Topic: Summary Writing

TOPIC : SUMMARY WRITING
What is Summary Writing?
Summary Writing is the process of condensing a larger piece of writing, such as an

article, text, or document into a shorter form while still capturing its main points,
essential details and key information.
Purpose of Summary writing
1. Saves time: Provide a quick overview for readers who don’t have time to read
the entire original text.
2. Improve understanding: Help readers grasp the main ideas and key points
without getting bogged down in details.
3. Enhance retention: Summaries can aid in remembering important information
by highlighting key points.
4. Facilitate research: Summaries can help researchers quickly identify relevant
sources and understand their main contributions.
5. Support decision-making: Summaries can provide a concise basis for
decision-making, especially in business or policy contexts.
Challenges Students face in Summary writing
1. Difficulty in identifying main ideas: Struggling to determine what

information is most important.
2. Inability to condense information: Trouble condensing complex information
into concise points.
3. Including too much detail: Failing to leave out unnecessary information,
making the summary too long.
4. Lack of clarity: Using unclear or vague language, making the summary
hard to understand.
5. Poor organization: Failing to structure the summary in a logical and
coherent way.
Procedures for Summary Writing

The first step you should take to write a good précis is to read the passage several
times and ascertain what the subject matter of the passage is. It is believed that
you cannot fully understand a passage until you have read it completely with the
deepest concentration. It is after a complete understanding of the passage that you
will be able to discover the way in which the data is organised, the sequence of
thought that is developed and the relationship of one to another.
a. Underlining
One method to adopt in reading for summarisation is to underline key words and
concepts, as such concepts and words so underlined are good clues which indicate
not only the organisation of thought but also the topic of the passage.
b. Formulation of Title
Another method is to formulate your title which must point to the subject matter of
the passage. It is recommended that you give a title to your summary even if it is
not asked for. Read the passage as directed by the first step in the foregoing
paragraph; it is from your complete understanding of the passage that you will
derive the title of your summary. What you can do to get the title is to stop a little,
after having read the passage several times, and ask yourself, what is the
story/passage about? Naturally, your answer will begin with: ‘the story is about…’
c. Slow Repetitious Reading
The next stage is to read the passage again very slowly and carefully. As pointed
out before, underline the important points at this stage. These are points you are
going to include in your finished piece. Note that at this stage you should be reading
for the general meaning of individual words or phrases, and for the structure of the
item and the development of its ideas. The important points in this way will be
discovered. An important point is the point that is germane to the delivery of the
central theme. If you leave it out, you will dismember the message of the passage
completely.
d. Bringing out the Relevant Points
Another is to write the rough draft of the principal points. A useful technique is to
identify the key topics of the paragraph as a starting point. Avoid copying out the
language of the original if the question requires you to use your own words’.
e. Writing of First Draft
The fifth step is concerned with the use of your notes to write a continuous and
grammatical summary of the passage. Substitute familiar words for unusual ones in
the original. Your points should be selected on the basis of the categories: essential,
relevant but not essential, irrelevant. Your summary at this stage may be longer
than required, as the stage is not ‘the end”; continue with further writing down of
the required pieces of information. You can shorten it by eliminating detail and
cutting off irrelevant words, omit all figurative language, questions and examples or
particularised statement until the summary is of the required length. Count the
words in your summary to ensure that you do not exceed the word limit.
f. Comparison of Summary with Passage
The sixth stage has to do with the comparing of your summary with the original
passage with a view to establishing their similarity in meaning. Communication and
particularly in structure. The two of them must be seen to contain the same
message, communicate the message in the same way and retain the message in
the same order of its presentation.
g. Final Reading of Draft
The seventh stage demands that you read your draft again to ensure that it is
intelligible to a reader who has never seen the original. It should be in readable
English. That is, it should be grammatically sound. In full sentence form and
properly punctuated. Use linking words to reduce the loss of smoothness which may
be caused by the congestion of the salient points. The use of connectives will
prevent the use of too many short sentences and assist you to keep the paragraph
of normal length.
h. Writing out the Final Copy
In the eighth stage, you are advised to write out the final copy of your summary in
your own words. There is nothing you can do about some specialist terms like
oxygen, inflation, capsule and others, but to lift them directly from the original
passage without attempting to find alternatives to them. Do not copy sentences and
phrases from the passage except you find them unavoidable and unalterable as in
some passages in the Pure Sciences. Expressing their sense in your own words may
reduce their qualitative meaning.
i. Taking Note of the Number of Words
The last thing you should do as the ninth step is to record the number of words in
your summary at the end in brackets. Do not count the number of words of the title
of your summary; it is usually not added to the total number of words in your précis.

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TOPIC : SUMMARY WRITING

What is Summary Writing?

Summary Writing is the process of condensing a larger piece of writing, such as an

Purpose of Summary writing

Challenges Students face in Summary writing

1. Difficulty in identifying main ideas: Struggling to determine what

Procedures for Summary Writing

c. Slow Repetitious Reading

d. Bringing out the Relevant Points

e. Writing of First Draft

f. Comparison of Summary with Passage

g. Final Reading of Draft

h. Writing out the Final Copy

i. Taking Note of the Number of Words

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