To summarize an essay, article, or book, you should not
include your own thoughts on the matter, but describe the essay as objectively
as possible, whether you agree with it or not, though you may suggest what you
think the author is up to, what their agenda or strategy is, at the conclusion
of the summary. Try to use pertinent quotations by the author, working them in
gracefully where appropriate. Also, any important or conspicuous words, phrases,
or terms should be put in quotation marks.
You can model your summary on the structure of the
original, keeping the size of your paragraphs in roughly the same proportion as
the paragraphs of the original. But you do not need to follow the author's
organization slavishly. You might want to use your own organization based upon
what you think the point of the essay is. A good summary of something is a
critique of it because it makes explicit what has only been implicit.
Understanding an argument is halfway work toward refuting or confirming it, so
summary is a crucial first step toward using information, expertise, or opinion.
It is essential that you read about paraphrasing, summarizing, and quoting before you begin your summary. You must understand the differences
between paraphrase, quotation, and plagiarism.
So a summary is intended to highlight objectively the main
points of another writer's work. Although written in your own words, the summary
does not include your opinions of the piece you are considering. Since the
summary eliminates those details that are not needed to convey the major points,
it is naturally shorter than the original. In general, a summary is from one
fourth to one half the length of the original.
The problem we all face when attempting to
summarize a piece of writing is figuring out what to include and what to leave
out. Below are some tips on how to choose material to include in your summary.
- Cross out the less important
details.
- Underline topic sentences and
key ideas.
- Take notes on those key ideas
— jot down the information that clarifies the topic sentence, for example.
