Summarizing

Occasionally, a teacher may ask you to

write a summary. But you don't have to
wait to be assigned to write a summary.
Making a habit of summarizing what you
read is a useful tool to improve reading
comprehension, and also a valuable
critical-thinking exercise. Summarizing
increases recall and condenses an author's
ideas down to a few sentences.
 A summary is a brief, accurate
restatement of a speaker’s or a
writer’s words.
Summarizing is extracting the meat
from all details and ideas
contained in the material. It
requires clear thinking and high
reading ability.
Suggested Steps
1. Read the original passage entirely
and then state the author's most
important idea(s). This is commonly
referred to as the main idea and can
be found in the author's thesis
statement. Try to paraphrase the
information to avoid plagiarism and
increase understanding.
 Note: Be brief. Combine two or
more related ideas into one
sentence. Often you can do so by
reducing sentences to words,
phrases, or clauses.
 2. Use your own words. Imagine
you are telling a friend about a
great movie you saw or a great
book that you read. Speak in your
own language, but be sure to use
standard English, not slang.
 3. Go over each point the author
uses to prove his thesis statement.
Watch for topic sentences that
back up his most important idea.
These points form an outline that
you can condense down into your
summary.
4. Pay attention to detail. Examine
if the author provides enough
detail to support his thesis
statement and supporting points.
Tell what those details are while
summarizing the reading
assignment.
5. Present your ideas in order. You
would not talk about the author's
supporting points without first
talking about what those points
are referring to.
 6. Substitute general words or
phrases for long lists of items. For
instance, if you see a list consisting
of swimming, marathon running
and beach volleyball, you might
just write "summer sports."
7. Discard information from the
reading assignment that seems
redundant or trivial from your
summary.
 8. Polish your summary. Make it
more readable by adding
transitions and smoothing
awkward sentence constructions.
 Note: The summary may
approximately be one third or
one fourth (in length)
of the original.
How to Summarize a Paragraph
 Summarizing a paragraph is one of the essential
skills students learn during their pre-college
education. While the task may seem difficult at
first, summarizing a paragraph just means briefly
stating the paragraph's main ideas. As you
summarize, focus on key words and ignore
unnecessary details. Your assignment may be to
summarize a certain paragraph, but
summarizing a longer text paragraph by
paragraph can help you organize your thoughts
as you read.
 I. Read Actively

1. Read the paragraph once without highlighting or

circling any of its text. This will give you a general
idea of the subject and the author's purpose
without getting too bogged down in details and
descriptions. Pay attention to the author's purpose
for writing the paragraph. For example, the author
of an American history textbook wrote to inform
readers, but the author of a travel brochure might
have written to convince readers to make a trip.
 2.Re-read the paragraph while
looking for words and phrases that
the author repeats. For example, a
paragraph in a history textbook on
the Emancipation Proclamation
might repeat the words "slavery" or
"Lincoln," in reference to President
Abraham Lincoln. Circle repeated
words and phrases.
 3. Underline the paragraph's first
sentence, which often contains the
paragraph's main idea. A paragraph
about Lincoln might begin with the
clause, "President Lincoln issued
the Emancipation Proclamation on
January 1, 1863, as the nation
approached its third year of civil
war."
 4. Cross out unnecessary information in
the paragraph. Unnecessary information
includes literary descriptions, such as "the
first-time visitor to the Greek isles will see
sparkling aquamarine seas, craggy hills and
beaches of every possible color." It also
includes statistics, including "73 percent of
Americans in a blind-tasting study
preferred brand X peanut butter." Cross
out the information with a line that is thin
enough for you to read the words beneath
the line.
 II. Write the Summary

1. Write one sentence that describes, in

your words, how the key words you
circled are connected to each other. For
example, in a paragraph on Lincoln, that
sentence might be, "President Lincoln
issued the Emancipation Proclamation in
1863 to end slavery." Use neutral,
unbiased language.
 2. Add one or two supporting
sentences. These sentences might
summarize in concise words detail
or description in the paragraph,
such as "The Greek islands are
beautiful" or "Most people prefer
brand X peanut butter."
 3. Compare your summary to the
original paragraph. Avoid adding
information or opinions that are
not in the original paragraph. For
example, the author may have
wonderful statements about Greece,
but avoid writing statements such
as, "I would love to visit Greece
someday" in your paragraph.
 4. Compare your paragraph's first
sentence with the first sentence of
the original paragraph. They should
not be exactly the same, but they
should convey similar points.
 Tips and Warnings

• Do not plagiarize the original paragraph. Use your

own words rather than copying the paragraph.
• Do not offer your opinions or analysis of the
author's writing.
• Your summary should be 15 to 20 percent of the
length of the original paragraph. A longer
paragraph requires a longer summary.
• If you plagiarize, you may incur disciplinary action
from your teacher and/or school.
Globalization and the Health Care Systems in
Southeast Asia
Globalization has over the years brought
detrimental effects on the health care system
among developing countries in Southeast Asia.
For instance, records show that since 1995
a number of health care professionals like
physicians, nurses, and therapists are
recruited to work in hospitals and nursing
homes in Europe and North America.
 To date, there is an estimated 5.8 million Asian
health care professionals who have migrated to UK,
USA, and Canada. This results in a “vacuum” or
draining of manpower and specialized skilled labor in
hospitals and health centers in Southeast Asia.
In 2005 alone, a total of 318 privately- run and
government- owned hospitals in Southeast Asia had
closed down or have ceased to operate because of
inadequate human resources. In some cases, the
remaining members of the hospital staff are deficient
in specialized skills in surgery and in operating
electronically- operated diagnostic equipment.
 Meanwhile, the cost of medicines has
also gone up because of globalization.
Western-based pharmaceutical companies
take advantage of deregulated
pharmaceutical industry by organizing a
cartel so that they can dictate drug prices
in the market.
For example, the cost of Piracetam is
relatively cheaper in the United States than
in the Philippines.
 If Southeast Asian governments
were serious in reaping the
benefits of globalization, they have
to find immediate solutions to
these setbacks that befall
adversely upon their respective
healthcare systems.
 Summarized Text:
Globalization has brought negative effects
on the healthcare systems in Southeast Asian
countries. It has drained hospitals and
healthcare centers with their needed human
resources, leading to their closure. Moreover,
it manipulated drug prices in the market.
Southeast Asian governments should act on
this problem immediately.
The END

Thank You!