Precis Writing

Introduction: The word “Precis” is derived from the French word ‘Précis’ which means ‘concise, short or brief’. Precis writing
means shortening of a text in one’s own words. It is used to show a clear and brief summary or gist of a written text or speech.
In simple words, according to Wren and Martin, a precis is a summary and precis writing. It also means summarizing. Precis is the
gist or main theme of a passage. It is expressed in the fewest possible words. It should be clear and include all essential points of
the whole passage. It should contain one-third of the total number of words of the original passage. For example, if total number
of words in the paragraph is 100, its precis must be of only 33 words.

How to Write Precis OR Some Guidelines for Precis Writing: Precis writing is a very difficult art. Therefore, it should be mastered
through practice, like all other arts. The following points may give a person some guidelines for precis writing.
1. Read the passage carefully at least TWICE in order to understand it fully and to get its main idea. Then, ask to yourself
the following questions:
a. What is the paragraph about? (The answer to this question will become the title/heading of your precis)
b. What is its subject?
c. What does the author say about the subject?
d. Why am I reading this passage/paragraph?
e. What does the author mean?
f. Can I put this paragraph in a few words?
2. Read it again and underline everything that seems to be important or relevant.
3. Decide what is important and what is not.
4. Try to select a suitable title of the paragraph/passage.
5. Make a rough draft of the precis with the help of underlined words.
6. Read the first draft and try to shorten it further, by removing all adjectives and adverbs etc. Also avoid repetition.
7. Precis should not be more than One-third of the given passage. (i.e. 100 words should be summarized in 33 words)
8. Check to make sure that the precis has been written in your own words, and not of the author’s. (Don’t copy paste)
9. Precis writer should never include his own views, ideas and opinions etc.
10. Precis writing should be written in one paragraph.
Example 1: His courage and bravery, in the battle against the enemy, can be called lion-like. {He was lion-like in the battle}
Example 2: He received a letter that carried neither the writer’s name nor his address. {He received an anonymous letter}

Qualities of a Good Precis Writing: Following are some of the qualities of good precis writing.
1. Clarity: There should not be any ambiguity or lack of clarity in Precis writing.
2. Objectivity: It shouldn’t be based on bias and personal comments. It should be purely a reflection of the original text.
3. Correctness: It should be based on facts and grammatically correct.
4. Coherence: It means relation of one sentence with other. The ideas should be presented in an inter-connected manner.
5. Completeness: All the important facts and ideas from the original text should be covered.
6. Conciseness: It should be written in fewest possible words. It should give only the main point of the passage.

Advantages or Characteristics of Precis writing:

1. Precis gives a true and concise description of the main idea of the whole paragraph, without losing its original meaning.
2. It is a brief reproduction of the same logic and thought which is given in the original passage or paragraph.
3. It is a very useful exercise because it gives training of careful reading.
4. It develops our capacity to differentiate between the essential and non-essential ideas and information in the text.
5. As it insists on economy of words, so, we learn to choose our words very carefully. We make sentences in a concise manner
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An Example of Precis Writing
Some people delight in inflicting pain and injury on harmless little animals, such as flies, worms and frogs. They also take pleasure in
killing them. This is very cruel act of such people. They ought not do so, because it is wrong to cause and inflict unnecessary pain to any
creature. Every living thing is a creature of God. Besides, from being cruel to little animals, men are often led to become cruel to their
fellow-creatures and thus, by and by, they learn to do very cruel deeds. Whenever a man is tempted to hurt or kill any creature, he
should pause to consider how he would feel if any creature, more powerful than himself, were to do the same to him. (123 words)

Precis: Some people enjoy torturing and killing harmless little animals. Causing pain to any creature is wrong and makes one cruel. We
should consider how we would feel if treated in the same way by some powerful creature more powerful than us. (41 words)
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Composed by M. Khalid (Lecturer in English) Govt. Postgraduate College, Haripur