SUMMARY WRITING

1. should condense the source material and be presented in the summary

writer`s own words. (condensed and restated)
2. It should present the source material in a neutral fashion. (unbiased)
3. It should offer a balanced coverage of the original. In other words it should
exclusively focus on the source text information.
1.
2.
3.
a.
b.
c.

6.

7.
a.
b.
c.
d.

The following stages may be useful:

Read and understand the text carefully.
Think about the purpose of the text. Ask what the author's purpose is
in writing the text?
Find the main ideas - what is important.
They may be found in topic sentences.
Distinguish between main and subsidiary information.
Delete most details and examples, unimportant information,
anecdotes, examples, illustrations, data etc.
4. Identify the underlying structure of the text - e.g. cause/effect,
contrast and comparison, problem-solution
Think of a reporting verb or a general noun that best expresses the
tone/argument or the gist of the text (e.g. to argue, to compare, to question
etc., or nouns e.g. trend, tendency, phenomenon, issue etc.) and use
signaling words (see below)#
5. Paraphrase the text and change the grammar of the text:
a) Find alternative words/synonyms for these words/phrases do not change specialised vocabulary and common words.
Change the grammar of the text: rearrange words and
sentences.
b) Change nouns to verbs, adjectives to adverbs, etc., break
up long sentences, combine short sentences.
c) Simplify the text. Reduce complex sentences to simple
sentences, simple sentences to phrases, phrases to single
words. +++
Rewrite the main ideas in complete sentences. Combine your notes
into a piece of continuous writing. Use conjunctions and adverbs such as
'therefore', 'however', 'although', 'since', to show the connections between
the ideas.
Check your work.
Make sure the purpose is clear.
Make sure the meaning is the same.
Make sure the style is your own.
Remember to acknowledge other people's work.
+++Simplify the text. Reduce complex sentences to simple
sentences, simple sentences to phrases, phrases to single words.
Examples:

a.

People whose professional activity lies in the field of politics are not, on
the whole, conspicuous for their respect for factual accuracy.
b.
Failure to assimilate an adequate quantity of solid food over an
extended period of time is absolutely certain to lead, in due course, to a fatal
conclusion.
c.
The climatic conditions prevailing in the British Isles show a pattern of
alternating and unpredictable periods of dry and wet weather, accompanied
by a similarly irregular cycle of temperature changes.
d.
It is undeniable that the large majority of non-native learners of English
experience a number of problems in attempting to master the phonetic
patterns of the language.
e.
Tea, whether of the China or Indian variety, is well known to be high on
the list of those beverages which are most frequently drunk by the
inhabitants of the British Isles.
f. It is not uncommon to encounter sentences which, though they contain a
great number of words and are constructed in a highly complex way, none
the less turn out on inspection to convey very little meaning of any kind.
A Summary Contains
A
Summary Omits
Topic Sentence/Central Point
Background information
Transition Word + ,
Unneeded Explanation
Reason/Major Support
Unneeded Examples
Needed Explanation/Minor Support
Conclusion
Needed Examples/Minor Support
#Signalling words
1. Time/order
at first, eventually, finally, first, firstly, in the end, in the first place, in the
second place, lastly, later, next, second, secondly, to begin with
2. Comparison/similar ideas - in comparison, in the same way, similarly
3. Contrast/opposite ideas
but, despite, in spite of, even so, however, in contrast, in spite of this,
nevertheless, on the contrary, on the other hand, still, whereas, yet
4. Cause and effect
accordingly, as a consequence, as a result, because, because of this,
consequently, for this reason, hence, in consequence, in order to, owing to
this, since, so, so that, therefore, thus
5. Examples - for example, for instance, such as, thus, as follows
6 Generalisation- as a rule, for the most part, generally, in general, normally,
on the whole, in most cases, usually
7. Stating the obvious - after all, as one might expect, clearly, it goes
without saying, naturally, obviously, of course, surely
8. Attitude- admittedly, certainly, fortunately, luckily, oddly enough,
strangely enough, undoubtedly, unfortunately
9. Summary/conclusion- finally, in brief, in conclusion, in short, overall, so,
then, to conclude, to sum up

10. Explanation/equivalence- in other words, namely, or rather, that is to say,

this means, to be more precise, to put it another way
11. Addition- apart from this, as well as, besides, furthermore, in addition,
moreover, nor, not only...but also, too, what is more
12. Contradiction -actually, as a matter of fact, in fact
13. Emphasis - chiefly, especially, in detail, in particular, mainly, notably,
particularly