15 Summary

A summary will need to:

• Accurately, effectively, and ethically identify and describe the subject or source.
• Identify and describe the key components and points.
• Define and explain key terms as needed.
• Present this information to readers in an efficient, accessible format.

Summaries provide bare-bones details—but always enough to communicate what the writer thinks is most important for the audience to know.  That is, summaries provide readers with the most important points from a subject or source. Significantly shorter than the source material, summaries condense key points, ideas, methods, terms, and so forth. As the Oxford English Dictionary explains, a summary is “a shortened statement or account which gives only the main or essential points of something, not the details; an abridgement.” The key words here are “shortened” and “only the main or essential points.”

Summaries are foundational. We often need to provide information quickly and efficiently. Writers use them in a variety of ways: to let readers know what something is all about, so they can decide whether to read further; to distill complex ideas into smaller, more digestible chunks; to introduce a subject or topic before going into more detail or deeper analysis; to briefly describe to readers a topic that they may be interested in; or to support an argument. These are just a few ways writers use summaries.

Summaries are everywhere. A photo caption in a news story, for example, is a kind of summary; it tells readers what the photo is about and what it has to do with the story. On a restaurant menu, brief descriptions are included so that customers know what to expect; these descriptions summarize the most important points about the dish. In academic writing, abstracts—usually a short paragraph located before the beginning of the essay itself—summarize key points so that fellow scholars can quickly identify what those key points are and how useful the essay might be to them. In a brochure for a new car, ad writers use summaries to highlight the features they think are most important to customers. These are just a few examples. Can you think of others?

Consider more closely what summaries do in different situations by comparing the following examples. These summaries describe a 2016 documentary by Ava DuVernay:

“[In 13th], Filmmaker Ava DuVernay explores the history of racial inequality in the United States, focusing on the fact that the nation’s prisons are disproportionately filled with African-Americans.” — Rotten Tomatoes website

“[DuVernay’s] documentary ‘13th’ is a powerful look at how the modern-day prison labor system links to slavery. The film, which premieres on Netflix and in select theaters Friday, offers a timely and emotional message framed by the upcoming election and the Black Lives Matter movement.” — Bethonie Butler, The Washington Post

“DuVernay’s acclaimed 2016 documentary, 13th … investigates the issue of mass incarceration in the United States in relation to the 13th Amendment, and the history of racism and of mistreating and criminalizing black folks, especially black men.” — Sara E. Juarez, Cinesthesia

Notice the key points that each summary focuses on. For example, each one names the source material and mentions key aspects of the film; those details cover the ethical requirements for summaries. You might also notice slight differences in how each of these summaries work. For example, the third example comes from a scholarly analysis of the film; it is the most detailed of the three. The first (and shortest) example comes from an online, Wikipedia-style source for movie reviews: Rotten Tomatoes. And the middle source comes from a review published by a national news outlet, The Washington Post; it most clearly offers an opinion about the source.  Which summary is most successful in terms of the genre it is used for?

The effectiveness of a summary is contingent on the purpose, context, and target audience for each genre. In The Washington Post review, for example, a key purpose is to summarize the film but not give away too much of the plot; notice how film critic B. Butler provides information for readers who might want to see the film. Juarez’s summary, on the other hand, aims for an academic audience; to fulfill the genre conventions of scholarly essays, she provides basic information about the film, from its connection with to 13th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution to its subject matter (“the issue of mass incineration in the United States”). Also, the second and third examples assume that audiences know what a “documentary” is, but this term is not defined.

Each example, in short, demonstrates what summaries do in different genres, for different purposes, and for different audiences. Notably, these film summaries are significantly different from a full synopsis, which would more fully describe sections and other components of 13th. To use a sports analysis, rather than giving you the detailed, play-by-play report, summaries say simply that Team X won the game by 10 points in overtime. Sometimes you need the short version, not a whole replay. To keep your readers engaged, your project manageable, and your points clear, you need a summary. Knowing how to write summaries is a foundational first step to take before moving on to analysis.