Writing

summaries
Academic writing

Remember
O Do not rewrite the original piece.
O Keep your summary short.
O Use your own wording.
O Refer to the central and main ideas of the

original piece.
O Read with who, what, when, where, why and
how questions in mind.
O Do not put in your opinion of the issue or topic
discussed in the original piece. Often,
instructors ask students to put their opinions in
a paragraph separate from the summary.

Steps to follow
O Before writing the summary:
O For a text, read, mark, and

annotate the original. (For a lecture,

work with the notes you took.)
O highlight the topic sentence
O highlight key points/key
words/phrases
O highlight the concluding sentence
O outline each paragraph in the

O Take notes on the following:

O the source (author--first/last name, title,

date of publication, volume number, place

of publication, publisher, URL, etc.)
O the main idea of the original (paraphrased)
O the major supporting points (in outline
form)
O major supporting explanations (e.g.
reasons/causes or effects)

Writing your summary

O Organize your notes into an outline

which includes main ideas and

supporting points but no examples or
details (dates, numbers, statistics).
O Write an introductory paragraph that

begins with a frame, including an intext citation of the source and the
author as well as a reporting verb to
introduce the main idea. The reporting
verb is generally in present tense.

O ARTICLE:
O In his/her article (or lecture) "________________________,

_____________________ (year) (title, first letter

capitalized) (author/lecturer's last name)
O argues/claims/reports/contends/maintains/states
that ____________________________.
(main idea/argument; S + V + C)
O Example: In his article "Michael Dell turns the PC

world inside out," Andrew E. Serwer (1997) describes

how Michael Dell founded Dell Computers and claims
that Dells low-cost, direct-sales strategy and high
quality standards account for Dells enormous success.

O Susan S. Lanser in her article

"Feminist Criticism The Yellow

Wallpaper, and the Politics of Color
in America" praises contemporary
feminism and its role in changing the
study and the interpretation of
literature.

OBOOK:
OIn his book The Pearl, John

Steinbeck (1945) illustrates the

fight between good and evil in
humankind.
OINTERVIEW:
OIn my interview with him/her
(date), __________________ (first
name, last name) stated that ....

O Reporting Verbs:
O STRONG
ARGUMENT==>NEUTRAL==>COUNTERARGUMENT==>SUGGESTION
==>CRITICISM

argue

state

refute the
claim

claim

report

argue against

contend
maintain
insist

explain
discuss
illustrate

posit

observe

suggest
recommen
d

criticize

O Other examples of frames:

O According to ______ (year), ___________________________.
O

(author's last name)(main idea; S + V + C)

___________'s article on _________ (year) discusses the
____________ (author's last name)
(topic)
(main idea; Noun Phrase)
________ (year), in his/her article, "_______" argues that
___________.
(author's last name)(title of article)(main
idea; S + V + C)
According to "Title of the Article" (year), ____________________.

(main idea;
S+V+C)
________ has a major impact on ________ (author's last name,
year).
(topic/NP)(NP)

OIn a longer summary, remind your

reader that you are paraphrasing by

using "reminder phrases," such as
OThe author goes on to say that ...
OThe article (author) further states that
...
O(Author's last name) also
states/maintains/argues that ...
O(Author's last name) also believes
that ...
O(Author's last name) concludes that