since most Thai voters are not well-trained, they cannot possibly vote wisely.

10. While attempting to smuggle drugs into the country, the criminals were apprehended by customs officials.

a. Trying to smuggle drugs into the country, customs officials

arrested the criminals.

b. Criminals who were trying to smuggle drugs into the country arrested customs officials.

c. Customs officials arrested the criminals who were attempting to smuggle drugs into the country.

d. Smuggling drugs into the country, customs officials tried to arrest the criminals.

11. The Chinese believe it is never too early to teach children to respect their elders.

a. Chinese children respect their elders only when they are at an early age.

b. Chinese children at an early age are never taught to respect their elders.

c. Chinese children are taught to respect their elders when they

are very young.

d. Chinese children should be old enough before they are taught to respect their elders.

12. It is necessary to have a doctor’s prescription in order to buy most medicines in the United States.

a. In the United States, medicine must be bought with prescription instead of money.

b. In most of the states, doctors give prescription for medicine.

c. In the United States, most medicine cannot be bought without a prescription.

d. In the United States most doctors give prescriptions for medicine.

Key

1. b 6. d

2. c 7. a

3. c 8. d

4. d 9. a

5. a 10. c

11. c 12. c

What is urgently needed now are new policies that not only conserve nature but also integrate care of the Earth with care for human beings. There should be incentives to reverse the flow of people from the land to towns and cities. These people should be encouraged to do something not only worthwhile for themselves but even more worthwhile for their environments. They should be encouraged to establish communities, and build efficient and environmentally friendly homes. They should be given land to grow organic vegetables on, and they should be able to generate their own power so as to reduce their dependence on fossil fuels. These small hamlet dwellers would be able to take advantage of community farming and biomass projects. If they are well located then they could take advantage of wind, water or solar power schemes, and have little or no dependence on nationally operated utility systems. Even human waste could either be composted or put through a water reed bed purification system. Thus we would alleviate the need to be connected to the present archaic disposal system in place today.

All that would be required to implement these ideas is a new category of land use – perhaps called Self-Sufficiency Land (SS Land). There would have to be some form of contractual agreement between the owner and the local and national authorities which would contain basic statements such as, “I will buy and live on this piece of land and will not let it out or speculate. I will conserve natural, plant over twenty trees per acre and be a co-steward in maintaining common lands. I will co-operate with my neighbours over transport, infrastructure, power generation, waste disposal, and use of available water supplies. In return for this opportunity to experience a meaningful life I will have the freedom to build my own house to a design suited to its surroundings and will also incorporate the highest energy efficient standards possible. …” The consequences of implementing even small changes to current planning law to create areas of self-sufficient land would be enormous. Farmers would be able to apply for SS Land designation and if they succeeded then their land wold sell for £10,000 per acre (price-capping would be necessary) instead of £1,000 per acre. Communities would then be able to set up all over the

country, precipitating a marked expansion in small allied industries. Another

huge benefit to the new landowners would be to receive EC grants for re-

creating the woodlands and hedgerows which are at present disappearing at an alarming rate. At the same time a subsidiary income would be incurred. Apart from the cash received for planting in the first place, appropriate harvesting from the renewable resource they have planted would be materially and economically beneficial.

The boom in alternative technologies related to energy-efficient architecture and renewable energy supplies would hopefully see the beginning of the end of the Industrial Revolution and it descendants in the form of over-engineering: the kinds of engineering and technology which produce things that nobody really needs and uses up vast amount of valuable natural resources in a very unsustainable way. Even alternative technology, as a term, is starting to have an antiquated ring about it. Perhaps a real shift in people’s consciousness and sense of responsibility would be prompted by a new brand of innovators of the future: the engineers of the Environmental Revolution!

Here are my notes:

1. need policies on conservation & humans

2. Incentives needed for rural living – new communities

3. community farming/use of natural energy/environmentally-friendly sewage disposal

4. New type of land use with specific agreements between owners/local authorities/government – Self-Sufficiency

5. Agreement: no speculative enterprises/tree planting & conservation/co-operation with neighbours on mains services. Owners able to design & build own dwellings suited to local environment

6. Results:

(a) farmers who applied to have their land SS designated would find it rose 10-fold in value

(b) explosion of new communities + expansion of small industries

7. Energy-efficient building & renewable energy supplies – end of wasteful engineering & technology. All these changes cd. Bring a change from industrial to environmental Rev.

Here’s my draft:

Policies are needed to protect both our land and people. Incentives are needed to establish community farming and use of natural energy. There should be a newly-designated land use – Self-sufficiency based on agreements between owners and local authorities, and government would ban land-speculation and encourage conservation and co-operation. The individual could design and build appropriate to his/her surroundings. Formers who apply for SS designation would find their land values rose considerably in value. There would be an explosion of small industries. EC grants for creating woodlands and profit from sustainable harvesting would also benefit landowners. Wasteful engineering would end. The Industrial Revolution would give way to an Environmental Revolution.

That’s 112 words. I need to lose 12.

And here’s my final draft:

Policies are essential to protect land and people. Incentives are needed to establish community farming and use natural energy. A newly-designated land use – Self-Sufficiency, based on agreements between owners, local authorities and government – would ban land-speculation and promote conservation and co-operation. People could design and build appropriate to their surroundings. Farmers applying for SS designation would find land values rose. There would be an explosion of small industries. EC grants for creating woodlands and profit from

sustainable harvesting would benefit landowners. Wasteful engineering would end. The Industrial Revolution would give way to an ‘Environmental Revolution’.

Taken from The Mature student’s Guide to Writing by Jean Rose

Practice summarizing the following texts.

Example 1

Privacy has been elevated to a ridiculous level as the income of the families rises. So much so that people co-existing in high-rise flats hardly see each other.

Of course, this is not true of all high-rise dwellers. In some cases, there are attempts to bring people together, to get to know each other. However, the response is not encouraging.

(60 words)

Summary

In high-rise flats, people with higher income tend to mix less.

(11 words)

Example 2

A major offensive will be launched this spring against Mt Everest, coveted by the word’s leading climbers. For the first time four expeditions will attack the 8,348 metre mountain, the world’s highest, bestriding the border between Nepal and Tibet.

Two teams from Spain will separately attempt Everest by the standard south-east ridge route pioneered by New Zealand’s Sir Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tensing Norgay 27 years ago. The Spanish expedition will set up its camp on the mountain on March 21, a Nepal Government spokesman said.

Attempting Everest by the virgin south pillar route will be a team of Polish climbers, some of whom took part in the historic first winter ascent of the mountain last month.

Another thrust on Everest will be through the Tibetan north-east ridge route by a 39-member Japanese team. They will be the first foreigners to attempt Everest from the Tibetan side since the communist takeover of China 31 years ago.

In the summary, all the details (interesting though they are) will have to be left out. The summary will just give the bare fact that four expeditions will attempt Everest by different routes.

Summary

This spring, four expeditions will attempt to climb Mt Everest. Two Spanish teams, a Polish team, and a 39-member Japanese team will attempt Everest by the normal south-east ridge route, the virgin pillar route, and the Tibetan north-east ridge route respectively.

(41 words)

Example 3

Read this passage carefully and make notes of the main points if you wish.

Dr Wurtman is studying the use of various elements of diet as a means of improving memory. Choline, found in eggs, soybeans and liver, he discovered, is absorbed directly from the bloodstream by the brain. There it is converted into acetylcholine, a chemical transmitter that carries nerve impulses. There is evidence that people with severe memory loss have too little acetylcholine in their brains. It was found that controlled administration of pure sources of acetylcholine can be helpful in treating their disability. Dr Richard Wurtman is optimistic that diet will someday play an important role in memory improvement.

(95 words)

A summary of the above will have to state the aim of Dr Wurtman’s study and its application. These are the two basic points.

Suggested Summary

Dr Richard Wurtman has found that choline, an element in certain food, is absorbed directly from the bloodstream by the brain. There it is converted into acetylcholine, a chemical transmitter of nerve impulses. Dr Wurtman also found that acetylcholine can be used in treating cases of memory loss.

(45 words)

Example 4

Granted that there are exceptions to any rule, it would seem that the disadvantages of early marriage greatly outweigh the advantages. For the partners themselves there is one obvious danger. What they think is love may, in fact, be puppy love. Anyway, before taking on the responsibilities of home and family, one should first be established in life.

For women, the arguments against early marriage are even stronger then for men. If the teenage girls think they are showing their liberty, they are sadly mistaken. On the contrary, they are denying themselves of the benefits of female emancipation. The range of work open to them is ever widening.

But of course the chief victims of early marriage are the children. How many get the parental care and attention they deserve? If there is any trouble in the marriage, the first victims are the children.

(145 words)

Comments

In this passage, the writer considers the disadvantages from three viewpoints: both parties, the women, and the children. The summary should reflect this balanced presentation of his arguments against early marriage.

Suggested summary

Early marriage has more disadvantages than advantages. First, both parties may mistake puppy love for true love. Anyway, they should not take on home and family responsibilities before they are established in life. Secondly, teenage girls stand to lose the benefits of female emancipation. They unnecessarily deny themselves of the work opportunities now open to them. Finally, the real victims of early marriage are the children. Not many get the parental care and affection they rightly deserve.

(76 words)

Example 5 (Essentially facts)

A landscape is made beautiful with natural objects by man. It requires man to maintain it. Trees do not live for ever. If the beauty of the land is to be maintained, trees and plants must be replaced. But they take time to grow, to blossom. Planning is therefore important if our landscape is to retain its beauty all the year round. However, there are many old trees that are a danger to the public. Recent uprootings, partly caused by heavy rain and strong winds, were the cause of traffic jams. Fortunately, there was no loss of life. While beautifying the country, the officials should not hesitate to cut down old trees that are a danger to the public.

(about 120 words)

If we keep to the essential points of the writer, the summary can be written thus:

The beauty of a landscape requires constant maintenance and planning. While a programme of replanting is necessary, old trees need to be cut down before they are a danger to the public.

(31 words)

Example 6 (Essentially comments)

This is an extract from the Straits Times. It has been slightly adapted in language and length. It refers to the situation in Peninsular Malaysia.

Pessimists will read with dissatisfaction that only 8.2 per cent of our secondary school-leaving candidates managed to pass their English paper. The main reason, to quote the Education Minister, is that the students came from an entirely Bahasa Malaysia medium.

But in the very near future, almost all our children will come from an entirely Bahasa Malaysia medium. By then, can we expect nine out of every ten students to be incapable of communicating in English? When the total environment is Bahasa Malaysia, can we predict an even greater drop in the pass percentage in the English paper? The authorities should look into this matter seriously and formulate a practical plan to maintain the standard of English, a language of wide use.

(about 120 words)

Do not be put off by a passage with questions put by the writer. They are used as a means of expressing or emphasizing a point. A summary of the passage may read thus:

Some people are unhappy with the 8.2 pass per cent in the English paper. The explanation of the Education Minister does little to allay their fear. For, if the Minister’s explanation is true, then we can surely expect a greater drop in the pass percentage. The authorities should really do something about this because English is widely used.

(about 60 words)

Example 7

The recent alarming increase in the number of road accidents has provoked many readers to write to the Forum Column. One reader said serious traffic offenders should be flogged and given a jail sentence. “They should be treated like murderers,” he said. Murderers and drug offenders are subject to flogging, a jail sentence, and even hanging. The reader wanted the same heavy penalties for anyone causing death or serious injuries in a road accident. “Killing is murder; the means may be different,” he commented angrily.

(86 words)

To do a summary of this, in objective language, you could write:

A reader in the Forum Column suggested that serious traffic offenders be treated in the same way as murderers and drug offenders. They should, therefore, be subject to the same punishments like flogging, a jail sentence and hanging.

(37 words)

Example 8

This is a letter to the press commenting on the coupon parking system.

Everyone knows that using car-park attendants to fill out tickets is a waste of manpower. The new parking system is to make better use of manpower and to reduce costs.

However, I feel this is a short-sighted solution. Now everyone is a car-park attendant! This means the system has caused a great wastage of manpower and time. Furthermore, now a motorist may have to use a few tickets where before, one would do. The worst wastage is time, especially for lawyers, doctors and businessmen. Time to them is precious. But the new system has turned them into part-time attendants as well.

To me these few points clearly show the new system is in no

way an improvement on the old system.

(about 120 words)

Preliminary steps:

(a) Is the writer in favour of the new coupon parking system?

Obviously he is not. The second paragraph makes this clear.

(b) Does he present only one viewpoint?

The answer is NO. He first states the advantages (the viewpoint of the authorities?). Then he proceeds to list the disadvantages.

(c) What is his conclusion?

He concludes that the new system is worse than the old one.

Summary

The new parking system is supposed to reduce manpower and costs. But in fact the new system costs more time, manpower, and paper work. This is because every motorist now is a part-time attendant. Therefore, I am not convinced the new system is better.

(about 40 words)

Comments

(a) The first line summarizes the whole of the fist paragraph.

(b) The use of “is supposed” shows that the writer doubts the usefulness of the new system.

(c) The second sentence of the summary lists the major disadvantages: time, manpower, paper work.

(d) The last sentence clearly shows the writer’s reasoned statement against the system.

(e) The summary gives only one line to defend the system. The other lines present the writer’s opposite view. This disproportionate allocation of space preserves the “balance” of the original letter.

Summary skills in college

The ability to write an effective summary might be the most important writing skill a college student can possess. You need to be able to summarize before you can be successful at most of the other kinds of writing that will be demanded of you in college, and it is an important part of note taking, too. The links below will help you master the various kinds of summary writing that you may be called upon to complete in college.

Summary skills in daily life

To answer questions such as “what was the movie about?” “how did the game go?” and “what did I miss in class today?” you must be able to summarize. Your questioner doesn't want to know every line and action in the movie, every play in the game, or every word from class; the question asks you to select the important details and summarize them. Similarly, when you summarize a reading you need to be able to find the important data and then present it as clearly and concisely as possible.

Summary skills after college

Politicians and corporations employ people to read every newspaper and newsmagazine and summarize relevant stories and articles. The more concise the summary the better, yet if any major details are omitted the purpose of the summary is lost--its readers will be uninformed on key aspects of the news and may make embarrassing errors as a result. The summaries that you write in college are as important to your academic career as these summaries are to these politicians and business people, and accuracy and concision are just as important, too.

The key features of a summary

(1) it is shorter than the source,
(2) it repeats the ideas of the source in different phrases and sentences.

The Reader's Summary

Obviously, you cannot write a good summary of a source that you do not understand. There are reading strategies that will help you comprehend a source text as fully as possible. One of those techniques is the reader’s summary, which you write for yourself, as a way of understanding the text you are reading. Read a section of the book or article, or the whole thing if it is short, and then close the text and write a summary of the key points. When you've finished, skim the text again to make sure you didn't omit anything. This use of summary helps you learn and helps you check what you've learned.

Summary-Outline Notes

Summary-outline notes are a form of note-taking using a divided page. Take a notebook page and divide it down the middle. Write the main points in the left hand column leaving a few lines between each. In the right hand column, summarize the point in the left column in a few sentences. This will help you get an overall picture of the argument through the outline, and a more detailed reminder of the content via the summaries.

Summaries as part of essays

Most summary occurs as part of other essays--indeed, few essays use only one kind of writing. Summary is often a part of synthesis because readers need to know a little about the ideas you are pulling together. Similarly, you have to summarize ideas or texts before you can compare them, classify them, or divide them into their component parts. You will find that almost any texts you read in college and outside contain at least a little summary.

The Summary essay

In college you may also be asked to write another type of summary, the summary essay, which is written for an audience other than yourself. The purpose of the summary essay is to convey to others an understanding of a text you have read, without their having to read it themselves. Thus for your readers, your summary essay functions as a substitute for the source that you are summarizing. You don't want to misrepresent your source or mislead your audience. Certainly an important feature of the summary essay, then, is its fidelity to the source; you must represent your source accurately and comprehensively, with as little of your own interpretation as possible. (Anytime you read and repeat a source, of course, you are interpreting it; but the summary essay asks you to minimize your interpretation as much as possible. You should not add your own examples and explanations, for instance.)

An alternative purpose of the summary essay, one that is very commonplace in college, is a demonstration of comprehension: teachers sometimes assign summary essays when they want to make sure that students fully understand an assigned source. In this case, your essay does not substitute for the source, for the teacher has read the source, too. Yet your essay will be written in the same way, with fidelity to the source.

Writing the Summary Essay

A summary essay should be organized so that others can understand the source or evaluate
your comprehension of it. The following format works well:

a. The introduction (usually one paragraph)--
    1.    Contains a one-sentence thesis statement that sums up the main point of the source.
           This thesis statement is not your main point; it is the main point of your source.
           Usually, though, you have to write this statement rather than quote it from the source
           text. It is a one-sentence summary of the entire text that your essay summarizes.
    2.    Also introduces the text to be summarized:
            (i) Gives the title of the source (following the citation guidelines of whatever style
                sheet you are using);
            (ii) Provides the name of the author of the source;
            (ii) Sometimes also provides pertinent background information about the author of
                the source or about the text to be summarized.
The introduction should not offer your own opinions or evaluation of the text you are summarizing.

b.   The body of a summary essay (one or more paragraphs):
    This paraphrases and condenses the original piece. In your summary, be sure that you--
    1.     Include important data but omit minor points;
    2.     Include one or more of the author’s examples or illustrations (these will bring your
            summary to life);
    3.     Do not include your own ideas, illustrations, metaphors, or interpretations. Look
            upon yourself as a summarizing machine; you are simply repeating what the source
            text says, in fewer words and in your own words. But the fact that you are using
            your own words does not mean that you are including your own ideas.

c. There is customarily no conclusion to a summary essay.
When you have summarized the source text, your summary essay is finished. Do not add your own concluding paragraph unless your teacher specifically tells you to.

Checking your own writing or that of your peers

Read the summary carefully and answer the following questions:

What do you like best about your peer's summary? (Why? How might he or she do more of it?)
Is it clear what is being summarized? (i.e.: Did your peer list the source, and cite it correctly?)
Is the thesis of the original essay clear in the summary? (Write out what you think that thesis is.)
If you have read the original source, did you identify the same thesis? (If not, how does it differ?)
Did your peer miss any key points from his or her summary? (If so, what are they?)
Did your peer include any of his own opinions in his or her summary? (If so, what are they?)
Did your peer include any unimportant details in his or her summary? (If so, what are they?)
Where there any points in the summary where you were lost because a transition was missing? (If so, where and how might it be fixed?)
Where there any points where you were lost because some information seems to have been omitted? (If so, where, and what seems to be missing? Why do you think it might be important?)

To print a copy of these questions as a checklist, click here

Sandra Jamieson, Drew University. 1999

Summary Writing

Although summary writing, a common type of academic writing, can be assigned as a specific assignment, it also is a good way to have a record of what you have read for a specific course to use for study and reflection. As in learning any writing skill, writing a good summary takes practice. To create a successful summary, all stages of the writing process must be used.

Planning
Drafting
Revising
Editing

Planning

In the planning stage of writing, a writer gathers material and organizes it in hopes of making the drafting stage easier. To plan to write a summary, a writer should:

Be sure that you understand the piece of writing you are going to summarize.

This involves employing all the practices of active reading: previewing, predicting, and questioning,
Developing an understanding of the main idea.
Being able to understand the main point made in each paragraph.

Once you understand the reading, you must then take careful notes to insure that you have not missed an important point that the author made.
Try to state the main idea of the reading in one sentence. Also, try to summarize the point of each paragraph in one sentence.

Return to Table of Contents

Drafting

When you begin to draft your summary there are certain writing conventions should use.

First, always state the main idea of the reading, the name of the reading, and the authors name in the beginning of the summary. This will help you later to remember what piece of writing you summarized as well as immediately alerting you or another reader to the readings main idea.
To be accurate, state in order the main ideas that the author makes.
Always use your own words. By using your own words, you are helping yourself remember and understand the material.
If you choose to use some of the exact same words of the author, use quotation marks to show that these are not your words, but the authors.
Summaries should not include your opinion.

Return to Table of Contents

Revising

As with any piece of writing, you will need to revise your writing.

Reread the summary to be sure you have clearly stated the authors main idea.
Check first to see that you have not missed an important point made by the author.
Check to see the points are in the order the author intended
Rewrite the sentences and ideas so that they flow together.
Read your summary aloud to a friend or parent to see if the he/she is able to understand what the original reading was about.

Return to Table of Contents

Editing

Read your summary aloud to check for run-on sentences and fragments. Also read your summary backwards, sentence by sentence.
Check word by word for misspelled words.

Return to Table of Contents

Dr. William Greenway
Youngstown State University

Writing a Summary

To summarize an essay, article, or book, you should not include your own thoughts on the matter, but describe the essay as objectively as possible, whether you agree with it or not, though you may suggest what you think the author is up to, what their agenda or strategy is, at the conclusion of the summary. Try to use pertinent quotations by the author, working them in gracefully where appropriate. Also, any important or conspicuous words, phrases, or terms should be put in quotation marks.

You can model your summary on the structure of the original, keeping the size of your paragraphs in roughly the same proportion as the paragraphs of the original. But you do not need to follow the author's organization slavishly. You might want to use your own organization based upon what you think the point of the essay is. A good summary of something is a critique of it because it makes explicit what has only been implicit. Understanding an argument is halfway work toward refuting or confirming it, so summary is a crucial first step toward using information, expertise, or opinion. It is essential that you read about paraphrasing, summarizing, and quoting in your handbook before you begin your summary. You must understand the differences between paraphrase, quotation, and plagiarism.

So a summary is intended to highlight objectively the main points of another writer's work. Although written in your own words, the summary does not include your opinions of the piece you are considering. Since the summary eliminates those details that are not needed to convey the major points, it is naturally shorter than the original. In general, a summary is from one fourth to one half the length of the original.

The problem we all face when attempting to summarize a piece of writing is figuring out what to include and what to leave out. Below are some tips on how to choose material to include in your summary.

Cross out the less important details.
Underline topic sentences and key ideas.
Take notes on those key ideas--jot down the information that clarifies the topic sentence, for example.

When you summarize, you might try following these steps:

Read the piece for understanding first. Never summarize as you read the article for the first time.
Before you begin to write, check the topic sentences and key words (words that are underlined, italicized, or capitalized). These will clue you in on main ideas.
Jot down the organization of the original and follow that pattern in your summary.
Check your summary to be sure you have been objective. Your opinions are not part of the original
Check your summary to be sure that you have properly documented any words or phrases that you have taken from the original.
Identify your summary and its source. Some instructors will ask that you do this as part of the title of the piece; others will request a footnote.

Three Types of Summary: A Guide to Writing Summary

The goal of summarizing material is to pass along the ideas belonging to another. You want, of course, to do this with fewer words than the original to save your reader the work of going to that document. You also want to maintain the integrity of the original document: not distorting the original views, ideas, attitudes, or their importance in the original.

Restatement or Precis

A precis is a shortening, in your own words, of a text of written work. You are to describe as accurately and briefly as possible the substance or main ideas contained in a text.

Here the writing summarizing the piece of writing takes the point-of-view of the original writer (i.e., not "In the 'Declaration of Independence,' Jefferson maintains . . . "; but "An essential connection exists between how we are governed and . . . ).
Should be quite short: six to eight sentences at the longest, regardless of the original's length.
Gives the main assertion (controlling idea) of the original.
No concrete examples or details (quotes or paraphrases from the original) used here.

One of the first (if not the first) difficulties to overcome in writing a precis is getting the facts straight. You should make no statements unsupported by the text. Make sure that all you say about the text is factually correct.

Another difficulty is putting the material into your own words. To do so, read the work carefully at least three times, put the work aside, then begin writing. This will force you to use your own words without the temptation of borrowing directly from the original.

Selecting the most effective details is also a difficulty. Work to pick out those details that are of greatest significance. Some details are more important than others, and you must chose details according to the scale of importance.

Do not make any conclusions about the original, its audience, or anything relating to the text. Your job is to provide your reader an accurate, but brief, map of the original and what you think about the writing or the topic of the text is not relevant here.

Descriptive Summary

Should give all the information contained in the restatement, but it must go beyond it.
The article being summarized becomes an object that you observe and then convey to the reader. Again, you are providing your reader a map of the original, but with a bit more detail than the precis.
Descriptive summary should give your reader an effective and accurate map of the original. It should be proportional to the author's intentions.
Descriptive Summary should let the reader know what kind of evidence the original presents and how this evidence is organized. This explanatory material, still in your own words, may be inserted between the sentences of the precis, describing the material used by the writer to make the point discussed by the precis.
Still no concrete examples or paraphrases from the essay within the summary.

Analytical Summary

With the analytical summary, the writer takes a more active role than in the other types of summary.
Should give all the information contained in a descriptive summary, but must go beyond it. This summary requires the thematic structure of a central idea, a thesis statement, and support of this thesis using the material of the original. This summary will be an essay discussing the original.
Analytical Summary should give a clear indication of the audience and purpose of the document being analytically summarized.
One or two quotations from the document being analytically summarized can be appropriate here.
A judgment should be made concerning the document being analytically summarized. Study your notes (composed by making use of the reading hints below) and determine how those details fit into a pattern that you can describe as a central idea (not 'THE' central idea, but 'A' central idea).
The writer might speculate on the implications (to the audience of your chosing) of the document being analytically summarized.
Should give the reader a clear indication of how useful the original would be to one interested in the subject with which the original deals.
The analytical summary must still provide the reader of the summary with a clear and effective understanding of the message contained in the original.

Reading Hints

Underline, highlight, or circle key sentences, phrases, and words.
Read each paragraph as a unit of thought.
Use a dictionary for words that seem important or those that you do not understand.
As you discover them, summarize main points in a few words.
Decide if the content is based on opinion, evidence, and/or logic and why that can be important.
Think about the subject-audience-context-purpose relationship.
Look for evidence, logical analysis, reasoning.
Think about your biases for and against the ideas presented.
Evaluate your reactions to the material.
Annotate: Make notes in the margins as your respond to the above questions and the essay.
Record reactions, questions, and understandings of the reading.
Organize text for reviewing, studying, or writing about.
Isolate key terms and phrases.
Write notes on key words, phrases, or sentences. These writings can comment, question, evaluate, define, relate, challenge

Organizing Your Analytical Summary

Introduction

The introduction should contain the name of the work being summarized, the author, and the general situation surrounding the text. The introduction is the best place to include the thesis around which the remainder of the analytical summary will be built.

Body

The body should build on and directly support the thesis. Present the main ideas as they occur in the essay and demonstrate how that material supports the contention of the thesis. Follow closely the work you are summarizing and use an occasional word, phrase, or passage from the original to give your reader a taste of the original.

Conclusion

The conclusion should look back to both the body of your essay and the introduction, possibly explaining how your interpretation/analysis of the original is important in a broader context. This broader context needs a direct relationship to the summary's thesis.

Writing Center Handouts

Writing Summaries

The goal of writing a summary of an article, a chapter, or a book is to offer as accurately as possible the full sense of the original, but in a more condensed form. A summary restates the author’s main point, purpose, intent, and supporting details i n your own words.

The process of summarizing enables you to better grasp the original, and the result shows the reader that you understand it as well. In addition, the knowledge gained allows you to better analyze and critique the original.

First, try to find the main idea in the reading; it’s usually in the first paragraph. Next, skim through the article, glancing at any headings and graphics. Then, read the conclusion. The intent here is both to give yourself a review of the work and t o effectively engage yourself with it.

Now go back and read the original text carefully, jotting down notes on or highlighting the important points. Write the central idea and the author’s reasons (purpose and intent) for holding this viewpoint. Note the supporting elements the author uses to explain or back up her/his main information or claim.

Make an outline that includes the main idea and the supporting details. Arrange your information in a logical order, for example, most to least important or chronological. Your order need not be the same as that in the original, but keep related supporting points together. The way you organize the outline may serve as a model for how you divide and write the essay.

Write the summary, making sure to state the author’s name in the first sentence. Present the main idea, followed by the supporting points. The remainder of your summary should focus on how the author supports, defines, and/or illustrates that main idea. Remember, unless otherwise stated by your instructor, a summary should contain only the author’s views, so try to be as objective as possible.

As you revise and edit your summary, compare it to the original and ask yourself questions such as: Have I rephrased the author’s words without changing their meaning? Have I restated the main idea and the supporting points accurately and in my own words?

If you are asked to write a critical summary or to include a critique, you may want to ask yourself questions such as: Does the author succeed? How and why or why not? What are the strengths, weaknesses? Why? What did the author do well? Not well? Why?

Back to Index

Summary: Principles

Every day a lot of things happen all over the world. But time is short and there isn't enough space to cover all the details in newspapers or TV magazines. Like reporters, like everybody else, you must try to save time and keep reports as short as possible. To cut a long story short:

"to sum up"

Summing-up is a technique that follows strict rules:

1. The original text is cut to about one third.

2. Only the main ideas are mentioned; that means that no examples or repetitions are allowed.

3. Specific statements are combined to form general statements.

4. Direct or reported speech are changed into statements, with the exception of very important quotations.

When you have to sum up written texts follow these hints:

1. Read the text quickly in order to find the main ideas (skimming)

2. If necessary look at special passages of the text in order to make clear that you've got all the main ideas (scanning).

3. Take a pencil and underline the most important words (marking).

4. Write down key-words, i.e. words that sum up the meaning of the text, but which needn't necessarily occur in the text (making notes).

5. Sum up the key-words in simple sentences (summing up in simple form)

6. Combine the simple sentences by using conjunctions like "as, though, because, since" etc or participle constructions or infinitives (summing up in complex form).

7. Compare the original text with your text to find out that you've got the essential information (check).

Paraphrase: Write it in Your Own Words

Brought to you by the Purdue University Online Writing Lab at http://owl.english.purdue.edu

Learn to borrow from a source without plagiarizing. For more information on paraphrasing, as well as other ways to integrate sources into your paper, see the Purdue OWL handout Quoting Paraphrasing, and Summarizing at http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/research/r_quotprsum.html. For more information about writing research papers, see our workshop on this subject at http://owl.english.purdue.edu/workshops/hypertext/ResearchW/index.html. Purdue students will want to make sure that they are familiar with Purdue's official academic dishonesty policy (http://www.purdue.edu/odos/administration/integrity.htm) as well as any additional policies that their instructor has implemented. Another good resource for understanding plagiarism is the WPA Statement on Plagiarism (http://www.ilstu.edu/~ddhesse/wpa/positions/WPAplagiarism.pdf).

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.

Some examples to compare

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): 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).

A plagiarized version:

Students often use too many direct quotations when they take notes, resulting in too many of them in the final research paper. In fact, probably only about 10% of the final copy should consist of directly quoted material. So it is important to limit the amount of source material copied while taking notes.

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/print/research/r_paraphrEX1.html.

.This page is located at http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/print/researsch/r_paraphr.html

Quoting, Paraphrasing, and Summarizing

Brought to you by the Purdue University Online Writing Lab at http://owl.english.purdue.edu

Also, see our handout on paraphrasing at http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/research/r_paraphr.html.

This handout is intended to help you become more comfortable with the uses of and distinctions among quotations, paraphrases, and summaries. The first part of the handout compares and contrasts the terms, while the second part offers a short excerpt that you can use to practice these skills.

What are the differences among quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing?

These three ways of incorporating other writers' work into your own writing differ according to the closeness of your writing to the source writing.

Quotations must be identical to the original, using a narrow segment of the source. They must match the source document word for word and must be attributed to the original author.
Paraphrasing involves putting a passage from source material into your own words. A paraphrase must also be attributed to the original source. Paraphrased material is usually shorter than the original passage, taking a somewhat broader segment of the source and condensing it slightly.
Summarizing involves putting the main idea(s) into your own words, including only the main point(s). Once again, it is necessary to attribute summarized ideas to the original source. Summaries are significantly shorter than the original and take a broad overview of the source material.

Why use quotations, paraphrases, and summaries?

Quotations, paraphrases, and summaries serve many purposes. You might use them to . . .

provide support for claims or add credibility to your writing
refer to work that leads up to the work you are now doing
give examples of several points of view on a subject
call attention to a position that you wish to agree or disagree with
highlight a particularly striking phrase, sentence, or passage by quoting the original
distance yourself from the original by quoting it in order to cue readers that the words are not your own
expand the breadth or depth of your writing

Writers frequently intertwine summaries, paraphrases, and quotations. As part of a summary of an article, a chapter, or a book, a writer might include paraphrases of various key points blended with quotations of striking or suggestive phrases as in the following example:

     In his famous and influential work On the Interpretation of Dreams, Sigmund Freud

     argues that dreams are the "royal road to the unconscious" (page), expressing in

     coded imagery the dreamer's unfulfilled wishes through a process known as the

     "dream work" (page). According to Freud, actual but unacceptable desires are

     censored internally and subjected to coding through layers of condensation and

     displacement before emerging in a kind of rebus puzzle in the dream itself (pages).

How to use quotations, paraphrases, and summaries

Practice summarizing the following essay, using paraphrases and quotations as you go. It might be helpful to follow these steps:

Read the entire text, noting the key points and main ideas.
Summarize in your own words what the single main idea of the essay is.
Paraphrase important supporting points that come up in the essay.
Consider any words, phrases, or brief passages that you believe should be quoted directly.

There are several ways to integrate quotations into your text. Often, a short quotation works well when integrated into a sentence. Longer quotations can stand alone. Remember that quoting should be done only sparingly; be sure that you have a good reason to include a direct quotation when you decide to do so. You'll find guidelines for citing sources and punctuating citations at our documentation guide pages. We have one guide for the format recommended by the Modern Language Association (MLA) for papers in the humanities (at http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/research/r_mla.html) and another for the format recommended by the American Psychological Association (APA) for papers in the social sciences (at http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/research/r_apa.html).

Sample essay for summarizing, paraphrasing, and quoting

So That Nobody Has To Go To School If They Don't Want To

by Roger Sipher

A decline in standardized test scores is but the most recent indicator that American education is in trouble.

One reason for the crisis is that present mandatory-attendance laws force many to attend school who have no wish to be there. Such children have little desire to learn and are so antagonistic to school that neither they nor more highly motivated students receive the quality education that is the birthright of every American.

The solution to this problem is simple: Abolish compulsory-attendance laws and allow only those who are committed to getting an education to attend.

This will not end public education. Contrary to conventional belief, legislators enacted compulsory-attendance laws to legalize what already existed. William Landes and Lewis Solomon, economists, found little evidence that mandatory-attendance laws increased the number of children in school. They found, too, that school systems have never effectively enforced such laws, usually because of the expense involved.

There is no contradiction between the assertion that compulsory attendance has had little effect on the number of children attending school and the argument that repeal would be a positive step toward improving education. Most parents want a high school education for their children. Unfortunately, compulsory attendance hampers the ability of public school officials to enforce legitimate educational and disciplinary policies and thereby make the education a good one.

Private schools have no such problem. They can fail or dismiss students, knowing such students can attend public school. Without compulsory attendance, public schools would be freer to oust students whose academic or personal behavior undermines the educational mission of the institution.

Has not the noble experiment of a formal education for everyone failed? While we pay homage to the homily, "You can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink," we have pretended it is not true in education.

Ask high school teachers if recalcitrant students learn anything of value. Ask teachers if these students do any homework. Quite the contrary, these students know they will be passed from grade to grade until they are old enough to quit or until, as is more likely, they receive a high school diploma. At the point when students could legally quit, most choose to remain since they know they are likely to be allowed to graduate whether they do acceptable work or not.

Abolition of archaic attendance laws would produce enormous dividends.

First, it would alert everyone that school is a serious place where one goes to learn. Schools are neither day-care centers nor indoor street corners. Young people who resist learning should stay away; indeed, an end to compulsory schooling would require them to stay away.

Second, students opposed to learning would not be able to pollute the educational atmosphere for those who want to learn. Teachers could stop policing recalcitrant students and start educating.

Third, grades would show what they are supposed to: how well a student is learning. Parents could again read report cards and know if their children were making progress.

Fourth, public esteem for schools would increase. People would stop regarding them as way stations for adolescents and start thinking of them as institutions for educating America's youth.

Fifth, elementary schools would change because students would find out early they had better learn something or risk flunking out later. Elementary teachers would no longer have to pass their failures on to junior high and high school.

Sixth, the cost of enforcing compulsory education would be eliminated. Despite enforcement efforts, nearly 15 percent of the school-age children in our largest cities are almost permanently absent from school.

Communities could use these savings to support institutions to deal with young people not in school. If, in the long run, these institutions prove more costly, at least we would not confuse their mission with that of schools.

Schools should be for education. At present, they are only tangentially so. They have attempted to serve an all-encompassing social function, trying to be all things to all people. In the process they have failed miserably at what they were originally formed to accomplish.