SUMMARY WRITING

Example of a Summary
 What is a “summary”?
• A condensed version of an original text , usually a full article or book.
A summary is a short overview of the main points of an article or other source,
written entirely in your own words.
 Why do we summarize?
• To determine essential/important/main ideas
• To consolidate important details that support those.
• Thus , it enables the reader on key words and phrases of a text that are
worth noting and remembering.
 Examples for Summarized Content
• Book covers
• Product descriptions
• Online review sites
• Book reviews
• Academic papers
• movie reviews
• Summaries on Netflix
• Research Abstracts
• ‘Linkedln summary of self
• Stand- alone assignment
• Literature reviews in researches
 How to wite a Summary?
• Read the text. If possible find the source of the article.
• Demarcate sentence boundaries.
• Identify a list of the key points within a sentence.
• Scan the topic sentences where main ideas usually appear
• Retain the headings and subheadings
• Write a paragraph with sentences of own including the key points.
• Use plenty of transitional words and phrases
• Check the summary against the article
• Proof read
 What elements to be omitted from the
Original text?
• Comaprisons/contrasts
• First and second person point of views in the original
• Questions
• Examples
• Statistical details
• Figurative language
• Idioms/ proverbs
• wordiness
 What not to include in a summary?
• Opinions
• Analysis
• Bias
• Interpretations
• Deductions
• comments
 Challenges underlying summary writing.
• Writing the opening line
• Naturally fast spaced
• Summarizing nonlinear texts
• Removal of words that may appear crucial
• How to retain the original idea
• Dealing with technical jargon
• Deciding on the word limit
• When a word limit is assigned
• The wrap up line
 Original Text
There are times when the night sky glows with bands of color. The bands may begin as cloud shapes and then
spread into a great arc across the entire sky. They may fall in folds like a curtain drawn across the heavens. The
lights usually grow brighter, then suddenly dim.
During this time the sky glows with pale
yellow, pink, green, violet, blue, and red. These lights are called the “Aurora
Borealis”. Some people call them the Northern Lights. Scientists have been
watching them for hundreds of years. They are not quite sure what causes
them. In ancient times people were afraid of the Lights. They imagined that
they saw fiery dragons in the sky. Some even concluded that the heavens
were on fire.
 Summarized Version
“The Northern Lights”
• The Aurora Borealis, or Northern Lights, are bands of color in the night
sky. Ancient people thought that these lights were dragon on fire, and even
modern scientists are not sure what they are.
Exercise-1
Exercise -2
Thank you!!!