Quick-Fix Workshop

Communications Centre

What is a Summary?
A summary is a shortened version of an
original text. It includes the thesis and major
supporting points, and should reveal the
relationship between the major points and the
thesis.

How Long is a Summary?

It may be any length, from 25% of
the original to one sentence.

What you Need

1. A big, ugly, overwhelming text: to dissect
and shrink.
2. A Hi-lighter: to locate the texts important
parts.
3. Paper: to write down the main point,
purpose of the text, major points and
documentation information.
4. A ruthless, but respectful attitude: to
conquer the mess.

BEGIN

Step 1: Topic
Locate the topic.
The topic is a word or phrase that says what
the text is about.
Try to be as specific as possible about the
topic.

Step 2: Purpose
What is the purpose of the text.
Does it tell a story (narrate)? Inform?
Persuade or raise readers' awareness of an
issue?

Step 3: What is the Thesis?

Look for the thesis (what the author is saying
about the topic).
Look first in the introduction, then in the
conclusion; writers often write explicit thesis
statements.
Write the thesis in your own words (and make
sure it matches your sense of the author's
purpose).

Step 4: Divisions in the Text

Look for the major divisions of the text. In
your own words, summarize each division in
one sentence.
(That may mean summarizing each
paragraph, but often several paragraphs go
together).
Make a list of all major points.

Step 5: Organizing Sentences

Work with the sentences you have created to
produce a summary.
Be ruthless: a good summary is SUCCINCT
(you may leave some information out -- as
long as it is extraneous)
Make sure you reveal the relationships
between the ideas. Are there
contrasts or comparisons
between some of the ideas?

REMEMBER
Summaries are short restatements of a work's
main points.
When writing a summary, be sure to record the
work's major ideas.
Summaries condense a text's main ideas into a
few concise sentences.
A summarized work is always much shorter than
the original.
A summary of a work's thesis and supporting
points should be written in your own words.

Tips
When summarizing, avoid examples, asides, an
alogies, and rhetorical strategies.
Only quote and paraphrase words and phrases t
hat you feel you absolutely must to reproduce
exactly the author's or authors' full meanin
g.
Keep in mind that your summary must fairly rep
resent the author's or authors' original ideas
.

Checklist
1. Reread your source until you fully understand it.
2. Write a one sentence restatement of the source's main
idea without looking at the source.
3. Use the texts main idea as your summary's topic
sentence.
4. Pull out the texts main ideas.
5. Write the summary in your own words. Avoid looking at
your source while writing your summary.
6. If you must include some of the source's original words
and phrases, quote and paraphrase accurately.
7. Document the source's author, title, date of publication
and any other important citation information.

The Difference Between

Paraphrasing and Summarizing
To paraphrase means to express someone
else's ideas in your own language. To
summarize means to distill only the most
essential points of someone else's work.
Think about how much of the detail from your
source is relevant. If all your reader needs to
know is the bare bones, then summarize.