So you want a topic sentence a and supporting sentences and a concluding sentence. Now it's important for. Sep 18, 2013  I always used to start the term with a lecture or two of review, and then, in most classes during the term, I would spend a few minutes giving students a summary of what was covered in the previous class. When we collected data on this practice, it.

• How To Start Off Summary

How To Start Off Summary

How to write a summaryPart IWhat is a summary?A summary is a record in a reader's own words that gives the main pointsof a piece of writing such as a newspaper article, the chapter of a book,or even a whole book. It is also possible to summarize something that youhave heard, such as a lecture, or something that you have seen and heard,such as a movie. A summary omits details, and does not include the reader'sinterpretation of the original.You may be used to reading English in order to answer questions set by someone else. In that case, you probably read the questions first and then read the passage in order to find the correct answer. However, when you read in order to write a summary, you must read in order to decide for yourself what the main points are. This involves reading to understand the message that the writer has for the reader, rather than reading in order to get the correct answer to someone else's questions. Since people have different backgrounds and read for different purposes, it is possible that different readers will interpret a writer's message in different ways.

Even if they agree, they will probably write their summaries in different ways. In other words, there is unlikely to be only one 'correct' summary.

On the other hand, to write a summary it is necessary to understand a passage as a whole, and therefore at a deeper level, than when one's purpose is just to answer questions.When are summaries used?1. In general terms, writing summaries is a good way of improving one'sability to read because it forces the reader to focus on understandingthe whole of something rather than on just following each word or sentence.2. In academic terms:a) If you are reading something that is very important for your studiesand/or difficult to understand, writing a summary helps you to make surethat you have understood it. You can also refer to it later to refreshyour memory, for example when you are revising for an exam, or when youare talking about it in class. (It is also a good idea to turn lecturenotes into summaries.)b) When writing academic papers people often need to insert summaries ofsomething that they have read or heard. For example, you might want tosummarize the the main points of a book that is relevant to your topic.In such cases, it is extremely important to use your own words, or quotationmarks if you are actually quoting, in order to avoid. (We will talk more about plagiarism later in the course.)First steps to writing a summary1.

As you read, underline all the important points and and all the importantevidence. For example, you could look for all the topic sentences.

Wordsthat are repeated several times are likely to be keywords. Transition wordscan help understanding of the overall structure of a passage.2. List or cluster the main idea of the whole piece, the main supportingideas, and the main evidence for each idea. Use of the same keywords ortechnical expressions is probably unavoidable. However, be careful to expressthe ideas in your own way, using your own vocabulary and expressions asmuch as possible, rather than copying or just rearranging. Do not includetoo much detail.Part IIWhat is a good summary?1. A good summary should give an objective outline of the whole piece ofwriting.

It should answer basic questions about the original text suchas 'Who did what, where, and when?' , or 'What is the mainidea of the text?'

, 'What are the main supporting points?' ,'What are the major pieces of evidence?' It should not be aparaphrase of the whole text using your own words. A reference should bemade to the original piece either in the title ('A Summary of.'

),in the first sentence, or in a footnote or endnote.2. You should not give your own ideas or criticisms as part of the summary.However, if you want to comment on a piece of writing it is usual to beginby summarizing it as objectively as possible.3. A good summary should not include selected examples, details, or informationwhich are not relevant to the piece of writing taken as a whole.4. A good summary of an essay should probably include the main idea ofeach paragraph, and the main evidence supporting that idea, unless it isnot relevant to the article or essay as a whole. A summary does not needa conclusion, but if the original ends with a message to the reader thisshould not be left out. (A good summary of a chapter should probably includethe main idea of each group of paragraphs or each section; a good summaryof a book should probably include the main idea of each chapter, or perhapsthe main idea of each section of each chapter.)5. A good summary may use key words from the original text but should not contain whole phrases or sentences from the original unless quotation marks are used.

Quotations should only be made if there is a reason for using the original words, for example because the choice of words is significant, or because the original is so well expressed.6. Rearranging the words used in the original, or keeping the same structurebut just substituting different words is not enough. You must express thesense of the original using your own words and structures.How to write a summary of a short piece of writing:1.

As you read, underline all the important points and and all the important evidence. For example, you could look for all the topic sentences. If there is a word or words that are repeated throughout the passage, this is likely to be related to the topic.Transition words and phrases should help you to understand how the piece is joined together.

The main idea should be in the first or second paragraph, probably in a thesis statement at the end of the paragraph, or in the concluding paragraph. (You could look out for the 5Ws - What?, Which?, Who?, Where?, When?, Why? - and the 1H - How?)2. List or cluster the main idea of the whole piece, the main supportingideas, and the main evidence for each idea. Be careful to use your own words rather than copying or just rearranging. In other words, try to find yourown way of expressing the writer's ideas.

Of course, you can use key wordsor phrases. (For example, if the piece of writing is about digital technology,it is fine to use key technical words that are in the original, such as'digital technology', 'binary digit' or 'analog'.)Do not include too much detail.3. Change the order if necessary, so that the main idea comes first andis followed by the supporting ideas and evidence in a logical sequence.Omit any repetitions.4. If the original uses 'I' replace this with the writer's actual surname, 'the writer', or 's/he'. If the original uses 'you', substitute 'people' or 'they'.5.

You should now be ready to write the summary. Start with a sentencethat a) identifies the writer and the piece of writing, for example bygiving the writer's name, the title of the piece and where/when it appeared,and b) gives the main idea. Use transition words to join everything together.For some model summaries,.

All but one of them contain a link to the original passage.

Writing a SummaryA summary is a short explanation of the main ideas in a text. Learning to summarize is a veryimportant skill. When writing and responding to a text (essay, article, lecture, story,novel, or video), as you are often expected to do in college, you will be expectedto summarize what you read, often in the introduction of each essay you write. Ittakes a careful reading of a text to write a good summary, and writing a good summarywill illustrate your level of comprehension of a text.When you write a summary, you are answering the question, “What was the essay (orarticle, or lecture, or story, or video) really about?” Summaries vary in length dependingupon the purpose of the summary and/or scope of the specific assignment given.