Writing

Summaries
A useful academic skill

Writing Summaries
A summary is a shorter version, or form, of a
longer work. For example, your teacher may
ask you to read a one-page newspaper article.
After you read, the teacher assigns you to
write a one paragraph summary to share with
your classmates.

Writing Summaries
When you write a summary,
you might shorten one
paragraph to a single sentence.
chapter to a paragraph or two.
book to a few pages.

Step1: Understand the

Material
The steps to summarizing:
1. Preview

the reading looking for key ideas

and vocabulary
2. Read carefully to understand the main
points. Ask wh questions to guide your
reading.
3. Take notes underline important details
(include title & authors name).
4. Answer your wh questions in step 2.

Step1: Understand the

Material
Remember, it is helpful to preview the
material before you read all of it.
Previewing helps you notice important
sections of the reading.
1. Preview

the reading to understand authors

reason for writing.

Step1: Understand the

Material
After you preview the reading, read it
carefully, just as you would any
assignment the teacher gives you. Use
the reading skills you have learned in
this class to increase your
comprehension of the text.

2. Read carefully to understand the main

points. Ask wh questions to guide your
reading.

Step1: Understand the

Material
As you read, take notes. Write down
what you are reading on another paper
rather than just marking the reading.
This part is important because it will help
you later when you write your summary.

3. Take notes underline important details

(include title & authors name).

Step1: Understand the

Material
Your notes should include the main
ideas. You may include a few details, but
try to find only the most important ones.
Be sure to write the title and the author
somewhere in your notes.

4. Find important main ideas and details.

Step 2: Write First

Draft

Its time to start writing the first draft of your

summary. First, put the reading away. You are
going to write the draft of your summary from
your notes. You want to use your own words
when you write your summary.

Put away reading and use only notes.

In own words, restate:
main idea or thesis of reading.
supporting points or topic sentences of each
section.
authors conclusions.

Step 2: Write First

Draft

If you look at the reading while you are

writing your summary, you will not write
as good a summary. So put the reading
away. Turn it upside down or hide it.

Put

away reading and use only

notes.

Step 2: Write First

Draft

Now, begin to write your summary. In the first

sentence, write the main idea of the reading (or
section that you are summarizing). Also include the
title and the author in this first sentence if you can.
After you write the first sentence, then you can
include other supporting ideas. End your summary
with a restatement of the authors conclusion.

In your own words, restate:

main idea or thesis of reading.
supporting points or topic sentences of each
section.
authors conclusions.

Step 3: Use Your Own

Words

Now you have written your first draft. In step

3, you are going to check for some important
points. When you write a summary, you have
to be very careful that you do not use exactly
the same words as the author. You have to
use your own words. In other words, you
have to paraphrase. Lets look in detail at
different ways you can paraphrase.
Use:
1. different grammatical structures
2. synonyms
3. different word forms
4. different transition words

Step 3: Use Your Own

Words

One way to paraphrase is to use different grammatical

structures. That means you can say the same thing
using a different sentence structure. Lets look at a
sample sentence. The first sentence in quotation marks
is paraphrased in the next sentence. Can you see that
the second sentence has a different subject? When you
choose a new subject, you change the sentence
structure in your summary statement.

Use different grammatical structures.

Original:
The goal was for dreamers to gain control of their
dream world and then the waking world.
Paraphrase:
Dreamers need control of their world, both in their
dreams and when they are awake.
1.

Step 3: Use Your Own

Words
Another way to help you paraphrase, or use your
own words, is to use synonyms. Remember,
synonyms are words that are similar in meaning.
Here is our sample sentence. Notice that the
second sentence, substitutes the phrase be in
charge for the word control.

2.

Use Synonyms.
Dreamers need control of their world, both in
their dreams and when they are awake.
Dreamers need to be in charge of their
world, both in their dreams and when they
are awake.

Step 3: Use Your Own

Words

A third technique is use different forms of a word.

The word dreams is changed to the phrase
People who dream.

3.

Use different word forms.

Dreamers need to be in charge of their

world, both in their dreams and when they
are awake.
People who dream need to be in charge of
their world, both in their dreams and when
they are awake.

Step 3: Use Your Own

Words

Finally, you can use different transition words to

create a good paraphrase. In our example, we have
added to the transition Not only, but also. These
steps will help you use your own words in a summary.

4. Use different transition words.

People who dream need to be in charge of
their world, both in their dreams and when
they are awake.
Not

only do people who dream need to be in

charge of their dreams, but they also want to
be in charge of their world when awake.

Step 4: Do Not Include

Opinion
When you write a summary, do not include your
opinion. You are trying to restate what the author
said. You are not giving any of your own ideas when
you write a summary.

Do

not add your own opinion.

Step 5: Cite Your

Source

Finally, be sure you include a citation with your

summary. A citation means you must include the
title and the name of the author somewhere in your
summary. You must give the author credit for these
ideas.

Include in your summary:

Authors name
Title

Writing Summaries
Now you have reviewed how to write an effective
summary. You will use this often in your university
studies. Remember, that writing summaries is an
effective study skill. It helps you restate the main
ideas in your own words and that will help you
remember what you will read. It is hard to
summarize. It is even harder to do it in another
language! So keep practicing.

Excellent

study skill.
Difficult to do in new language.
Takes repeated practice.