25.12 Summarizing
Overview
The foundation of all reading experiences is comprehension. Even when we’re reading for pleasure and entertainment, we must first be able to comprehend the writer’s meaning before we can enjoy or appreciate his or her story or style.
Proficient readers understand that all texts don’t give up their meaning easily and vary their reading speed and strategies according to the demands of each individual text. Proficient readers monitor their comprehension and apply fix-up strategies to repair meaning when it breaks down.
Summarizing a text is one of the most effective strategies for monitoring comprehension: when you can accurately summarize what a text is saying, you can be assured that you have understood its meaning.
Proficient students understand that summarizing, identifying what is most important and restating the text in your own words, is an important tool for college success.
After all, if you really know a subject, you will be able to summarize it. If you cannot summarize a subject, even if you have memorized all the facts about it, you can be absolutely sure that you have not learned it. And, if you truly learn the subject, you will still be able to summarize it months or years from now.
Proficient students may monitor their understanding of a text by summarizing as they read. They understand that if they can write a one- or two-sentence summary of each paragraph after reading it, then that is a good sign that they have correctly understood it. If they can not summarize the main idea of the paragraph, they know that comprehension has broken down and they need to use fix-up strategies to repair understanding.
Summarizing consists of two important skills:
- identifying the important material in the text, and
- restating the text in your own words.
Since writing a summary consists of omitting minor information, it will always be shorter than the original text.
How to Write a Summary
A summary begins with an introductory sentence that states the text’s title, author and main thesis or subject.
A summary contains the main thesis (or main point of the text), restated in your own words.
A summary is written in your own words. It contains few or no quotes.
A summary is always shorter than the original text, often about 1/3 as long as the original. It is the ultimate “fat-free” writing. An article or paper may be summarized in a few sentences or a couple of paragraphs. A book may be summarized in an article or a short paper. A very large book may be summarized in a smaller book.
A summary should contain all the major points of the original text, but should ignore most of the fine details, examples, illustrations or explanations.
The backbone of any summary is formed by critical information (key names, dates, places, ideas, events, words and numbers). A summary must never rely on vague generalities.
If you quote anything from the original text, even an unusual word or a catchy phrase, you need to put whatever you quote in quotation marks (“”).
A summary must contain only the ideas of the original text. Do not insert any of your own opinions, interpretations, deductions or comments into a summary.
A summary, like any other writing, has to have a specific audience and purpose, and you must carefully write it to serve that audience and fulfill that specific purpose.
Student Example
Writing a Summary:
“Multiple Intelligences” by Fred Medick
The article “Multiple Intelligences” by Fred Medick provides an definition and description of the concept of multiple intelligences, and addresses positives and negatives for educators associated with this idea.
According to Medick, the founder of this idea was Howard Gardner, who defined the first seven intelligences in his book Frames of Mind: linguistic, logical-mathematical, musical, bodily-kinesthetic, spatial, interpersonal, and intrapersonal. These intelligences are not accepted by psychologists, but are welcomed by educators. Some see drawbacks to multiple intelligences because most cannot be measured or tested for improvement.
The article encourages readers to take an online test to determine their own strengths across the intelligences. It concludes by addressing additional intelligences that have been proposed by others: naturalistic, spiritual, moral, and emotional. Emotional intelligence in particular seems to have a large impact on people’s success in life, and Daniel Goleman is referenced to explain what emotional intelligence is and why it is so valuable in school and beyond.
Assignment
Write a 2-3 paragraph summary of your reading selection. This summary should include:
- the text’s thesis statement
- an overview of the text’s main ideas
- a neutral tone (your opinions about the content will not be included)
Licenses and Attributions
Introduction to Reading to Understand. Authored by: Elisabeth Ellington and Ronda Dorsey Neugebauer. Provided by: Chadron State College. Project: Kaleidoscope Open Course Initiative. License: CC BY: Attribution
Try It: Summary Skills. Provided by: Lumen Learning. License: CC BY: Attribution
