Precis Writing

Definition:

A brief summary of a book, article, speech, or other text. Plural: précis.

The basic characteristics of an effective précis are conciseness, clarity, completeness, unity, and
coherence. (See Examples and Observations, below.)

What is a Precis ?

A precise is like a miniature portrait of the passage, it retains the absolute essential points
accompanied with the mood and tone of the author of the passage. The one aspect one has
to be careful about is that one should not add one’s subjective interpretation or comments to
the précis and should try to retain the original author’s voice and opinions. As far as the
writing style is concerned, one must ensure that one write clear and effective sentences (no
rambling) and one’s diction is flawless. Ultimately, it the coherence of the views that you
presented in the précis that matter, and this can be achieved by making sure that one is
precise and to the point in one’s approach. Unnecessarily long sentences or rambling
thoughts are not required in précis writing, and one should make sure that one sifts from
one point to another in a smooth matter. At the end of the day, the précis should make sense
and be logical in its presentation. Thus a precis is not:

 simply a summary of a passage.

 simply an abstract of a passage.
 an outline of a passage.
 a mere selection of a few important sentences from a passage.
 a collection of disconnected facts and statements.

Features of a Good Precis

 A good Precis:
o s marked by clarity, brevity and precision.
o is not just lifting of the sentences from the original. It should be written in the
precis writer's own words.
o is a miniature version of the original passage.
o must have a logical order and be well-knit and well connected.
 o must have coherence; must use linking devices such as so, therefore, and, because
further etc. and must follow the
o order of ideas of the original.
o must have a title.
o is written in reported speech.
o must not contain any details not found in the original.
o

 Do's in a precis :
o Start your précis by highlighting the main idea of the passage and you should
create contextual environment where you can place the necessary points. Once the
main idea is established in the précis, you can present the methods, points, facts
etc. used by the author of the passage.
o Compress and clarify a lengthy passage, article, or book, while retaining
important concepts, key words, and important data.
o Remove what is superfluous and retain the core essence of the work.
o Always remember that mentions about history/writing about history should be
advisably done in the past tense.
o State the purpose of the research or piece of writing (why was it important to
conduct this research or write on this topic?)

 Don'ts in a précis:
o Do not express your own opinion, wish, remark or criticism.
o Do not insert any question in your précis. Its significance, if essential, may be
expressed by a statement.
o Do not use abbreviations or contractions.
o Do not be jerky. This suggests that most probably, you have not understood the
sense of the passage properly.

Precis in the making

When one is writing a précis, one should take care of a few essential points. The first thing
is that one needs to convey the general idea of the argument with absolute clarity. The
second thing that you need to do is to make sure that all the important points of the original
passage are included in the precis. Lastly, make sure that the language of the précis is clear,
crisp and concise, and follows the rule for correct diction. The following rules are general
guidelines you should follow while writing a précis. Kindly keep the following in mind :

 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.

Writing a Precis of a given passage.

PRECIS WRITING:

Writing a precis means making an intelligent summary of a long passage. To write a precis one
should have a clear understanding of the passage: only then well one be able to include all the
essential points and tips and tricks of essay examples in the precis.

Some general considerations :


Learn with shortening in your words, text of written work useful writing tips, essential thoughts,
ideas or fact on how to write a precis writing format with
preciswritingexamples.wordpress.com.

It is generally accepted that a precis should be a third of the passage given. If the original
passage has 300 words, the precis should not be more than 110 words in length.
  A precis should be in the language of the precis-writer. The original passage is not to be reduced
in length by just removing unimportant or unnecessary sentences and by reproducing the rest as
the precis. It should be a brief gist or summary of the passage expressed in the writer’s own
words.

 A precis should be full i.e. it should contain all the essential thoughts, ideas or fact in the original
passage. It should not contain repetitions or observations that are not relevant to the main
theme of the original.

 A precis is always written in Reported Speech. The passage given may be a speech made by a
person in Direct Speech, but the precis is to be in Reported Speech and in the Third Person and
in the Past tense.

Techniques of Precis – Writing

There three kinds of work to be done in producing a clear and successful precis. They are (1)
Reading, (2) Writing and (3) Revision.

Reading
Read the passage carefully

If one reading is not enough to give you a general idea of its meaning, then read it a second time.
As you read, find out the subject or the theme of the passage and what is said about the subject.

It will be a good thing if you find out the lead or the topic sentence. The lead sentence will help
you to see the subject clearly. It will also help you to think of a title for the precis example.

Further reading may be necessary at this stage to make sure that the details of the passage are
also understood. Read the passage more slowly this time, even sentence by sentence, and make
sure that everything in the passage is understood. If this is not done, it is likely that you will miss
something important, especially if it is expressed by a short phrase or a single word.

Now comes the process of selection. The writer of the precis writing passages has to decide what
facts or ideas in the passage are essential and what are of secondary or no importance. Taking the
main ideas of the passages as your point of reference, it should not be too difficult to write out
the important points in the original in a corner of your writing work sheet.
Writing

You should first prepare a draft of the precis,

keeping in mind, the need to reduce he original to one-third its length. The main thoughts
expressed in the passage, the ideas it contains, the opinions presented and the conclusion arrived
at should figure in the rough draft. Unimportant things like the names of people and places and
dates should not figure in it.

It may so happen that your first draft is too long or that it sounds rather jerky. Shorten it if
necessary and write out a careful second draft during college preparation. Sometimes you may
need to work out three or even four drafts, but with reasonable care and concentration, you
should normally succeed in producing a good precis writing by the second draft.

Remember that a precis or essay is a connected whole and that it should read smoothly and
continuously, Get more advice and tips for more study tips for online education sites.

Revisioin

When you have made your second (or final) draft, carefully revise it before writing out the fair
copy. Look for many mistakes or slips in grammar or spelling and correct them. Don’t forge to
give your precis a title for precis writing examples.

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Know How to Write Thesis Statements
Dec 21

Posted by Online Universities in USA

Whether you are a apprentice or a teacher, writing apriorism statements is the lot of difficult
allotment of the writing process. Acceptances abnormally accept a difficult time crafting
apriorism statements that are not alone concise, but aback an argument. However, writing
apriorism statements “and teaching how to address them “does not accept to be difficult. If you
chase a few simple steps, you’ll accept acceptance creating abundant apriorism statements, and
by extension, abundant affidavit in no time. The aboriginal time you do this, you’ll apparently
wish to airing your acceptance through the accomplished affair in class, but they’ll get the adhere
of it bound and anon be able to do it on their own.

Active Reading

Many acceptance like to apprehend after accomplishing abundant else. These will not advice
them address able apriorism statements. They charge to appoint in alive reading, or account with
a purpose.

It helps if they apperceive afore they alpha account that they charge to address a cardboard on
this accurate piece. You can as well accord them some examples of things to attending for.
Historical context, author’s message, style, and appearance development are all abundant ideas.
Then, if they are reading, they should accentuate passages that they acquisition absorbing or
yield notes.

Brainstorming

Once the acceptance accept completed their alive reading, they should attending at the passages
they accent or the addendum they took. They should be able to activate seeing a theme, or
something that recurs throughout their notes. This is what they should anticipate about writing
their cardboard on. Accept them begin some added account about this topic. The best way to do
this is to accept them address down aggregate they can anticipate of about their affair in
affiliation to the section they apprehend for 5 minutes, even if they anticipate the account are no
good. Then, they’ll accept something to plan with.

Ask a Question

After they brainstorm, they should attending at their notes. Accept them address down a few
questions about their notes. These should be questions that they can acknowledgment in a
accomplished paper, not yes or no questions. Then, accept them accept one catechism they
would like to accord with for the absoluteness of their paper.
Answer a Question

Once they accept called a question, they charge to acknowledgment that question. Remind
them that there is no one appropriate acknowledgment to any question. Rather, as continued as
they can prove that their acknowledgment is correct, it is. Their answers should be in the
anatomy of a sentence, and it should be abundantly detailed. This agency that they should abide
allurement themselves “why?” and “so what?”, until they cannot ask these questions anymore.

This will advice them ability a account that is not alone an argument, but is a circuitous one with
abounding facets, which will advice them address a bigger paper. The acknowledgment to the
catechism is their apriorism statement.

Collect Details

After they accept crafted their apriorism statements, they should go aback through the section
they are writing about to aggregate details. Some of these may be in their notes, but addition
attending through the access with a focus can advice them acquisition data they had missed.
Accept them address these data down and again compose an outline or a clear organizer of sorts
to advice them adapt their paper. They should be able to array data into two or three capital
points, and this capital credibility will eventually become their physique paragraphs.

Write!

The final step in the action is for acceptance to address their precis writing. However, this
should be simple already they accept done all of this pre-work. Accept them address paragraphs
and sentences based on the data they collect, and consistently be abiding they are traveling aback
to proving their aphorism throughout the accomplished thesis.

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Tips on how to write a thesis for a research paper examples

Dec 5

Posted by Online Universities in USA

A term paper, normally known as a search paper, could be a sensibly thesis and precis writing
that’s needed to be ready for obtaining a grade in an remarkably degree. It’s to be written at the
top of the term. It’s a compulsory project for college kids, and one cannot get a degree or skip to
following term while not submitting this term paper. For creating a suitable term paper, you wish
to require in mind some necessary concerns and following steps of tips on how to write a
research paper.

General Writing recommendations on Term Paper

Select Associate in nursing applicable Topic

The first step is to decide on a subject on that you’ll analysis on

and write the simplest. There area unit several students World Health Organization don’t get
smart grades only for the rationale that they didn’t opt for the acceptable topic for analysis. It’s
obvious that you simply got to choose a subject that is appropriate to your specific field of study.
If you’ve got any doubt relating to that topic you ought to choose, the simplest choice is to
debate along with your faculty member World Health Organization can for certain assist you in
selecting out a decent topic. It’s not suggested to travel for a search paper topic that’s too general
in nature. Instead, choose one, that though’ being rare, may be researched enough with adequate
data as needed for the project. Also, don’t miss out on deciding the issues that require to be
processed within the term paper. The issues will definitely be a decent base for a well reasoned
theory of paper.

Try to Gather Term Paper Data

After you’ve got elect the subject that’s rare, nevertheless re searchable; you’ll begin the task of
aggregation data that’s associated with the subject. The simplest thanks to collect smart data is
that the webs, which can conjointly offer you new concepts referring to what further points you,
wish to incorporate in your term paper. However, you’ll conjointly bear previous term and
analysis papers. Books and encyclopedias area unit different smart resources of gathering helpful
data. Collect the maximum amount knowledge as potential.
Arrange the Collected knowledge Properly in Writing

The next step is too arranged and prepares all the information collected. You will or might not
embrace all the knowledge that’s collected. If you opt to incorporate all gathered knowledge
within the term paper, simply confirm that it doesn’t add up to the length. You’ll conjointly
choose solely the foremost appropriate, related, and vital aspects, to form a decent analysis
paper. Don’t think about points which will build the reader escape from the most topic of
writing.

Follow the quality Pattern

You then got to produce an overview of however your term paper can really be. When thinking
on the matter and data, decide however you’ll place it in sections and sub-sections. It’s always
higher to follow the standard analysis paper format; which has the heading and therefore the
starting part, main remains of the paper, concluding ending, list, and appendices. Organizing all
of your knowledge during this pattern can build the paper acceptable.

Make a Draft

After you’ve got selected the format of presentation and therefore the matter that’s to be
enclosed, prepare a rough draft. Prepare the rough draft as if you’re really creating the ultimate
term paper of research paper draft example. This may rule out abundant of the probabilities of
errors and modifications. Once you complete creating the draft, revise it totally for any mistakes.
Bear the matter and determine if it’s applicable price mentioning. To forestall errors, it’s steered
to revise the rough draft many times and let a 3rd person check it for any mistakes that were left
unnoticed.

Write the ultimate term paper Writing

After you’ve got created all the modifications and changes, you’ll proceed to form the ultimate
term paper. Bear the ultimate paper repeatedly to search out some additional mistakes. You’ll
conjointly provide it to a 3rd person for checking if it’s in an exceedingly correct flow. Scrutiny
your final paper with different previous analysis papers could be an excellent plan for tips on
writing to ascertain if your paper is suitable and valuable.

Those higher than navigation a way to write a term paper ought to most crucially creating
perceive that you simply got to be terribly peacefully in reasoning the speculation and downside
including higher than. Any incorrect or inappropriate purpose and hints will considerably lower
your faculty or faculty grades. Best of luck!!

 Methods and Purpose

"A précis is not an outline, but a summary or digest. It is useful as an exercise in grasping the
essential ideas of an already completed composition and in stating these ideas in concentrated
form. The précis shears away all elaborations of the thought and gives only what is left, in such a
 way as to make the summary a complete composition. It does not, therefore, skeletonize the
original composition so much as it reduces its scale. Many of the articles in The Reader's Digest
are only précis, so skillfully done that the average reader does not know that he is reading a
summary. Since the précis says a great deal within a brief space, it is of great service in taking
notes on library assignments and general reading."
(Donald Davidson, American Composition and Rhetoric. Scribner's, 1968)
 Example of a Précis in MLA style
"Here is an example of a précis in MLA style:

Newman, Leah. Robert Frost: The People, Places, and Stories Behind His New England Poetry.
Shelburne, VT: The New England Press, 2000.
Newman has collected 36 of Frost's poems, arranging them chronologically according to when
they were written or based upon her educated estimate if an exact date for his writing the poem
is not firm. Writing for the ordinary reader and not for scholars, she comments on both the
autobiographical evidence in each poem and on literary analyses of it. Her appendices include a
chronology of Frost's life, 'How to Start a Frost Poetry Circle,' and thematic groupings of the
poems.

The précis may also have included evaluative comments on the work as well."
(Dawn Rodrigues and R.J. Rodrigues, The Research Paper: A Guide to Library and Internet
Research, 3rd ed. Prentice Hall, 2003)

 History of Précis Writing

"The history of Précis Writing is practically impossible to trace with any exactitude, for no
records, apparently, of its original adoption and gradual growth exist. . . .

"The appointment of Précis Writer, which today is virtually equivalent to that of Private
Secretary, was first officially recognised during the reign of Queen Anne [1665 - 1714], by which
time it was probably realised that the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs could not possibly
himself wade through all the original documents with which he was called upon to deal. . . .

"Adopted originally as a time-saving device, it is only recently that the value of précis writing as
a means of mental training has come to be recognised."
(G. B. Beak, Indexing and Précis Writing. Macmillan, 1908)

Pronunciation: PRAY-see

Also Known As: abstract, summary, executive summary, synopsis

Alternate Spellings: precis

Precis writing is another name for summarizing. Writing a précis means to shorten a given
passage to about one third of the original. So, a lot of things have to be omitted, but none of the
important points or things can be omitted. It contains the gist or the main theme of the passage
expressed in your own words.

Precis writing needs unwavering attention and full concentration. One can follow the following
method in order to become a good précis writer.

1. Read the passage thoroughly, and give it a title. The title you choose will indicate whether you
have been able to understand the passage or not. If your title does not deal with the main idea of
the passage, you have not understood the passage properly.

2. Give a second reading, underlining the main ideas of the passage.

3. Make a draft of the précis, using only the underlined sentences.

4. Omit illustrations, examples, details and repetition.

5. Arrange these points logically; generally the order of the original is retained.

6. Write in your own words. A précis which borrows phrases and language from the original
usually crosses the word limit. Borrow only the ideas, and express them in your own language.

7. If the summary is too long, rewrite it to bring it within the limit of near about one third of the
original.

8. The précis should be in the same tense, in third person and in indirect speech.

9. One word substitution of longer terms is very helpful.

Sample précis:

Trees give shade for the benefit of others, and while they themselves stand in the sun and endure
the scorching heat, they produce the fruit of which others profit. The character of good men is
like that of trees. What is the use of this perishable body if no use is made of it for the benefit of
mankind? Sandalwood, the more it is rubbed, the more scent does it yield. Sugarcane, the more it
is peeled and cut up into pieces, the more juice does it produce. The men who are noble at heart
do not lose their qualities even in losing their lives. What matters whether men praise them or
not? What difference does it make whether they die at this moment or whether lives are
prolonged? Happen what may, those who tread in the right path will not set foot in any other.
Life itself is unprofitable to a man who does not live for others. To live for the mere sake of
living one’s life is to live the life of dog and crows. Those who lay down their lives for the sake
of others will assuredly dwell for ever in a world of bliss.

Title- Good men live for others.

Outline: The character of good men is like that of trees _____ What is the use of this perishable
body if no use is made of it for the benefit of mankind_____ The men who are noble at heart do
not lose their qualities even in losing their lives _____ Those who tread in the right path will not
set foot in any other _____ To live for the mere sake of living one’s life is to live the life of dogs
or crows _____ Those who lay down their lives for the sake of others will assuredly dwell for
ever in a world of bliss.

Precis

Good men live for others

The character of good men is like that of trees. They live for others and do not lose their qualities
even in losing their lives. They always follow the right path. Praise is immaterial to them To live
for one’s own sake is to lead the life of beasts. Only those who lay down their lives for others
will live for ever in a world of bliss
 Eponyms

Called Eponyms, many words tell interesting tales about their origins.Wittingly
or unwittingly, few people and places have left their names for posterity through
words that were coined after them. These words are derived from the names of
real, fictional, mythical or spurious persons, places or characters, although
many of these Eponyms come from the persons surnames.