Guidelines for Writing a Summary

To summarize a text is to repeat the information on the article or text in a

brief manner. You can do this by identifying the main idea, or most important
point, of the article or text and retelling this main idea in your own words.
For the completion of this task, we recommend the following guidelines:

1. The summary should be one (1) paragraph.

First Sentence - Introduction:

2. It should begin by naming the author and the title of the text or article.
3. In that same first sentence, include, in your own words, the author’s
main argument or idea.

Note: Please do not add your personal view, opinion, analysis, or critique of
the article or text. A summary only looks to present, in a condensed, reduced
fashion, the points made in the text being summarized.

Example:
In her article, “Why They Excel,” Fox Butterfield presents her argument that
the values of hard work, family, and education are directly responsible for
Asian-Americans’ college academic success. (Sent. #1)
Body or Supporting Sentences (1 or 2 sentences per supporting idea):

4. For these sentences, you will need to divide the article or text into parts.
The number of parts will depend on the number of supporting points
made by the author. Each point will be summarized in one or two
sentences. To accomplish these sub-summaries, you can directly quote
the text. In the following example, we used five sentences to summarize
the three supporting points in the text.

Example:
Hard work is contrasted with talent and presented as the main factor in the
success of Asian-Americans’ academic success. It is also pointed out as a basic
belief that “…man can be perfected through practice.” (par. 12) (Sent. #2-3) As
an additional element, the family is shown to form a close bond between parents
and children. This idea is advanced by telling us that Asian parents get more
involved in their children’s academic life: “…Asian parents spend many more
hours really helping their children with homework or writing to their teachers.”
(par. 18) (Sent. #4-5) The Asian educational system is also credited, as the
passage points that students are not divided into fast and slow learners, but
rather that “…the Chinese and Japanese believe all children can learn from the
same curriculum.” (par. 11) (Sent. #6)

Last Sentence – Conclusion:

5. This sentence wraps up the summary by repeating the last part of the
first sentence and pointing to how the body parts come together to form
the main point or central argument/idea of the article or text.
Example:
Hard work, family, and the Asian educational system are presented as the
reasons and explanation of why Asian-Americans excel in the United States’
colleges. (Sent. #7)