Summaries

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Summaries

• Pamela Hanford

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What is a summary?

• A brief restatement, in your own words, of the
  content of a passage, chapter, article, or book

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What does it include? It

• Indicates in condensed form the main points that
  support or explain the main idea
• Reflects the order in which these points are
  presented
• Reflects the emphasis they are given
• May include important examples.

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What is not included?

• Minor details
• Repetition for emphasis
• Your ideas and opinions

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What are the main qualities?

• Brevity
• Completeness
• Objectivity

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When to avoid summary

• Dont use summary to replace analysis
• When youve been asked to review something
  critically, a mere summary of that material would
  be inappropriate.

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Why are summaries useful?

• Writing a summary is an excellent way to
  understand what you read
• Summaries are useful to your readers
• Summaries are frequently required in
  college-level writing

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Where do we use summary in Academic Writing?

• Critique papers
• Synthesis papers
• Analysis papers
• Research papers
• Literature reviews
• Argument papers
• Essay exams

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Where do we use summary in the workplace?

• Policy briefs
• Business plans
• Memos, letters, and reports
• Medical charts
• Legal briefs

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Critical reading for summary

• Examine the context
• Note title and subtitle
• Identify the main point
• Identify subordinate points
• Break the reading into sections

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• Distinguish between points, examples, and
  counterarguments
• Watch for transitions within and between
  paragraphs
• Read actively and recursively

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Guidelines for writing summaries

• Read the article carefully.
• Reread and divide into sections
• Write one sentence summaries of each section

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• Write a thesis a one- or two-sentence summary
  of the entire article
• Combine the thesis with your one-sentence
  summaries
• Check against article for accuracy and
  completeness

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Revise your summary

• Use transitional words and phrases to ensure
  coherence
• Check for style
• Avoid a series of short-choppy sentences
• Combine sentences for a smooth, logical flow of
  ideas.
• Check for grammar, punctuation, and spelling

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One last piece of advice

• Many students waste valuable summary word count
  by continuing to refer to the ARTICLE instead of
  the INFORMATION they should summarize.
• The INFORMATION is the topic of the summary.

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• The student should avoid writing The article
  says butterflies migrate south.

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• The student should write, Butterflies migrate
  south and then cite the source properly in an
  in-text citation.

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Before you begin,

• Take the assessment on summary found in the 3.1
  folder.
• 45 points possible!