Which one is more
fulfilling: you’ve
finished the entire
movie alone, or
retelling the whole
movie to somebody?

What is a Summary?
A summary is a shortened version of
an original text. A summary is not a
rewrite of the original piece and does
not have to be long nor should it be
long.
It includes the thesis statement and
major supporting points, and should
reveal the relationship between the
major points and the thesis.

What is a Thesis Statement?
-Kathleen Muller
Moore, Techniques for
College Writing:
 A sentence in a paper that identifies the
main idea and/or central purpose of the
text. It is the major position of the author
to the topic.

Why Summarize?
•Summarizing is an efficient
strategy to remember the most
important and makes a
satisfying reading experience.
•It demonstrates that you
clearly understand the text
•It can communicate that
understanding to your readers

How to Start?

Step 1: Topic
 Locate the topic.
 This can be done through skimming
the pages or the entire text.
Step 2: Purpose
•What is the purpose of the text.
•Does it tell a story (narrate)? Inform?
Persuade or raise readers' awareness of
an issue? Or entertain?

Step 3: Read carefully the text
 if you can't comprehend it
in the first reading, reread
the text.

Step 4: Divisions in the Text
 divide it into sections (outlining)
 Look for the major divisions of the
text. In your own words, summarize
each division in one to two
sentences.
 (That may mean summarizing each
paragraph, but often several
paragraphs go together).

Division of Topics (Of Parents
and Children)
 I. Pros and Cons of having
Children
 II. Faults of Parents towards their
Children
 III. Unequal favouritism
 IV. Illiberality
 V. Profession for a Child

Step 5: Organizing Sentences
 Work with the sentences you have
created to produce a summary.
 Begin with a thesis statement
 A good summary is brief and
concise(you may leave some
information out -- as long as it is
‘extraneous’) but covers the entire
view of an author

 The joys, sorrow, and the fears of the
parents with regard to their children are
personal and private, not to be shared with
others. This is how Francis Bacon
introduced his essay entitled, Of Parents
and Children. He points out that although
parents labor a lot but the children make it
easy since this will benefit them.

 Do not rewrite the original
piece.
 Keep your summary short.
 Use your own wording.
 Refer to the central and
main ideas of the original
piece.
 Read with who, what, when,
where, why and how
questions in mind.
 Do not put in your opinion of
the issue or topic discussed
in the original piece.
Tips
 When summarizing, avoid
examples, asides,
analogies, and rhetorical
strategies.
 Only quote and paraphrase
words and phrases that you
feel you absolutely must to
reproduce exactly the
author's or authors' full
meaning.
 Keep in mind that your
summary must fairly
represent the author's or
authors' original ideas.

According to survey done, the
most beautiful flowers would
still be rose because of the
variants in colors. Next to it is
daisy which sometimes grows
wild. Spring flowers like tulips,
daffodils, and crocuses are
have also beauty of its kind.

Remember:
Include only the
important details. Your
summary should not
exceed the original
material.

Checklist for draft.
 Are all the important
information in the summary?
 Am I saying the same thing
over and over again?
 Have I left out my personal
views and ideas?
 Is my mechanics correct?
(grammar, punctuation,
spelling)
 Write the final draft

In the essay “Of Studies” Bacon tells us about
the way books should be studied. Excess
indulgence in books is not good. Books, he
says, should not be studied to find
argument but to weigh different
arguments in support of some idea. Books
are like food: enough of it is good; too
much of it is unpleasant. Books can be
effective in curing many types of mental
illnesses.

 “Quick-Fix Workshop”
 http://homepage.smc.edu/reading_lab/writing_a
_summary.htm