To summarize, you restate the main ideas of a piece, using your own style, and wording.  You may not interpret the author’s ideas, evaluate them, or in any way add points that did not appear in the original.  Thus, a summary is the distillation of what you see as the author’s most important points.  Because a summary includes only the highlights, it will be shorter than the original.

  The Purpose of Summaries
College provides many opportunities to summarize.  For one thing, summarizing is a valuable study technique because writing out the main points of material gives you a study guide and helps you learn information.

 You may also write summaries for a grade.  For example, instructors may ask you to summarize material so they can determine if you have read and understood assignments.  On midterms and finals, they may also ask you to summarize reading assignments so they can check your comprehension and retention.

  In addition, summaries are frequent components of other kinds of writing.  If you are writing a research paper, for example, you will summarize information you discover in the library.  If you are writing an argumentative-persuasive essay, you can summarize the main points in something you have read, and go on to disagree with those points.  If you read something that helps explain a point you want to make in an essay, you can summarize what you read and use it as part of your supporting detail.

Suggestions for Writing a Summary

Step 1.  Read the material over as many times as necessary in order to understand it.  Look up unfamiliar words and get help with anything you do not understand.  (You cannot summarize material you do not understand.)

 Step 2.  Identify the main points and underline them in the text or list them on a piece of paper.  You can omit examples, description, repetition, or explanation that supports main points.

 Step 3.  Draft an opening sentence that mentions the author’s name, the title of the piece you are summarizing, and one, two or three of the following: the thesis, the author’s purpose, the author’s point of view.  Here are some examples:

In “I Wish They’d Do It Right,” Jane Doe expresses her belief that her son is wrong not to marry the mother of his child.  (Includes author, title, and thesis)

“I Wish They’d Do It Right” is Jane Doe’s attempt to convince people, including her son, that marriage is preferable to living together.  (Includes author, title, and purpose)

In “I Wish They’d Do It Right,” Jane Doe examines the issue of cohabitation from a parent’s perspective.  (Includes author title, and point of view)

* Note: Use a present tense verb with the author’s name because the words “live on” into the present: Jane Doe says, notes, expresses, believes (not noted expressed, believed)

Step 4.  Following your opening statement draft your summary by writing out the main points you underlined or listed.  Be sure to express these points in your own distinctive style by using your own wording and sentence structure.  If you have trouble rewording a phrase or sentence, you can use the original if you place the borrowed words in quotation marks.  Just be careful to use quotations sparingly.

 * Note: If you have trouble expressing the author’s ideas in a different way, imagine yourself explaining each idea to a friend.  Then write each point the way you would explain it.

* Note: To keep your summary flowing smoothly, use transitions to show how ideas relate to each other.  In addition, repeat the author’s name with a present tense as a transitional device, like this:

Smith explains...

Smith further believes...

The author goes on to note...

Step 5.  Revise by checking every point to be sure you have not added or altered meaning in any way.  Also be sure that you have used your own wording and style and that you have placed borrowed words and phrases in quotation marks.  Then read your summary out loud and listen for any gaps or abrupt shifts that signal the need to add transitions.