SUMMARY

A summary is condensed version of a larger reading, not a rewrite of the original piece. To write
a summary, express briefly the main idea and relevant details of the piece, giving the basic ideas
of the original reading. What was it about and what did the author want to communicate?
While reading the original work, take note of what or who is the focus and ask the usual questions
that reporters use: Who? What? When? Where? Why? How? Using these questions to examine
the material can help.
Sometimes, the central idea of the piece is stated in the introduction or first paragraph, and the
supporting ideas of this central idea are presented one by one in the following paragraphs.
Always read the introductory paragraph thoughtfully and look for a thesis statement.

What does summarize mean?

Summarizing is defined as taking a lot of information and creating a condensed version that
covers the main points. An example of summarizing is writing a three or four-sentence
description that touches upon the main points of a long book.

How to Write a Summary in 9 Steps

By definition, a summary is “a brief statement or account of the main points of something.”

Writing a good summary indicates that you clearly understand a text and that you can effectively
communicate that understanding to your readers. It’s a technical skill that demonstrates reading
comprehension and writing ability. A well-written summary is not an analysis of the text; rather,
it's a condensed overview of the original piece.

A summary can be tricky to write at first because it’s tempting to include specific details, but by
following our easy 9-step method, you will be able to summarize texts quickly and successfully
for any class or subject.

1. Read

The first step to a well-written summary is to read the original piece of work. Focus on reading
the original text without taking any notes. The goal is to become familiar with the main idea of
the piece while gaining insight into the author’s specific style and voice. While it may be hard to
resist the urge to underline when doing a first pass, reading the whole piece before dissecting it
will ensure you’re grasping the main idea of the text without expanding on specific details.
Overall, this will aid in avoiding an excessive summary.

2. Gather the Main Idea

Once you’ve finished reading the original piece, take time to reflect on what you’ve read. Think
about the important points of the text and how the author constructed the sequence of events.
Determine the Five W’s (who, what, where, when, why) of the story to help illuminate the
essential elements of the text.

3. Reread while Taking Notes

Rereading means active reading. Read the story again, this time marking the important points
you’ll want to include in your summary. Underline topic sentences and significant plot points,
highlight essential quotes, and number the major events as they occur. Also, note the areas you
do not understand. Depending on the difficulty of the text, reread until you feel like you have a
solid basis for your summary.

4. Organize your Notes

Once you’ve actively reread the text, take a couple of minutes to organize the information you’ve
collected. Depending on your learning style, find a way to organize your notes that will make
them a reliable reference when you start writing. Go back and elaborate on the key points you
noted and clarify any information that was difficult to understand.

5. Create a thesis statement

The key to a good summary is a developed thesis statement. A thesis statement is a one-sentence
claim, often in the introduction, that demonstrates your understanding of the author’s original
work. The purpose of including a thesis statement in a book summary is to correctly identify the
 author’s argument or main idea of the text. When writing a summary, you want to recast the
author’s argument, without including a personal opinion.

6. Draft a Short Paragraph

At this point, you’ve virtually outlined the introduction and body of your summary. Your thesis
statement can be used as the introductory sentence to your summary while the other main
points will fall into the body paragraph. Be sure to include some transition words (then, however,
also, moreover) to help with the overall structure and flow of the summary.

As you start to write the summary, keep the following points in mind:

 Write in present tense

 Include the author and title of the work
 Be concise—a summary should not be equal in length to the original text
 Cite direct quotes if you use them.
 Don’t put your own opinions, ideas, or interpretations into the summary. The purpose of writing
a summary is to accurately represent what the author wanted to say, not to provide a critique.

7. Check for accuracy

Once you’ve completed your draft, reread your summary to make sure you’ve accurately
represented the author’s main ideas and you’ve correctly cited any direct quotes. Review the
points in Step 6 to ensure the text does not contain any personal commentary and is written in
present tense.

8. Revise

After you’ve checked for accuracy, you should (as with any piece of writing) revise it for style,
grammar, and punctuation. Once you’ve reviewed it yourself, try to find someone else willing to
look it over, because another set of eyes may catch something you missed. If they can understand
the original text based on your summary alone, it’s a good indicator that you’ve written a good
summary. If they can’t follow what you’ve written, you should consider writing a second draft.
 9. Review

After making revisions to your summary, you’ll want to give your writing a final review. Go
through the checklist below to make sure your summary encompasses all of the necessary parts.

 Included title and author in introduction

 Used present tense language
 Included a thesis statement
 Cited all direct textual references
 Avoided first-person language.