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Summarizing

This document provides guidelines on how to summarize texts effectively, emphasizing the importance of including only main ideas and key points without personal opinions or unnecessary details. It outlines the steps for summarizing, characteristics of a good summary, and common mistakes to avoid. Additionally, it includes examples of correct and incorrect summary responses.

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Hakee Namgyal
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4 views

Summarizing

This document provides guidelines on how to summarize texts effectively, emphasizing the importance of including only main ideas and key points without personal opinions or unnecessary details. It outlines the steps for summarizing, characteristics of a good summary, and common mistakes to avoid. Additionally, it includes examples of correct and incorrect summary responses.

Uploaded by

Hakee Namgyal
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Summarizing

9th February,2021
Getting to the Point
Summary
Short account of the central ideas of a text

Summaries are not a place for…

 Opinions
 Background knowledge
 Personal information
How To Summarize
1. Read the text.
2. Don’t let big words scare you.
3. Ask, “What was this text about?”

Your Answer…
 Should be a complete sentence or two
 Should cover main point and key ideas
 Should be in your own words
 Shouldn’t just be a word or two
Should It Go in My Summary?
Only major ideas and necessary
information should go into a summary.
Ask yourself:

“Do you need this information to


understand the text?”

If the answer is yes, put it into your own


words in your summary.
Main Idea and Key Points
The main idea is what the text is about.
Key points are arguments or information
that is used to support the main idea.

Key points may be developed or elaborated


with supporting details.

Your summary should only include main


ideas and key points, not supporting details.
Example Text
A penny for your thoughts? If it’s a 1943
copper penny, it could be worth as much as
fifty thousand dollars. In 1943, most pennies
were made out of steel since copper was
needed for World War II, so, the 1943 copper
.

penny is ultra-rare. Another rarity is the 1955


. . .

double die penny. These pennies were


T

mistakenly double stamped, so they have


overlapping dates and letters. If it’s
uncirculated, it’d easily fetch $25,000 at an
auction. Now that’s a pretty penny.
Incorrect Example Response 1
This text is about pennies.
 This response is too short.
 It does not include key ideas.
Incorrect Example Response 2
The 1943 copper penny is worth a lot of
money. Copper was hard to get during the
war so there aren’t many of them. The 1955
double die penny is worth a lot too. These
pennies were stamped twice on accident.
 Too much unnecessary stuff.
 Main idea is not clear.
Correct Example Response
This text is about two very rare and
valuable pennies: the 1943 copper penny
and the 1955 double die penny.

 Includes key information.


 Doesn’t include unnecessary information
 Is a complete sentence.
Practice
Summarizing nursery rhymes.

Directions
1. We will read each nursery rhyme.
2. Summarize the nursery rhyme in as few
words as possible.
3. Include key information.
4. You will write on whiteboard
5. We will discuss our answers.
1
Answer
• A spider fell but got up again.
2
Answer
• An egg fell and was irreparably broke.
3
Answer
• A woman had no food to feed her dog.
4
Answer
• A boy fell, hurt his head, and bandaged it.
5
Answer
• A spider scared away a girl.
What is a summary?
• It is a shorter version of the original story
or news or any research articles
containing only the essential points.
• It involves putting the main idea/s into your
own words in a logical, connected and in a
concise manner.
• It is gives broad or general overview of the
source material.
Characteristics of a good
summary:
• It is always shorter (1/3) of the source
material.
• It includes only the essential or main
ideas.
• E.g purpose statement, topic sentences,
major findings, conclusions and
recommendations.
• If it is a news articles, it would include the
‘wh’ questions.
• It captures the same message as the
original, but without the same words.

• An effective summary can stand on its


own.

• An effective summary is as concise as


possible, and

• It should give the essential information in


an efficient and concise manner.
Summaries do not include these areas:

• Background to the issue


• Minor details or non-essential details
• Your own opinion/s
• Statistics
• Detailed explanations
• Direct quotations
• Visuals
• Definitions
• Examples
Steps for summarizing

• Read text on page 28


• Step 1-8 (take notes)
• Read the difference B/W summarizing and
paraphrasing - page 29
• Exercise 7 –take home task
Academic writing is a special genre of writing that prescribes its
own set of rules and practices.

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