Summarising [Writing Skill]

A summary is a short and concise representation of the main points, ideas, concepts, facts or statements of a text written in your own words. Unlike a paraphrase, which is generally of a similar length to the original text, a summary is much shorter.

When either summarising or paraphrasing, you should not alter:

* the author's original idea(s)
* the degree of certainty with which the ideas are expressed.

Referencing

Summaries need to be referenced. Whether you have summarised or paraphrased an author's words, thoughts, ideas etc, a citation to the original source of the words, thoughts, ideas etc must be provided.

How to summarise

To create / write a good summary, you should read the article or text a number of times to develop a clear understanding of:

* the author's ideas and intentions
* the meaning and details
* the force with which the ideas are expressed.

Writing a summary

Step 1

* Write notes in point form using keywords; this will make it easier to express the ideas in your own words.

Step 2

* Write the summary directly from your notes without re-reading the passage.

Step 3

* Refer back to the original to ensure that your summary is a true reflection of the writer's ideas.

Tips

* Topic sentences provide a quick outline of the main idea(s) presented in a paragraph.
* When summarising a chapter or article, the introduction and conclusion should provide a good overview of the content.