D Y PATIL INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL
2021 - 2022
What does summary writing involve?
Summaries come in different forms. You may have to:
- Read one lengthy passage and summarise points related to a particular aspect or
aspects of it which occur throughout the passage.
- Read two lengthy passages and summarise all the points relating to a particular
aspect or aspects of them.
- No matter what form the question takes, the basic principles of summary writing
remain the same.
What is important is that you show evidence that you:
- Have understood what you have read
- Can select relevant information
- Can show your understanding of what you have read through using your own
words where possible and in a shorter form than in the original.
Remember
You will never be asked to summarise a passage unless it is possible to do so, by using fewer words than
were in the original!
Some practical guidelines -
Whatever level of examination you take, your summary writing can be improved if
you keep the following points clearly in your mind.
1 - Summary writing needs good planning and cannot be rushed.
2 - Most examination questions will give a clear indication of the number of words
that you should aim to write, for example, ‘You should write between 200–250
words.’
As you can see, the writing itself will not take very long; the most important part of
the process is deciding what to include and what should not be included – that’s
why your active reading skills are essential.
3 - It is important to organise your time efficiently when answering a summary task and, as part
of your preparation for an examination, you should look closely at your time management in
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your previous assessments.
Remember that this time allowance includes reading the original passage(s), making notes of
the relevant points and planning your answer.
If you have a clear understanding of what you are going to write for your final version, the
actual writing of it will not take very long at all.
Once you have this basic approach clear in your mind, you can begin the task with
confidence.
Don’t panic: remember, all the information you need to include will be in the
original passage(s), so all you have to do is identify the really important points.
Note
Note-making is particularly important. Writing a list of the main points with a heading will help in
your planning. It’s a good way to help you keep focused on relevant details for your summary
Writing a summary
The following guidelines apply particularly to writing the type of summary based on
aspects of a single, lengthy passage.
Step 1: Read the question carefully
This is very important, as it is unlikely that you will be required to summarise the
whole of the original passage(s).
The wording of the question will direct you towards the points you should include. For
example, the whole passage may be about everyday life in Japan, but you may be asked
to summarise only what it tells you about going to school in that country. You must,
therefore, keep the wording of the question clearly in mind when reading
the passage(s).
Step 2: Read right through the passage(s) once (Skimming) This will
allow you to gain a good, overall understanding of what the material is about.
Remember that it is important that your summary shows that you have a clear
overview of your subject matter.
Step 3: identify the information that is relevant (Scanning) Refresh your
memory of what the question asks you to do and then read through the passage(s) again
very carefully.
TIPS
1 Some points in the passage on which your summary will be based may be harder to find than others –
this may
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be because they are implied by the writer, rather than being explicitly stated. Your final summary will be
more successful if you are able to identify and include these implied points.
2 You can safely ignore: illustrations, quotations, long descriptions and strings of adjectives.
Step 4: Highlight the relevant points on the text/passage. At this
stage you should underline or highlight on the text, all the information that is
relevant to the question. You must be ruthless. Ignore anything that is not relevant,
no matter how interesting you may find it.
Step 5: Make notes in your own words
Now is the time to put pen to paper.
You should make rough notes of the points you have highlighted, using your own
words as far as possible. Remember, the use of your own words is important as this is
a way of showing that you have understood the passage(s).
Try to:
- paraphrase (rephrase) parts of the text to which you refer
- use synonyms instead of the exact words from the text.
This will make it very clear that you understand what you have read.
Step 6: Count the main points
Once you have noted all the main points, count how many you have identified. If
you have identified 10 points and you are aiming to write a summary of about 150
words, then, as a rough guide, try to write about ten words for each point.
Step 7: Final check
Once you have written your summary, read it through to check that it makes sense. You
may not have to count the number of words you wrote. If, for example, you know that
you usually write about eight words per line, then a quick count up of the number of
lines you have filed will give some indication of how many words you have written in
total.
Step 8: Write the summary
Once you have written rough notes in your own words, you should write them up as a
piece of continuous prose, trying to keep your expression as concise as possible. If
your notes are sufficiently detailed, this may only be a fine-tuning job.
Key terms
Paraphrase: To express something someone has said or written in a different way.
Synonyms: Words with the same or similar meaning – instead of the exact words from the
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text.
Continuous prose: Writing in fuller sentences as opposed to bullet point form.
Study tip
Check that you have made each point only once: it’s an easy mistake to include three
examples of the same point. The writer of the original passage is allowed to repeat ideas;
you don’t have the space to do so.
Study tip
One of the main mistakes in summary writing is to use up too many words writing the early
points, so the summary becomes top-heavy and unbalanced. Remember that all points should be
given equal weighting.
Study tip
An important word of warning – do not include:
• personal opinions
• any introduction such as, ‘In this passage the writer says…’
• extra information or explanations
• your own comments or opinions on the points made in the original text(s) •
lengthy quotations from the original passage(s).
The readers of your summary do not want to know your personal opinions about the topic;
instead, they want to know how well you have understood the original writer’s viewpoint.
Do not let yourself become obsessed with writing an exact number of words as by
doing so, it is very likely that your written expression will be affected.
Style matters
In many summary questions, in addition to marks being awarded for a selection of
the correct points, such as those listed below, further marks may be available for
written expression. It is, therefore, important that you take care with the quality of
your writing as well as the content, as these marks could have a significant influence
on your overall grade. Guidance as to what is good summary style is contained in the
bullet points below.
The following points should be followed very carefully; they contain some
important advice.
» Concision of expression is something which typifies the very best summaries. This
can be achieved by making sure that you focus clearly on only the points stated in the
wording of the question.
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» One way of doing this is to make sure that you don’t include any irrelevant
comments; a generalised introductory paragraph is not necessary and simply uses up
unnecessary words.
» Quoting whole phrases or sentences from the original does not give a
clear indication that you have understood the text.
» Using ‘Complex sentences’ are a great way to include more than one point in one phrase
which also positively impacts your writing style. It will also allow you to accommodate more
relevant points within the word limit.
