UBI 1012

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Summarizing
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What is summarizing?

 A summary is a brief statement of the important ideas and details of a text in

your own words.
 It is to find the key ideas and supporting details to get the “gist” of a piece of
writing.
 Summarizing helps you improve your understanding, remember what you
read, and inform others about what you read.
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How to summarize?

1. When you summarize, you identify the main ideas.

2. You pick out the most important parts of what you read and restate them in your
own words.
3. When you reduce what you read to the main points, you’ll be able to better
understand and remember the information.
4. It also ends with a statement, or conclusion, that tells the reader the main
message of the article in a few words.
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Key Elements of Summarizing

 Provide an overview or topic statement.

 Include key details.

 Leave out irrelevant or unimportant details.

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Practice : Example of summarizing

Read the following passage and write a summary based on the passage
given.
Cedarville has an 11 percent unemployment rate, and that makes looking
for jobs a challenge. Experts say that networking is key to making
contacts and finding a new job. In addition to finding internships, expand
your professional network by contacting professionals in your desired
career field and building relationships with them. Join the local Chamber
of Commerce, attend social mixers and industry events, and look into
other professional organizations to make contacts in your field of choice.
Branching out of your usual social circle can help you stay up to date on
your field of interest and make valuable contacts that can help you along
in your career.
Using
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the 5Ws and 1H to summarize
 Determine the Purpose
 Imagine your friend is also hunting for a job and is curious about networking. She asks you if
you have any helpful information. You want to review the passage and email her a summary.

 Approach the Text

 Before you read, think about how to gather information for your summary. One way to
summarize is to ask and answer questions. As you read, look for the 5Ws and 1H:

 How do the 5Ws and 1H help you create a summary?

 Asking, “Who, what, when, where, why, and how?” helps you find out what’s
happening. It helps you identify important ideas, and that’s what should be in a
summary.
 • Read
z As you read the text, look for answers to the 5Ws and 1H. After you’ve finished reading, set aside the text and answer the questions in your own words.

Read the passage, and answer the following questions:

 Who: People looking for jobs

 Who?  What: Networking

 Where: Cedarville (or anywhere the
 What? jobseeker lives)

 Where?  When: Now

 Why: To help build contacts, find a job that’s
 When?
right for you, and stay up to date in your field
 Why?  How: Join a local chamber of commerce,
contact professionals in your field
 How?

These questions help you pull the most important information out of a text.
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Evaluate
 After reading, write your summary. Include the important ideas and details from
the passage, keeping in mind your purpose.
Write a summary of the passage on networking.
 An effective summary is written in your own words, includes the central idea of
the passage and important details, and keeps in mind your purpose. One
summary might be:

Networking helps you form connections so you can find a job and stay up-to-date
in your field. To get started, join a Chamber of Commerce or contact professionals
in your field.
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By forming a summary, we can

 process information and focus in on the key ideas.

 see how ideas fit together to form a coherent text.
 provide a means to present our ideas in ways that others
can understand.
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