How can I write a proper summary? (2024)

FAQs

How do you write a summary answer? ›

To summarize, you must read a passage closely, finding the main ideas and supporting ideas. Then you must briefly write down those ideas in a few sentences or a paragraph. It is important to understand the difference between a summary and a paraphrase. A paraphrase is simply a rewriting of a passage in your own words.

Instead, you should extract only those elements that you think are most important—the main idea (or thesis) and its essential supporting points, which in the original passage may have been interwoven with less important material. Many students make the mistake of confusing summary with analysis.

The act of summarizing is much like stating the plot of a play. For instance, if you were asked to summarize the story of Shakespeare's 'Hamlet,' you might say: It's the story of a young prince of Denmark who discovers that his uncle and his mother have killed his father, the former king.

Begin the summary by acknowledging the source. For instance, you could begin with a sentence such as: "This is a summary of the article XXXX written by XXXX published in XXXX." 3. Next, write a topic sentence that conveys the main idea of the text.

The first line of your summary paragraph should list the title, author, and publication date of your original text. This section should also feature a brief note about the type of text you're referencing, which could be a story, article, novel or textbook.

An introduction paragraph. A strong thesis statement that focuses on the main idea or purpose of the work. Body paragraphs that support that thesis. A conclusion paragraph that ties it all together.

The Five W's, One H strategy relies on six crucial questions: who, what, when, where, why, and how. These questions make it easy to identify the main character, important details, and main idea. Who is the story about? What did they do?

What not to do when summarizing? ›

In general, omit minor details and specific examples. (In some texts, an extended example may be a key part of the argument, so you would want to mention it). Avoid writing opinions or personal responses in your summaries (save these for active reading responses or tutorial discussions).

A summary of a whole story or book is typically between 500 and 1000 words long, depending on the length and complexity of the book. A summary should provide an overview of the main points and ideas in the book, and it should give the reader a sense of what the book is about.

Your summary should be no longer than 250 words. A good summary answers the reader's implied question: “What point(s) is the original making?” We have just seen that the essential message is the minimum needed for the reader to understand the issue.

Write a one- or two-page synopsis—about 500-1000 words, single spaced—and use that as your default, unless the submission guidelines ask for something longer. If your synopsis runs longer, anything up to two pages (again, single spaced) is usually acceptable.

A summary is a short statement that summarizes or informs the audience of the main ideas of a longer piece of writing. Essentially, the summary is a short version of a longer text. The size of a summary can vary based on the type of writing, but most often they are no longer than a page.

→ Use the strongest nouns, verbs and adjectives. → Make the conflict clear but you don't have to hint at the solution. In your one-sentence summary, try not to pitch a theme. Pitch what happens.

Limit the topic so that the summary task will deal with a manageable part of the topic. For example, if there are several main characters and actions in a chapter to be summarized, limit the OSS to a specific character. Encourage students to make their sentences grammatical, factually accurate, complete, and original.