Summary Writing
Although
summary writing, a common type of academic writing, can be assigned as
a specific assignment, it also is a good way to have a record of what you
have read for a specific course to use for study and reflection. As in
learning any writing skill, writing a good summary takes practice. To create
a successful summary, all stages of the writing process must be used.
Planning
In the planning stage
of writing, a writer gathers material and organizes it in hopes of making
the drafting stage easier. To plan to write a summary, a writer should:
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Be sure that you understand
the piece of writing you are going to summarize.
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This involves employing
all the practices of active reading: previewing, predicting, and questioning,
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Developing an understanding
of the main idea.
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Being able to understand
the main point made in each paragraph.
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Once you understand
the reading, you must then take careful notes to insure that you have not
missed an important point that the author made.
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Try to state the main
idea of the reading in one sentence. Also, try to summarize the point of
each paragraph in one sentence.
Drafting
When you begin to draft
your summary there are certain writing conventions should use.
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First, always state
the main idea of the reading, the name of the reading, and the authors
name in the beginning of the summary. This will help you later to remember
what piece of writing you summarized as well as immediately alerting you
or another reader to the readings main idea.
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To be accurate, state
in order the main ideas that the author makes.
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Always use your own
words. By using your own words, you are helping yourself remember and understand
the material.
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If you choose to use
some of the exact same words of the author, use quotation marks to show
that these are not your words, but the authors.
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Summaries should not
include your opinion.
Revising
As with any piece of
writing, you will need to revise your writing.
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Reread the summary
to be sure you have clearly stated the authors main idea.
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Check first to see
that you have not missed an important point made by the author.
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Check to see the points
are in the order the author intended
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Rewrite the sentences
and ideas so that they flow together.
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Read your summary aloud
to a friend or parent to see if the he/she is able to understand what the
original reading was about.
Editing
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Read your summary aloud
to check for run-on sentences and fragments. Also read your summary backwards,
sentence by sentence.
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Check word by word
for misspelled words.