Summaries

Six Steps
 Six steps

Skim Look at genre / Identify main Make a point- Write a draft Revise
overall ideas / form outline
structure supporting
ideas
 1. Skim first to identify
 General topic (look at title, headings)
 Author
 Title of article
Step 1: Skim  Title of source (where was it published?)
 Purpose (Written to inform? Persuade or
argue? Tell a story?)
 What is this thing you are summarizing?

Step 2: Look  Academic journal article or essay?

 News article?
at genre /  Opinion piece?

structure  Report?
 Narrative?
 Read the beginning

Tips for Is there

 A “hook”

understandi  A question?
 A thesis or claim?

ng
structure
 Look for patterns in the body of the article. Is the

Understand author
 asking and answering questions?
 defining a problem and offering a solution?
ing  explaining how something developed?
 arguing for or against a position?
structure  analyzing something?
 Read the ending. Does the author

Understand 

Summarize?
Repeat an idea?

ing
 End with a call to action or a suggestion?
 All of these indicate key ideas!

structure
  Academic writing (including textbooks)

Step 3:
 main idea will often be at beginning (topic
sentence) or end of paragraph (concluding
sentence)

Identify  Business writing

 main idea will often be in headings and at
main / beginnings of paragraphs

 News article
supporting  who-what-where-when-why will be at top of a
hard-news article
ideas  Other writing
 main ideas may be harder to find
 Words / phrases that signal main ideas

Question and Words showing Words showing Words showing Words showing Opinion words
answer words hierarchy / contradiction repetition / conclusion
emphasis adding ideas
why-because first, second, finally although, but, again, once more therefore, thus, as a I believe, in my
main, most however also, in addition, result opinion, I think
important, key, furthermore
above all
major, noteworthy,
relevant
 Words that signal supporting ideas

Words that introduce Explanation or

examples clarification words
For example, for instance, to illustrate, This means that, in other words,
such as specifically
  Title / author / source
Step 4:  Topic / purpose of article

Make a  Main idea

 Essential supporting idea

point-form  Main idea

 Essential supporting idea
outline  Continue as necessary
I’ve got other stuff to do. Why
do I have to bother with this
step?

 It helps you separate the main

ideas from the supporting
points
 It helps you paraphrase (and
avoid plagiarism)
  First sentence: identify what you are
summarizing

Step 5:  Next: provide an overview of the article’s

purpose (main question or argument)

Write a draft  Provide other main / supporting ideas

 Use connecting and transitional words to
link your ideas
  Have you identified the thing you are summarizing at
the start of your summary?
 Check your draft against your outline: have you
captured the main ideas?

Step 6:  Have you expressed the ideas in your own words?

Rewrite any paraphrases that are too close to the

Assess and phrasing of the original article.

 Think about your audience and purpose again. Is the

revise writing style appropriate?

 Try one of these proof-reading techniques:
 read your summary out loud
 read your summary from the last sentence to the first
 put your summary away and read it again in a few
hours.