Summarizing Effectively

Summarizing: what is it?A condensed version of what you’ve readWritten in your own words; little to no quoted

material Includes the author’s main points along with a

sentence that provides the title, author, text type, and focus (overall main idea).

Summarizing: Not an Easy Task

Imagine it: You’ve just written your first summary and turned it in. You think you did okay, but then you get back your paper with comments. Your teacher has written one or more of the following in the margins:

You wrote down everything! You wrote down nothing! You wrote way too much!

You didn’t write select the right information to include! You copied word for word and used too many quotes!

You wrote too much detail! You didn’t write the author’s main focus/idea!

ARRRGHHHHHHH!!!!!! YOU CAN’T WIN!!!!!!

Now what?Try, try again.Summarizing takes time and practice. A lot of

practice. Give yourself at least an hour to complete the assignment after you’ve finished reading.

By following the 6 summary steps in this presentation, you should be able to arrive at an overall idea/gist of whatever the author is trying to say.

To get to the overall idea, you are going to work backwards at achieving that. You will start with a lot of sentences and then reduce it down to main one.

Summary ObjectiveWhen writing a summary you want to

accomplish 2 things:1. The author’s main purpose or focus, which is

ultimately written as a topic sentence at the beginning of the summary.

2. About 5-7 supporting sentences, which are a collection of main points that follow the topic sentence.

Step 1  Annotate. As you read, keep a pen in hand. Underline keywords and

take notes along the margins, next to each paragraph if you can. Try to jot down words that give you a clue for what each paragraph is about. Draw boxes/circles around paragraphs that seem to share the same topic. This will help to visual the “parts” of the reading.

Step 2  On a separate sheet of paper, list any

keywords (words that repeat, stand out, etc).NamesRoles of namesPronounceablesuccessComprehendLikeable and likabilityJudgment

Writers use keywords as “sign posts” or ways of keeping you on track as you read. It isn’t coincidental that the author seems to be repeating him/herself!

Step 33.  Group together keywords that overlap/share ideas by circling, underlining, etc.

NamesRoles of names PronounceableComprehendsuccessLikeable and likeabilityJudgment

You will refer to this list later when you are writing your focus, so keep it handy.

Step 4 Return to the original text where you jotted down notes along

the margins. Going chronologically through the reading, write a sentence for

each paragraph on a separate sheet of paper. Each sentence should be the main idea of that particular paragraph.

Revisit the keywords you have grouped together to help you. You will have a paper that is made up of many sentences.

P1: ______(main idea)_________ P2:______(main idea)_________ P3:______(main idea)_________ P4:______(main idea)_________

Step 4 Example

Step 5 Refine and Reduce: Go through your main

points and erase any ideas that repeat or do not matter i.e. do not help one to better understand the text. Replace jumbled words/phrases with stronger, more precise words. Think less is more. Try to get your main points down to 5 sentences.

Step 6Focus: After rereading your 5-7 main points, determine the author’s overall purpose or focus for writing the text. What is he/she trying to tell us with these main points? Write this as one statement. You might start with one of these templates: The author wants readers to understand… Overall, the author argues that… The author’s main purpose is…

Example: The author’s main purpose is to suggest that a person with a name that is common and easy to pronounce is more likely to be successful in life.

PAUSEYour homework assignment ends here.Your final product should be:

1. Your topic sentence, which includes a template from step 6 and the author’s focus

2. 5-7 additional supporting sentences (main ideas from the reading) that follow

Step 7Polish: Add the remaining FATt elements to your focus and follow with your main points to support it.

Author’s full name Text type (essay, narrative, article) Text title

Example: The author’s main purpose is to suggest that a person with a name that is easy to pronounce is more likely to be successful in life.Example revised: In the article “Easily Pronounced Names May Make People More Likeable,” author Dave Mosher suggests that a person with a name that is common and easy to pronounce is more likely to be successful in life.

FormatUse standard paragraph form for your

summary: Begin with your FATt Statement (topic

sentence/thesis.) It captures in one sentence the author’s main purpose or focus.

Follow with 5-7 main points (supporting sentences)

If possible, follow the same order as the reading to list these points.