Précis Writing: The Following Rules Are General Guidelines You Should Follow While Writing A Précis

Précis Writing
The following rules are general guidelines you should follow while writing a précis:
 Closely read the passage, and identify the central idea of the passage. It is vital to identify
the general idea of the passage and incorporate it in one’s précis.
 Look-out for the total number of words. If the number is not provided, quickly calculate
the number using approximations.
 In order to understand the passage clearly, make sure that you read the passage closely,
and give it a couple of reads before you start writing the précis.
 Highlight the most important points in the passage, and make notes. Leave out all non-
essential information from the précis.
 Provide an apt heading to your précis.
 Note making is an essential task for writing précis. You should try to arrange the points
in most logical order, and ensure the order of thought is the same as the original.
 The three grammatical rules you need to follow while writing a précis are: write it in third
person, indirect form and appropriate past tense.
 It is advisable to provide designations of officials rather than names and titles. In case the
official designation is not provided, you can use the personal name. kindly be consistent with the
pattern you adopt.
 Make sure you review your rough draft, remove the chinks and ensure that you have
made no language related errors.
 Before writing your précis, make sure you have a glance over the original to make sure
you have not missed anything.
 Finally, a wise policy would be a count the words of your precis and put them down in a
bracket at the end.
Sample Précis
 Original Passage (199 words)
"It is evident that those in the prime of life will be between the young and the old in character,
subtracting the excess of either, and neither exceedingly confident (rashness is such) nor too
fearful but having the right amount of both, neither trusting nor distrusting everybody but rather
making realistic judgments and not directing their lives only to what is fine or what is
advantageous but to both and neither to frugality nor to extravagance but to what is fitting.
Similarly in regard to impulse and desire. And they combine prudence with courage and courage
with prudence, while among the young and the old these things are separated; for the young are
brave and lack self-restraint, the older prudent and cowardly. To speak in general terms,
whatever advantages youth and old age have separately, [those in their prime] combine, and
whatever the former have to excess or in deficiency, the latter have in due measure and in a
fitting way. The body is in its prime from the age of thirty to thirty-five, the mind about age
forty-nine. Let this much be said about the kinds of character of youth and old age and the prime
of life." (Aristotle, Rhetoric, Book Two, Chapter 14. Translated by George A.
Kennedy, Aristotle, On Rhetoric: A Theory of Civic Discourse. Oxford University Press, 1991)
 Précis (68 words)
"The character of those in the prime of life lies midway between that of youth and of age.
Neither rash nor timid, neither skeptical nor overtrusting, they usually make choices on a true
basis. They are not given to excess in desire, nor to lack of feeling or parsimony. They live
respecting both honor and expediency. In short, the most useful traits of youth and age are
theirs." (James J. Murphy and Richard A. Katula, A Synoptic History of Classical Rhetoric, 3rd
ed. Hermagoras Press, 2003)
 Paragraph:
All the evil in this world is brought about by persons who are always up and doing, but do not
know when they ought to be up and nor what they ought to be doing. The devil, I take it, is still
the busiest creature in the universe, and I can quite imagine him denouncing laziness and
becoming angry at the smallest waste of time. In his kingdom, I will bet, nobody is allowed to do
nothing, not even for a single afternoon. The world, we all freely admit, is in a muddle, but I for
one do not think that it is laziness that has brought it to such a pass. It is not the active virtues
that it lacks but the passive ones: it is capable of anything but kindness and a little steady
thought. There is still plenty of energy in the world(there never were more fussy people about),
but most of it is simply misdirected. If ,for example, in July 1914, when there was some capital
idling weather, everybody-- emperors, kings, archdukes, statesmen, generals, journalists, had
been suddenly struck with an intense desire to do nothing, just to hang about in the sunshine and
consume tobacco, then we should all have been much better off than we are now. But no, the
doctrine of the strenuous life still went unchallenged; there must be no time wasted, something
must be done. And, as we know, something was done. Again, suppose our statesmen, instead of
rushing off to Versailles with a bundle of ill-digested notions and a great deal of energy to
dissipate, had all taken a fortnight off, away from all correspondence and interviews and what
not, and had simply lounged about on some hill side or other apparently doing nothing for the
first time in their energetic lives, then they might have gone to their so-called Peace Conference
and come away again with their reputations still unsoiled and the affairs of the world in good
trim. Even at the present time, if half the politicians in Europe would relinquish the notion that
laziness is a crime and go away and do nothing for a little space, we should certainly gain by it.
Other examples come crowding into the mind. Thus, every now and then, certain religious sects
hold conferences; but though there are evils abroad that are mountains high, though the fate of
civilization is still doubtful, the members who attend these conferences spend their time
condemning the length of ladies' skirts and the noisiness of dance bands. They would all be
better employed lying flat on their backs somewhere, staring at the sky and recovering their
mental health.
 PRECIS
People whose actions are devoid of good deeds, bring harm to the world. If activity alone was
criteria of goodness, devil would have been the finest being in the universe. Not indolence, but
actions in want of quality and direction are responsible for dilapidated condition of the world. In
the past, wars and political miscalculations could have been avoided if politicians and statesmen
had practiced restraint.
Inaction, even if practiced briefly by some politicians in contemporary Europe, could certainly
benefit humanity. Similarly, meetings arranged by various religious organisation do not address
the grave and gigantic problems faced by humanity; instead, participants in such meetings
indulge in discussions over trivial subjects. Such kind of people will be better off resting at
someplace than participating in worldly matters.
Total Words = 443

Words required after précis: 147
Actual words after précis: 136
Title: Indolence in Political and Religious Sphere – a panacea for Anarchy
Or
Indolence trumps actions in want of quality and direction
Precis No. 25
A significant improvement in employment opportunities for women is linked up with an overall

improvement in the employment situation. Nevertheless, it should be possible for the
employment policy to work towards a rise in the share of women in the organized sector which
generally provides more secure and better Paid employment than the unorganized sector. At
present their share is very low (about 12 per cent). To raise this share, it will be necessary, firstly,
to induce and encourage employers to overcome the bias against employment of women which,
to an extent, still persists though it is on the wane. Secondly, education and training opportunities
for women should be further expanded, diversified and made more easily accessible. Thirdly,
residential accommodation for working mothers should be increased several fold. Fourthly, there
should be much greater availability of creches and other facilities for child care during the
working hours of mothers. Finally, public opinion should be educated to shed the traditional bias
against female education, training and work away from home.
Précis: Employment opportunities for women in the organized sector must be increased as it
provides secure and better-paid employment. This can be done by encouraging employers to hire
women, expanding education, and training opportunities for women, increasing residential
accommodation for working women, making available crèches and educating public in favour of
female education and employment.

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Précis Writing

 Original Passage (199 words)

 Précis (68 words)

Total Words = 443

A significant improvement in employment opportunities for women is linked up with an overall

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