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Summarizing worksheets & activities.

Summarizing is one of those skills that may seem very easy to a teacher but can be difficult for students who have not been properly taught how to summarize. For many years I did not even teach my seventh and eighth grade students how to summarize. I would just ask them to summarize texts and then get mad at them when they failed to produce quality summaries. I was wrong in doing this. Now I always teach my students how to write summaries.

Additionally, as per the Common Core State Standards, summaries should not contain opinions, background knowledge, or personal information; rather, a summary should be entirely text based. After years of learning to make connections between the text and themselves, students must be retrained to keep themselves out of their writing in regards to summaries. Teaching this skill surely warrants some of your class time.

Here are some resources that I used in my classroom to teach my students how to summarize. I hope that you find this page useful:

Summarizing Common Core State Standards

120 comments, kowsar seyfudin mahmax.

Thank you very much

I want to express my gratitude for the work you have put into this site.

I have used your site for students for almost a decade now and they have not disappointed once.

Thank you for coming back!

I really appreciate these worksheets and all the worksheets you have published. I work as a volunteer for a literacy group, and we don’t have many resources at this level. I was an SLP so I have had no professional experience as a language arts teacher. These resources allow me to teach better and not have to create items from scratch.

thank you it was informative.

Alphonsa Anis

Thanks it was extremely helpful.

Absolutely fabulous. I’m using them for two employees who are struggling to summarise information. Very, very helpful – thank you.

Hello, can these great worksheets be linked to Google Classroom? Also, how can I have my students access the online assessments? Thank you.

There is a Google Classroom button on the title slide of each online assignment. Press this button to assign it. Google Classroom integration is pretty thin right now, but I’m hoping that they open up their platform more sometime soon!

Thank you, Mr. Morton, for sharing your tips and worksheets for summary teaching and writing practices. Very useful!

Some great activities, really helpful. One thing I want to point out is that shinobi-no-mono is NOT Chinese – this is Japanese. And in the text the characters given are Japanese, NOT Chinese. This is quite a big oversight. As language teachers we need to be aware of different languages.

Thank you. I appreciate the insight.

I want summary and practice sheets for grade 6

Please send me an answer key for the summarizing test.

Acutually 忍の者 isnt chinese the word の is japanses, while in chinese and japanese they call ninja , 忍者. Other than that this is some really good stuff to study my summary from

great material. I´ve been looking for this type of easy to read/ understand material for a long time.

Would it be possible to have the solutions to the test?

Thanks in advance.

Diane Thomas

These are wonderful!Thank you so much!

Thanks a lot .

JANINE RAINES

DO YOU HAVE THE ANSWER KEY TO THE SUMMARIZING TEST?

Mrs. Robinson

Hello, I’m looking for the answer guide for the Summarizing test, please advise if it is available?

Loan Nguyen

Thanks for your sharing. Invaluable resources for teachers. It would be highly appreciated if you can send me the key for the summary test.

Is there an answer sheet for the summarizing test?

EXCELLENT worksheets!

Like many of the above comments, I was hoping that there was an answer key for the summarizing test.

I’m pleased that today is the day that I can finally say, “ Here you go .”

Thank you so much!!

Thank you very much. Bless you!

Thank you, Mr. Morton, for sharing these materials. Indeed this is of great help in my class.

The materials are awesome!! I’d like to separate them to two levels of my students. I’m teaching international students, the comparasion of the good and bad summary really works a lot. I really appriciate for your sharing. However, could you share the summarising answer keys as well? That would help me a lot. Thank you!

Would you consider making something for the 4th & 5th grade level? The examples were all very helpful, but many of my students read below grade level. Thank you again! Jill C.

Thanks from Toronto! Great help for ESL classes here.

Thanks so much from Istanbul! Kids loved it and saved me so much precious precious time

saida merad

Thank you for your valuable help!

Thank you for putting all the material together.

I couldn’t find the answers for the Summarizing Test. They will surely save me some time. Please send them to me, or let me know where I can find them. Thank you so much,

Did you get the answer sheet?

Thank you for all the great materials to use, they will prove to be a great resource!

I was wondering if you would mind pointing out the source from which you pulled the information about ninjas for your worksheet on them. I just wanted to make sure I had the right information because from the bit of research that I pulled up, I see that both in history (concept / existence) and etymology, ninjas are Japanese. The Japanese use kanji, which are essentially Chinese characters, and is only one of the three different “alphabet” sets they use for written communication. So words like “shinobi” and “shinobi no mono” are all Japanese in origin, but written using Chinese characters and not really associated with Chinese culture. This is especially true because “no mono” is a Japanese phrase. Please let me know if there is a source that does say otherwise, so that I can have all the information. Thank you again!

Hello. I pulled that content from a Wikipedia page a long time ago. I’m no expert on the subject. I was just writing a worksheet that I hope would interest students.

These worksheets are helpful but the commenter above is correct, none of these words are or have ever been Chinese. “Shinobi” was in Japanese poems in the 8th century, not Chinese. Shinobi was the Chinese reading of the characters, but it was always a Japanese word. It might be helpful to fix this worksheet to avoid presenting incorrect information to students.

What is the answer key for summary test please?

Thanks a million for this Mr. Morton. This lesson will help me and my students understand summarizing better. God bless your sir!

Thank you so much for helpful material

Brian Samson

What a phenomenal effort you’ve done in putting together all these. Appreciate your ideas. Fabulous!

How amazing to come across your Summarising resouces with explicit instructions. Your comments about teaching the students how to effectively summarise was the most important fact. This in turn forced me to reflect on my own teaching. Thank you for the step by step instructions, they were very valuable. Have you posted any other reading strategy hints?

Sure, I’ve posted them all around this site. Feel free to explore a bit.

What’s the reading level for summary worksheet 3?

Can I get answers for summarizing test about Gutenberg

It is an awesome sight.I got to now today from where the school gives us topics in worksheets.Very useful,but one problems that we don’t get the answers of the questions so that we can check and correct our answers

Mary Jane Dela Cerna

Good day Mr. Morton 😀 what is the answer keys for the summary test? I am not sure in my answer 😀

Wow, just wanted to thank you for your hard work and generosity to publish them for everybody. Thank you so much.

I was studying for an exam and couldn’t find enough information on summarizing. I was very excited when I found your site. It was very helpful.Thanks a million!

A terrific resource. Thank you so much for sharing. I came across your site as I was looking for help with teaching summarising – no need to look any further! Powerpoint and practice sheets, examples …. awesome.

Gracie Alexander

Is there an answer key for the Test?

Kristen Moore

What an incredible site! Thank you for sharing your resources and ideas. Especially the Summary power point. I’ve been struggling to get my students to differentiate between a summary and a list of details. This will help so much!

Amy Gartland

I just discovered this site today. I teach high school ELL and was looking for good nonfiction texts that were accessible for my students. I will definitely be looking around some more and plan on using material in my lessons this week!

This was VERY helpful. Even for a university student who needed a refresher!

An answer key for the Summary would be helpful if provided. And also a whole passage summary, not just the summary for each paragraph.

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Writing Summaries

A summary is a short overview of the main points of a text. The purpose of a summary is to quickly give the reader or listener an idea of what this material is saying. You may find it helpful to create summaries of your own work, but more often, you will create summaries of material by other authors, such as articles, plays, films, lectures, stories, or presentations.

Why Summarize?

At some point in your classes, you will likely be given an assignment to summarize a specific text, an assignment in which summary is the sole intent. You will also use summaries in more holistic ways, though, incorporating them along with paraphrase, quotation, and your own opinions into more complex pieces of writing. You might summarize for several reasons, both in your time as a student and in your life outside of education.

Here are some common ones:

• A summary can show your understanding of the main points of an assigned reading or viewing, so your instructor might ask you to summarize in order to know that you’ve understood the material.
• You might summarize a section from a source, or even the whole source, when the ideas in that source are critical to an assignment you are working on and you feel they need to be included, but they would take up too much space in their original form.
• You might also summarize when the general ideas from a source are important to include in your work, but the details included in the same section as those main ideas aren’t needed for you to make your point. For example, technical documents or in-depth studies might go into much, much more detail than you are likely to need to support a point you are making for a general audience. These are situations in which a summary might be a good option.
• Summarizing is also an excellent way to double-check that you understand a text–if you can summarize the ideas in it, you likely have a good grasp on the information it is presenting. This can be helpful for school-related work, such as studying for an exam or researching a topic for a paper, but is also useful in daily life when you encounter texts on topics that are personally or professionally interesting to you.

What Makes Something a Summary?

When you ask yourself, after reading an article (and maybe even reading it two or three times), “What was that article about?” and you end up jotting down–from memory, without returning to the original article to use its language or phrases–three things that stood out as the author’s main points, you are summarizing. Summaries have several key characteristics.

You’re summarizing well when you

• Use your own words.
• Significantly condense the original text.
• Provide accurate representations of the main points of the text they summarize.
• Avoid personal opinion.

Summaries are much shorter than the original material—a general rule is that they should be no more than 10% to 15% the length of the original, and they are often even shorter than this.

It can be easy and feel natural, when summarizing an article, to include our own opinions. We may agree or disagree strongly with what this author is saying, or we may want to compare their information with the information presented in another source, or we may want to share our own opinion on the topic. Often, our opinions slip into summaries even when we work diligently to keep them separate. These opinions are not the job of a summary, though. A summary should only highlight the main points of the article.

First , it no longer correctly represents the original text, so it misleads your reader about the ideas presented in that text. A summary should give your reader an accurate idea of what they can expect if we pick up the original article to read.

Second , it undermines your own credibility as an author to not represent this information accurately. If readers cannot trust an author to accurately represent source information, they may not be as likely to trust that author to thoroughly and accurately present a reasonable point.

How Should I Organize a Summary?

Like traditional essays, summaries have an introduction, a body, and a conclusion. What these components look like will vary some based on the purpose of the summary you’re writing. The introduction, body, and conclusion of work focused specifically around summarizing something is going to be a little different than in work where summary is not the primary goal.

Introducing a Summary

One of the trickier parts of creating a summary is making it clear that this is a summary of someone else’s work; these ideas are not your original ideas. You will almost always begin a summary with an introduction to the author, article, and publication so the reader knows what we are about to read. This information will appear again in your bibliography, but is also useful here so the reader can follow the conversation happening in your paper. You will want to provide it in both places.

In summary-focused work, this introduction should accomplish a few things:

• Introduce the name of the author whose work you are summarizing.
• Introduce the title of the text being summarized.
• Introduce where this text was presented (if it’s an art installation, where is it being shown? If it’s an article, where was that article published? Not all texts will have this component–for example, when summarizing a book written by one author, the title of the book and name of that author are sufficient information for your readers to easily locate the work you are summarizing).
• State the main ideas of the text you are summarizing—just the big-picture components.
• Give context when necessary. Is this text responding to a current event? That might be important to know. Does this author have specific qualifications that make them an expert on this topic? This might also be relevant information.

So, for example, if you were to get an assignment asking you to summarize Matthew Hutson’s Atlantic article, “ Beyond the Five Senses ” (found at www.theatlantic.com) an introduction for that summary might look something like this:

In his July 2017 article in The Atlantic , “Beyond the Five Senses,” Matthew Hutson explores ways in which potential technologies might expand our sensory perception of the world. He notes that some technologies, such as cochlear implants, are already accomplishing a version of this for people who do not have full access to one of the five senses. In much of the article, though, he seems more interested in how technology might expand the ways in which we sense things. Some of these technologies are based in senses that can be seen in nature, such as echolocation, and others seem more deeply rooted in science fiction. However, all of the examples he gives consider how adding new senses to the ones we already experience might change how we perceive the world around us.

However, you will probably find yourself more frequently using summary as just one component of work with a wide range of goals (not just a goal to “summarize X”).

Summary introductions in these situations still generally need to

• Name the author.
• Name the text being summarized.
• State just the relevant context, if there is any (maybe the author has a specific credential that makes their work on this topic carry more weight than it would otherwise, or maybe the study they generated is now being used as a benchmark for additional research).
• Introduce the author’s full name (first and last names) the first time you summarize part of their text. If you summarize pieces of the same text more than once in a work you are writing, each time you use their text after that initial introduction of the source, you will only use the author’s last name as you introduce that next summary component.

Presenting the “Meat” (or Body) of a Summary

Again, this will look a little different depending on the purpose of the summary work you are doing. Regardless of how you are using summary, you will introduce the main ideas throughout your text with transitional phrasing, such as “One of [Author’s] biggest points is…,” or “[Author’s] primary concern about this solution is….”

If you are responding to a “write a summary of X” assignment, the body of that summary will expand on the main ideas you stated in the introduction of the summary, although this will all still be very condensed compared to the original. What are the key points the author makes about each of those big-picture main ideas? Depending on the kind of text you are summarizing, you may want to note how the main ideas are supported (although, again, be careful to avoid making your own opinion about those supporting sources known).

When you are summarizing with an end goal that is broader than just summary, the body of your summary will still present the idea from the original text that is relevant to the point you are making (condensed and in your own words).

Since it is much more common to summarize just a single idea or point from a text in this type of summarizing (rather than all of its main points), it is important to make sure you understand the larger points of the original text. For example, you might find that an article provides an example that opposes its main point in order to demonstrate the range of conversations happening on the topic it covers. This opposing point, though, isn’t the main point of the article, so just summarizing this one opposing example would not be an accurate representation of the ideas and points in that text.

Concluding a Summary

For writing in which summary is the sole purpose, here are some ideas for your conclusion.

Now that we’ve gotten a little more information about the main ideas of this piece, are there any connections or loose ends to tie up that will help your reader fully understand the points being made in this text? This is the place to put those.

This is also a good place to state (or restate) the things that are most important for your readers to remember after reading your summary.

When your writing has a primary goal other than summary, your conclusion should

• Include an in-text citation, if appropriate. (To learn how to do this correctly, see the discussion of in-text citation in “ Crediting and Citing Your Sources ,” part of the “Using Sources Correctly” section of this text.)
• Discuss the summary you’ve just presented. How does it support, illustrate, or give new information about the point you are making in your writing? Connect it to your own main point for that paragraph so readers understand clearly why it deserves the space it takes up in your work. (Note that this is still not giving your opinion on the material you’ve summarized, just making connections between it and your own main points.)

The Word on College Reading and Writing Copyright © by Carol Burnell, Jaime Wood, Monique Babin, Susan Pesznecker, and Nicole Rosevear is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Summary: Using it Wisely

What this handout is about.

Knowing how to summarize something you have read, seen, or heard is a valuable skill, one you have probably used in many writing assignments. It is important, though, to recognize when you must go beyond describing, explaining, and restating texts and offer a more complex analysis. This handout will help you distinguish between summary and analysis and avoid inappropriate summary in your academic writing.

Is summary a bad thing?

Not necessarily. But it’s important that your keep your assignment and your audience in mind as you write. If your assignment requires an argument with a thesis statement and supporting evidence—as many academic writing assignments do—then you should limit the amount of summary in your paper. You might use summary to provide background, set the stage, or illustrate supporting evidence, but keep it very brief: a few sentences should do the trick. Most of your paper should focus on your argument. (Our handout on argument will help you construct a good one.)

Writing a summary of what you know about your topic before you start drafting your actual paper can sometimes be helpful. If you are unfamiliar with the material you’re analyzing, you may need to summarize what you’ve read in order to understand your reading and get your thoughts in order. Once you figure out what you know about a subject, it’s easier to decide what you want to argue.

You may also want to try some other pre-writing activities that can help you develop your own analysis. Outlining, freewriting, and mapping make it easier to get your thoughts on the page. (Check out our handout on brainstorming for some suggested techniques.)

Why is it so tempting to stick with summary and skip analysis?

Many writers rely too heavily on summary because it is what they can most easily write. If you’re stalled by a difficult writing prompt, summarizing the plot of The Great Gatsby may be more appealing than staring at the computer for three hours and wondering what to say about F. Scott Fitzgerald’s use of color symbolism. After all, the plot is usually the easiest part of a work to understand. Something similar can happen even when what you are writing about has no plot: if you don’t really understand an author’s argument, it might seem easiest to just repeat what he or she said.

To write a more analytical paper, you may need to review the text or film you are writing about, with a focus on the elements that are relevant to your thesis. If possible, carefully consider your writing assignment before reading, viewing, or listening to the material about which you’ll be writing so that your encounter with the material will be more purposeful. (We offer a handout on reading towards writing .)

How do I know if I’m summarizing?

As you read through your essay, ask yourself the following questions:

• Am I stating something that would be obvious to a reader or viewer?
• Does my essay move through the plot, history, or author’s argument in chronological order, or in the exact same order the author used?
• Am I simply describing what happens, where it happens, or whom it happens to?

A “yes” to any of these questions may be a sign that you are summarizing. If you answer yes to the questions below, though, it is a sign that your paper may have more analysis (which is usually a good thing):

• Am I making an original argument about the text?
• Have I arranged my evidence around my own points, rather than just following the author’s or plot’s order?
• Am I explaining why or how an aspect of the text is significant?

Certain phrases are warning signs of summary. Keep an eye out for these:

• “[This essay] is about…”
• “[This book] is the story of…”
• “[This author] writes about…”
• “[This movie] is set in…”

Here’s an example of an introductory paragraph containing unnecessary summary. Sentences that summarize are in italics:

The Great Gatsby is the story of a mysterious millionaire, Jay Gatsby, who lives alone on an island in New York. F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote the book, but the narrator is Nick Carraway. Nick is Gatsby’s neighbor, and he chronicles the story of Gatsby and his circle of friends, beginning with his introduction to the strange man and ending with Gatsby’s tragic death. In the story, Nick describes his environment through various colors, including green, white, and grey. Whereas white and grey symbolize false purity and decay respectively, the color green offers a symbol of hope.

Here’s how you might change the paragraph to make it a more effective introduction:

In The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald provides readers with detailed descriptions of the area surrounding East Egg, New York. In fact, Nick Carraway’s narration describes the setting with as much detail as the characters in the book. Nick’s description of the colors in his environment presents the book’s themes, symbolizing significant aspects of the post-World War I era. Whereas white and grey symbolize the false purity and decay of the 1920s, the color green offers a symbol of hope.

This version of the paragraph mentions the book’s title, author, setting, and narrator so that the reader is reminded of the text. And that sounds a lot like summary—but the paragraph quickly moves on to the writer’s own main topic: the setting and its relationship to the main themes of the book. The paragraph then closes with the writer’s specific thesis about the symbolism of white, grey, and green.

How do I write more analytically?

Analysis requires breaking something—like a story, poem, play, theory, or argument—into parts so you can understand how those parts work together to make the whole. Ideally, you should begin to analyze a work as you read or view it instead of waiting until after you’re done—it may help you to jot down some notes as you read. Your notes can be about major themes or ideas you notice, as well as anything that intrigues, puzzles, excites, or irritates you. Remember, analytic writing goes beyond the obvious to discuss questions of how and why—so ask yourself those questions as you read.

The St. Martin’s Handbook (the bulleted material below is quoted from p. 38 of the fifth edition) encourages readers to take the following steps in order to analyze a text:

• Identify evidence that supports or illustrates the main point or theme as well as anything that seems to contradict it.
• Consider the relationship between the words and the visuals in the work. Are they well integrated, or are they sometimes at odds with one another? What functions do the visuals serve? To capture attention? To provide more detailed information or illustration? To appeal to readers’ emotions?
• Decide whether the sources used are trustworthy.
• Identify the work’s underlying assumptions about the subject, as well as any biases it reveals.

Once you have written a draft, some questions you might want to ask yourself about your writing are “What’s my point?” or “What am I arguing in this paper?” If you can’t answer these questions, then you haven’t gone beyond summarizing. You may also want to think about how much of your writing comes from your own ideas or arguments. If you’re only reporting someone else’s ideas, you probably aren’t offering an analysis.

What strategies can help me avoid excessive summary?

• Read the assignment (the prompt) as soon as you get it. Make sure to reread it before you start writing. Go back to your assignment often while you write. (Check out our handout on reading assignments ).
• Formulate an argument (including a good thesis) and be sure that your final draft is structured around it, including aspects of the plot, story, history, background, etc. only as evidence for your argument. (You can refer to our handout on constructing thesis statements ).
• Read critically—imagine having a dialogue with the work you are discussing. What parts do you agree with? What parts do you disagree with? What questions do you have about the work? Does it remind you of other works you’ve seen?
• Make sure you have clear topic sentences that make arguments in support of your thesis statement. (Read our handout on paragraph development if you want to work on writing strong paragraphs).
• Use two different highlighters to mark your paper. With one color, highlight areas of summary or description. With the other, highlight areas of analysis. For many college papers, it’s a good idea to have lots of analysis and minimal summary/description.
• Ask yourself: What part of the essay would be obvious to a reader/viewer of the work being discussed? What parts (words, sentences, paragraphs) of the essay could be deleted without loss? In most cases, your paper should focus on points that are essential and that will be interesting to people who have already read or seen the work you are writing about.

But I’m writing a review! Don’t I have to summarize?

That depends. If you’re writing a critique of a piece of literature, a film, or a dramatic performance, you don’t necessarily need to give away much of the plot. The point is to let readers decide whether they want to enjoy it for themselves. If you do summarize, keep your summary brief and to the point.

Instead of telling your readers that the play, book, or film was “boring,” “interesting,” or “really good,” tell them specifically what parts of the work you’re talking about. It’s also important that you go beyond adjectives and explain how the work achieved its effect (how was it interesting?) and why you think the author/director wanted the audience to react a certain way. (We have a special handout on writing reviews that offers more tips.)

If you’re writing a review of an academic book or article, it may be important for you to summarize the main ideas and give an overview of the organization so your readers can decide whether it is relevant to their specific research interests.

If you are unsure how much (if any) summary a particular assignment requires, ask your instructor for guidance.

Works consulted

We consulted these works while writing this handout. This is not a comprehensive list of resources on the handout’s topic, and we encourage you to do your own research to find additional publications. Please do not use this list as a model for the format of your own reference list, as it may not match the citation style you are using. For guidance on formatting citations, please see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial . We revise these tips periodically and welcome feedback.

Barnet, Sylvan. 2015. A Short Guide to Writing about Art , 11th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Corrigan, Timothy. 2014. A Short Guide to Writing About Film , 9th ed. New York: Pearson.

Lunsford, Andrea A. 2015. The St. Martin’s Handbook , 8th ed. Boston: Bedford/St Martin’s.

Zinsser, William. 2001. On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction , 6th ed. New York: Quill.

You may reproduce it for non-commercial use if you use the entire handout and attribute the source: The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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how to write a summary

A step-by-step guide to writing a great summary.

A summary of a literary work isn't just a plain-old synopsis. It's a valuable study tool, a foundational element of all kinds of essays, a common testing mechanism, and one of the basics of literary analysis. 

Whether you're in high school or college, developing a deep understanding of how and when to summarize a book or text is a valuable skill. Doing so might require a little more knowledge and effort than you'd think. 

That's why we're covering all aspects of summaries, from study tools to plot summaries, below.

What Is a Summary?

A summary is a brief overview of a text (or movie, speech, podcast, etcetera) that succinctly and comprehensively covers the main ideas or plot points. 

Sounds simple, right? Well, there are a lot of unique characteristics that differentiate summaries from other commentary, such as analyses, book reviews, or outlines. 

Summaries are: 

• In your own words. It's important that you don't just copy and paste the writer's words (in fact, that's plagiarizing). Writing the key points of a work in your own words indicates your comprehension and absorption of the material. 
• Objective. While a summary should be in your own words, it shouldn't contain your opinions. Instead, you should gather the main points and intentions of the writer and present them impartially. (If you include your opinions, it instead becomes an analysis or review.)
• More than paraphrasing. Many students fall into the trap of simply paraphrasing—plainly restating the ideas or events of the work. (Is our definition starting to sound contradictory? We told you it wasn't straightforward!) Rather than recounting the events or ideas in a work chronologically or in the order they're presented, instead consider the broad scope of how they all contribute to the narrative or argument. 
• Short. There are no strict rules regarding length, only that it is concise. It's largely dependent on the length of the text it summarizes: longer texts, longer summaries. It also depends on the assignment or objective. However, most are about one to two paragraphs in length. 
• Comprehensive. Yes, it's another seemingly contradictory descriptor, but an important one. Summaries are comprehensive, meaning they cover all of the main plot points or ideas in a work (so they inherently contain "spoilers"). You should present those ideas in a way that condenses them into an inclusive, but not exhaustive, recounting in order to keep it short.  
• Straightforward (even if the text isn't). A good summary should be easy to comprehend, presenting the reader with a simple but all-encompassing understanding of the work at hand. With complex texts, summaries can be particularly useful because they distill big, complicated ideas into a bite-sized package. 

When to Write a Summary

Like so many elements of literary analysis, summaries are misunderstood. We've already explained why they aren't as simple as most people think, but neither are their uses. 

Summary writing is a useful skill in a variety of circumstances, both in and outside the English and Language Arts classrooms. 

Readers, writers, teachers, and students can use summaries: 

• As a study tactic. The ability to summarize a book or text indicates that you've absorbed and understand the material. Plus, writing down notes (as in a summary) is a great way to retain material. Try summarizing at the end of a book chapter, after each section of an article, or periodically in textbooks. Doing so will help you digest the material you've just read, confirming you understood and retained the information therein. Stopping frequently to summarize is most effective because you're less likely to forget important plot points or ideas. 
• As an assignment. Teachers and professors often ask students to summarize a text as a test to confirm they read and understood the material. Before heading into class—especially if you have a test or quiz scheduled—try practicing summarizing the text. Write it down (rather than practicing it out loud or in your head) so that you can review your ideas and ensure you're presenting them succinctly and sensibly. 
• As part of an essay. If you're referencing a book or article in your own paper, you might need to summarize the source as the foundation for your argument. In this case, your summary should be particularly short so the reader doesn't lose sight of your own argument and intention. Introduce the name of the work and its author, then use one sentence (two at most) to describe their objective and how it relates to your own. 
• As part of a review. Summaries are very useful in an academic setting, but they have their place outside of it too. Whether you're on a book review site or just sharing a recommendation with a friend, being able to succinctly write a book summary (with or without spoilers) will help others to make their own judgements of a book. 

Your Step-by-Step Guide for How to Write a Summary

Step 1: read the work .

Summaries are often perceived as a workaround for reading the work itself. That's not a great strategy under most circumstances because you tend to lose a lot of the details and nuance of a work, but it's particularly impractical to do so when writing about the work. 

Remember, a summary is supposed to present your perception of the work as a whole. So in order to develop that perception, you have to first read the original text. 

Step 2: Take Notes 

As you read the work, simultaneously take notes. If you own the book, it might be helpful to add your notes to the margins or highlight passages that are particularly relevant or capture a key idea. If you don't own the book, try taking notes on your computer or in a notebook. You can still notate important passages by writing down the page and paragraph number or writing an abbreviated version of the quotation. Alternatively, try marking key passages with sticky notes or tabs. 

It might also be helpful to write out a short outline of the work as you go. While you won't want to use this verbatim (remember, you shouldn't just paraphrase the work), it can help you establish and remember the text's framework. 

Step 3: Identify the Author's Thesis Statement, Objective, or Main Point 

In some works, such as a journal article, a writer will provide a thesis statement. A thesis statement is a one-sentence synopsis of the author's argument and intention. A thesis statement can be really helpful in forming the backbone of your own summary, just as it forms the backbone of the essay. 

However, even when a thesis statement isn't present—like in a novel—the writer always has an objective or main idea. You should always identify this idea and use it to form the foundation of your summary. 

The main point might be apparent at the outset of the work. Other times, the author won't present it until the conclusion. Sometimes you might identify multiple objectives throughout the work. That's why it's important, as you read, to note any ideas that might be the  main  idea. Even those that aren't the  most  important will likely remain relevant. 

Step 4: Note Other Important Elements

If something stands out to you about the work and seems to play an important role in the text's overall narrative or structure, make a note about it. This could be a recurring theme, an incident in the storyline, or a deviation from the overall argument. 

As you identify and note important elements and moments in the work, the structure of your summary should begin to fall into place. 

Step 5: Prepare to Write Your Summary 

Once you've finished reading the work, review your notes and highlight the key points that came to light. Remember, your summary should be objective, so disregard any opinions you might have noted about the work. You should introduce the thesis or objective, briefly encapsulate the important ideas and moments from the work, and end with a conclusion that ties those ideas to the objective. Keep this structure in mind as you begin. 

Step 6: Begin by Introducing the Work 

As you begin, introduce the work, its author, and, if relevant, the context.

Depending on your situation—for example, if your teacher or professor has asked you to summarize a work as part of an assignment or quiz—this might seem redundant. However, it is standard practice to begin by introducing the work, even if the reader already knows what you're writing about. 

Example:  In  The Great Gatsby , F. Scott Fitzgerald... 

Step 7: Present the Thesis, Main Idea, or Central Argument

Once you've introduced the work, your priority is to clearly define the author's thesis, important point, or central argument. As mentioned above, sometimes the author presents this idea clearly and succinctly at the outset of their work; at other times, it's buried deep in the text. 

Regardless of how the main idea is presented in the work, it should be front and center in your summary. Some teachers might refer to this as a "topic sentence" or "introductory sentence." This is the central point around which you will construct the rest of your writing. As you progress, you'll highlight other ideas or occurrences that relate or contribute to this main idea, so it's important that your representation of it is easily understood. 

Example:  In  The Great Gatsby , F. Scott Fitzgerald uses the story of Jay Gatsby as a symbol of the social stratification, greed, and indulgence of 1920s America. 

Step 8: Briefly Discuss the Important Elements of the Work

After identifying the thesis or central argument, you should provide a brief overview of the work's other elements, ideas, and plot points. For the most part, the information you present throughout this section should bolster the thesis presented previously. Each sentence should serve as a supporting point for the topic sentence. Don't simply list ideas or plot points, but show how they're connected and inform the work as a whole. Of course, there may also be important elements of the work that are not directly tied to the main idea; it's ok to include these if you feel they are vital to understanding the work.

When writing the body, you should consciously and intentionally leave out unnecessary details. They tend to bog down your writing and lose the reader. 

Example:  The narrator, Nick Carraway, moves to New York's "West Egg," where he reunites with his cousin, Daisy, and her husband, Tom Buchanan. Fitzgerald clearly delineates social lines between West Egg (new money) and East Egg (old money), where Tom and Daisy reside. 

Nick attends a lavish party thrown by his neighbor, Jay Gatsby, and learns Jay formerly had a relationship with Daisy. The two reignite their forbidden affair. Tom reveals to Daisy that Gatsby earned his money illegally, through smuggling alcohol, and is actually a man of humble Midwestern origins. Daisy and Gatsby try to run away together, but Daisy accidentally runs over Tom's mistress. Tom, eager to exact revenge, convinces his mistress' husband that Gatsby was to blame in her death, and he murders Gatsby before committing suicide. Few of Gatsby's many friends attend his funeral.

Step 9: Write a Conclusion that Ties It All Together

Much like you introduce the author's major point at the outset of your summary, you should revisit it as you close out your writing. If you presented the author's main idea in the introduction, and then bolstered that main idea by recollecting plot points or important elements from the work, your conclusion should then reiterate how those elements relate to the main idea. 

Example:  Though Gatsby subscribed to the extravagance of his peers, his efforts to fit into the upper echelon of West and East Egg were negated by his humble origins; always out of place, he was rejected for his social class as much as his perceived crimes.  

Step 10: Edit

Before submitting your work, read it in full, and edit out any superfluous and redundant information. It's likely that unnecessary details snuck in as you were writing, and you might find that certain plot points just feel unnecessary within the scope of your finished product. 

In addition to editing for content, be sure to edit it closely for grammatical or spelling errors. Even if your summary is well thought out, its expertise is compromised if it's full of errors! 

How to Write a Plot Summary

The step-by-step guide to writing an effective summary, outlined above, applies to most summaries. However, each type has its own unique elements outside of those standard requirements. 

A plot or book summary, for example, should encapsulate the plot of a short story or novel. When writing one, there are unique strategies to follow.  

Dos of Writing a Plot Summary

• Note plot points as the book or story unfolds. Especially in longer novels, it can be difficult to keep track of the twists and turns in the storyline. That's why we recommend taking notes as you read. 
• Use online study guides for inspiration. Websites like SuperSummary provide in-depth summaries free of charge. While this is a good starting point when writing your own, it should only be for inspiration. Don't copy examples online (that's plagiarism!). 
• Be sure to cover the three main arcs of every story: the exposition, climax, and conclusion. The exposition is the moment when the conflict or driving narrative is introduced. The climax is when that conflict comes to a head, and the narrative reaches its most dramatic moments. The conclusion is when the conflict is resolved or the story comes to an end. You should also include any inciting incidents (the first domino in a plot point).
• Connect the dots. Throughout, you should demonstrate an understanding of how events and characters are related, rather than introducing each element as an independent variable. Remember, you should tie each plot point back to the main idea. 

Don'ts of Writing a Plot Summary

• Don't just regurgitate the storyline. Rather than drone through the story plot point by plot point, you should highlight key moments in the narrative and direct them back to the author's objective. 
• Avoid repetitive phrases like "then" or "next." A key indication you're just repeating the storyline point by point is utilizing a phrase like "then" or "next." While you should recount the major incidents of the narrative, it shouldn't feel so formulaic. 
• Don't let it drag on. Books are long, but summarizing a book should still be short. While it depends on the assignment and the work in question, your summary should be 200 to 600 words, max.

Example :   In  The Great Gatsby , F. Scott Fitzgerald uses the story of Jay Gatsby as a symbol of the social stratification, greed, and indulgence of 1920s America.   The narrator, Nick Carraway, moves to New York's "West Egg," where he reunites with his cousin, Daisy, and her husband, Tom Buchanan. Fitzgerald clearly delineates social lines between West Egg (new money) and East Egg (old money), where Tom and Daisy reside. 

Nick attends a lavish party thrown by his neighbor, Jay Gatsby, and learns he formerly had a relationship with Daisy. When the two reignite their forbidden affair, disaster ensues. Tom reveals to Daisy that Gatsby earned his money illegally, through smuggling alcohol, and is actually a man of humble Midwestern origins. Daisy and Gatsby try to run away together, but Daisy accidentally runs over Tom's mistress. Tom, eager to exact revenge, convinces his mistress' husband that Gatsby was to blame in her death, and he murders Gatsby before committing suicide. Few of Gatsby's many friends attend his funeral.

Though Gatsby subscribed to the extravagance of his peers, his efforts to fit into the upper echelon of West and East Egg were negated by his humble origins; always out of place, he was rejected for his social class as much as his perceived crimes.

For an in-depth analysis of The Great Gatsby , check out the our study guide (we have an audio guide, too!).

How to Summarize an Article or Essay

The nature of an article or essay is quite different from a novel or short story, and in many ways, your summary should be too. The outline above remains the same, but the details are different. 

Here's what you should and shouldn't do when writing your article summary. 

Dos of Writing an Article Summary

• Skim the original article first. To develop a basic understanding of the article and the writer's objectives, skim the content before reading it closely. Doing so will help you to identify some of the key points and then pay attention to the arguments around them when you read the article in full. 
• Then read the article closely, marking key passages and ideas. Noting important ideas as you read will help you develop a deeper understanding of the writer's intentions.  
• Note headings and subheadings, which likely identify important points. In articles and essays, the author often utilizes subheadings to introduce their most important ideas. These subheadings can help guide your own writing. 
• Keep it short. The rule of brevity applies to article summaries too. In fact, because articles are usually short compared to novels or books, your text should be correlatively brief. And if you're utilizing the work as part of your own essay or argument, just a couple sentences will do.

Don'ts of Writing an Article Summary

• Don't ignore the conclusion. When reading a long article or essay, it can be tempting to overlook the conclusion and focus on the body paragraphs of the article. However, the conclusion is often where the author most clearly outlines their findings and why they matter. It can serve as a great foundation for your own writing. 
• Don't copy anything from the article directly—always paraphrase. If you copy any passages word-for-word from the article, be sure to identify them as quotations and attribute them to the author. Even this should be done sparingly. Instead, you should encapsulate their ideas within your own, abbreviated words.  
• Don't forget to include proper citations. If you do include a direct quotation from the article, be sure to properly cite them. You can learn how to properly cite quotations in our Academic Citation Resource Guide . 

Example Summary of  "Gatsby as a Drowned Sailor" :  In her essay, "Gatsby as a Drowned Sailor," Margaret Lukens posits that a major, and often overlooked, motif in  The Great Gatsby  is that of the "drowned sailor." The novel, she points out, is immersed in nautical symbols and themes, particularly in the scenes surrounding Jay Gatsby. For example, Gatsby grew up on the shores of Lake Superior, now owns a house on the Long Island Sound, and supposedly spends much of his time on his boat. 

Lukens nods to the nautical imagery throughout Gatsby's lavish party, as well as Nick's interactions with Gatsby. Many of these, she argues, foreshadow Gatsby's death in his pool. Even his funeral is a testament to the motif, with the few attendees soaked to the skin with rain. Lukens presents a thorough case for the overarching nautical motif in  The Great Gatsby  and her argument that though Gatsby hooked a big one, ultimately it was "the one that got away." 

FAQs: How to Write a Book Summary  

How do you summarize without plagiarizing .

By its very nature, a summary isn't plagiarizing because it should be written in your own words. However, there are cases where it might be difficult to identify an appropriate synonym, and the phrase remains somewhat close to the original. In this scenario, just be sure to differentiate the rest of the phrase as much as possible. And if you need to include a direct quote from the work, be sure to appropriately cite it. 

How to write a summary and a reaction? 

In some cases, your teacher may ask you to write a summary and a reaction. Whereas a summary is objective, a reaction is a matter of opinion. So in this case, you should present the actions or ideas of the work, then respond to those actions and ideas with your personal thoughts. 

Why write a summary? 

A summary is a helpful tool many educators use to test their students' comprehension of a text. However, it is also a useful study tactic because recounting what you read can help you organize and retain information. 

Narrative Essay

How to write a summary.

Proficient students understand that  summarizing , identifying what is most important and restating the text (or other media) in your own words, is an important tool for college success.

After all, if you really know a subject, you will be able to summarize it. If you cannot summarize a subject, even if you have memorized all the facts about it, you can be absolutely sure that you have not learned it. And, if you truly learn the subject, you will still be able to summarize it months or years from now.

Proficient students may monitor their understanding of a text by summarizing as they read. They understand that if they can write a one- or two-sentence summary of each paragraph after reading it, then that is a good sign that they have correctly understood it. If they can not summarize the main idea of the paragraph, they know that comprehension has broken down and they need to use fix-up strategies to repair understanding.

Summary Writing Format

• When writing a summary, remember that it should be in the form of a paragraph.
• A summary begins with an introductory sentence that states the text’s title, author and main point of the text as you see it.
• A summary is written in your own words.
• A summary contains only the ideas of the original text. Do not insert any of your own opinions, interpretations, deductions or comments into a summary.
• Identify in order the significant sub-claims the author uses to defend the main point.
• Copy word-for-word three separate passages from the essay that you think support and/or defend the main point of the essay as you see it.
• Cite each passage by first signaling the work and the author, put “quotation marks” around the passage you chose, and put the number of the paragraph where the passages can be found immediately after the passage.
• Using source material from the essay is important. Why? Because defending claims with source material is what you will be asked to do when writing papers for your college professors.
• Write a last sentence that “wraps” up your summary; often a simple rephrasing of the main point.

Example Summary Writing Format

In the essay Santa Ana , author Joan Didion’s main point is ( state main point ). According to Didion “… passage 1 …” (para.3). Didion also writes “… passage 2 …” (para.8). Finally, she states “… passage 3 …” (para. 12) Write a last sentence that “wraps” up your summary; often a simple rephrasing of the main point.

• Provided by : Lumen Learning. Located at : http://lumenlearning.com/ . License : CC BY: Attribution
• Authored by : Paul Powell. Provided by : Central Community College. Project : Kaleidoscope Open Course Initiative. License : CC BY: Attribution
• Authored by : Elisabeth Ellington and Ronda Dorsey Neugebauer. Provided by : Chadron State College. Project : Kaleidoscope Open Course Initiative. License : CC BY: Attribution

Want to create or adapt books like this? Learn more about how Pressbooks supports open publishing practices.

Examining Sample Assignment 1: Summary and Analysis

In this chapter and in the next three, I walk through example assignments and how you might analyze them to better understand your task.

This assignment comes from one of my first-year writing classes. It’s a fairly typical early assignment in my first-year writing classes, one that asks students to read a text and engage with it in some way. In this case, the readings include the same one I use as a model in the first section of this book , though the actual assignment differs a bit.

The ability to read critically and summarize accurately is a crucial academic skill. The ability to use ideas from one text to guide understanding in another text is similarly crucial. This assignment helps you practice both of these skills.

Your summary will need to explain the key concepts in Mitchell’s article and to explain the main points in the article that you choose to work with. In class, we will work specifically on critical reading strategies to understand how authors make claims and connect those claims to one another. We will also work on techniques for writing strong summaries that accurately represent an author’s work.

Your summaries of these texts should be between 300 and 400 words of your final paper.

In this part of your paper, you will make connections between Mitchell’s concepts and the specific situation described in the article you have chosen. Specifically, you must try to explain the situation in your article using the terms “segregated coexistence” and “living in community” as Mitchell explains them. Think about questions like the following:

• Does the article you have chosen describe a situation that could be considered “segregated coexistence”? If so, what is that situation and how well does it align with “segregated coexistence” as Mitchell describes it?
• Similarly, does the article you have chosen describe a situation that could be considered “living in community”? If so, what is that situation and how well does it align with “living in community” as Mitchell describes it?
• Are there ways in which Mitchell’s terms don’t apply or don’t cover the issue well enough? How so?

Note that this part of your paper should be between 400 and 500 words long, longer than your summaries. While accurately summarizing is important, readers at the college level are more interested in seeing your thinking, so this part should be longer than your summary.

When I comment on your summary and analysis, I will be looking to see how well you have met the goals of the assignment. That is, I will be looking for how accurately and thoroughly you have summarized the articles and how well you have explained and provided support for your analysis. If you only provide summaries of the articles without analysis, your project will not be successful. Instead, your project should demonstrate your critical reading and thinking skills.

Your summary and analysis will also need to meet the standard expectations of good college-level academic writing, which we will be working on during the term. Your purpose and focus will need to be clear and well explained. You will need to provide your reader with sufficient detail in your summary and your response so that your explanations are clear and thorough. You will also need to provide structural cues that enable your reader to follow the logic of your thinking. And your prose will need to be well written both stylistically and grammatically.

Examining the Verbs in Key Sentences

When I read this assignment, I find three key sentences that tell us what we’re supposed to do in this assignment.

Before going on, try to find the key sentences in the Summary and Analysis assignment. Then, read on to see if you agree with my choices.

Let’s look at them.

First Sentence for Examination

To start, there is a sentence summarizing the assignment at the top. Sentences pulled out like this are often important:

Summarize the ideas of “segregated coexistence” and “living in community” from Mitchell’s essay and analyze how those ideas apply to the situation described in an additional article (see sources below).

The verbs here are pretty direct: summarize and analyze.

• What are you summarizing? Mitchell’s ideas
• What are you analyzing? How those ideas apply to the situation in the second article you have chosen

Second Sentence for Examination

There’s another key sentence at the beginning of the “Summaries” section:

Your summary will need to explain the key concepts in Mitchell’s article and to explain the main points in the article that you choose to work with.

The verbs here are less helpful, at least until we look at the words around them.

When someone tells you that you “will need” to do something, you know that they mean that you “must” do it. If we substitute “must” for “will need,” we get a bit more help:

Your summary must explain the key concepts in Mitchell’s article and must explain the main points in the article that you choose to work with.

“Choose” is not terribly important for our purposes because it’s just identifying the second source that we are working with. “Explain,” however, seems to be very important.

Here we get a focus for our summary work:

• Explain the key concepts in Mitchell’s article (which have been identified in the first sentence we analyzed)
• Explain the main points in the article we’ve chosen

In this sentence, we have more detail about what “summarizing” looks like for this assignment.

Third Sentence for Examination

To understand the “analyzing” part of the assignment, we have a couple of sentences at the beginning of the “Analysis” section. I’m including two sentences since the second sentence begins with “specifically,” which indicates that it’s providing more detail about the first:

In this part of your paper, you will make connections between Mitchell’s concepts and the specific situation described in the article you have chosen . Specifically, you must try to explain the situation in your article using the terms “segregated coexistence” and “living in community” as Mitchell explains them.

These verbs require a bit of adjustment before our task will be clear. “Will make” doesn’t tell us much without the following word “connections,” without which we don’t know what we are making. However, “will make connections” can also be understood as simply “connect.” Here’s the sentence with this adjustment (eliminating a few more words to make the sentence grammatically correct:

In this part of your paper, you will connect Mitchell’s concepts and the specific situation described in the article you have chosen . Specifically, you must try to explain the situation in your article using the terms “segregated coexistence” and “living in community” as Mitchell explains them.

Similarly, “must try” doesn’t help us until we look at the words that tell us what we are trying to do. In this case, “must try to explain” is the idea we need to focus on. “Must try” in this sentence is an indication that our professor wants us to make effort, but explaining is really the work here:

In this part of your paper, you will connect Mitchell’s concepts and the specific situation described in the article you have chosen . Specifically, you must explain the situation in your article using the terms “segregated coexistence” and “living in community” as Mitchell explains them.

As with the sentence earlier, “have chosen” just indicates our second article, which is why I skipped that one.

The last “explains” is worth looking at in a bit more detail. In this case, the verb is not about your doing the explaining, but rather the fact that Mitchell has done some. From this sentence, we know that we must use the two identified terms in the same way that Mitchell does.

So, in the analysis part of our paper, we need to do the following:

• Connect Mitchell’s concepts, which we summarized in the summary section of the paper, to the situation in our second article.
• To do this effectively, we need to use Mitchell’s terms.

Applying Bloom

Having done this analysis, we now have a better sense of the intellectual work of this assignment:

• Summary Part 1: Explain Mitchell’s key ideas
• Summary Part 2: Explain the main points in our second article
• Analysis: Use Mitchell’s ideas to explain the situation in our second article.

Before jumping into the next section, take what you know about the task in the sample assignment and see which types of knowledge and which cognitive processes you believe the assignment is looking for.

After you read the rest of this chapter, decide whether or not you agree with my analysis.

Kinds of Cognitive Processes

First, the verbs.

The summary section of the assignment focused on explaining the key ideas in both articles. It can be helpful to move “up” the pyramid or the side of the grid with the cognitive processes to help us figure this out.

We aren’t being asked to remember, since we can look up the information, but we are being asked to understand both Mitchell’s concepts and the main points from the second article. Notice that on the grid version, summarizing appears at the intersection of factual knowledge and the cognitive process of understanding.

When we look at connections, though, “understanding” doesn’t seem to be enough. Yes, we have to understand, but we’re trying to make those connections (remember the original wording?), and “understanding” seems to be more about making sense of ideas that others have already put together.

The next step is “ applying .” If we look only at the grid, applying doesn’t seem to work, but the pyramids explain this one a bit differently. If applying means to “use information in new situations” or “use information in a new (but similar) form,” the term seems to work, right? The assignment asks us to use Mitchell’s terms to explain the situation in the second article. That sounds like an application to me!

But what about “analysis” in the title of the assignment? Look at the explanation of analyzing on the grid: “Break material into constituent parts and determine how parts relate to one another and to an overall structure of purpose.” Similarly, the pyramids describe analyzing as making connections and exploring relationships.

We aren’t doing this kind of work if we look only at Mitchell’s article; there, we are simply explaining what Mitchell means (i.e., summarizing). But when we get to the second article, we have to do more than just apply Mitchell’s terms. We have to divide up the ideas in that article into ideas that are connected to “segregated coexistence” and ideas that are connected to “living in community.”

To do this successfully, we need to explain how these connections work. This means that it’s not enough to identify specific ideas as either one or the other. We also need to make those connections clear to our reader. Those explanations are kinds of analysis .

The verbs in the assignment do not ask us to make arguments or critique ideas, so Bloom’s “evaluate” doesn’t apply in this assignment. Similarly, we aren’t really “creating” something new, beyond the vague idea that what we write should be in our own words for the most part. These two cognitive processes don’t apply much, if at all, here.

To summarize, looking at the verbs and assignment, we seem to be working in the cognitive realms of understanding, applying, and analyzing.

Kinds of Knowledge

While the verbs tell us about the cognitive processes that we are being asked to use, the examination of those key sentences can also help us focus on the information that we will need to complete the task. While much of this was obvious as we explored the verbs, I’ll break it down a bit here to complete the example.

In this case, we will need to know/understand the following:

• Mitchell’s key terms (“segregated coexistence” and “living in community”)
• The main ideas in our second article
• The connections between Mitchell’s concepts and the ideas in our second article

The first two would be factual knowledge, according to Bloom’s Taxonomy. We should be able to go to the article and find those ideas. We aren’t developing those terms or ideas; we are simply recording them. To do that, we have to understand them, but that’s a cognitive process, and we’ll come back to that in a minute.

The connections, however, aren’t factual. Our chosen article doesn’t use Mitchell’s terms directly, so we have to create those connections ourselves. If you look at the descriptions, you’ll see that this type of knowledge is called “ conceptual ,” which specifically is about organizing factual knowledge.

I don’t see anything here that is asking us to work with procedural (how to) knowledge or metacognition (thinking about thinking), so we are just working with the first two types of information.

Putting It Together

In this assignment, we are being asked to use factual and conceptual knowledge to understand, apply, and analyze.

The assignment comes in two parts. The first part is focused on summarizing Mitchell’s two key concepts and the main points from the second article. This part, then, stays firmly in the factual realm. We’re not supposed to talk about our opinions of any of these ideas or start making connections between them in this section. If we fail to present the factual information (e.g., we are missing one summary or the other; or we misread the article so our summary isn’t accurate), we will not succeed at this part. Also, because this is the more basic part of the assignment (lower on the pyramids and grid), if we don’t do this part accurately, odds are good that our analysis part won’t be as successful as we would like.

The second part, what the assignment calls “analysis,” is really a combination of applying and analyzing. We have to understand the main points, too, but mostly, we would do that in the first part of the assignment. In the “analysis,” we need to explain how the ideas in the second article can be categorized using Mitchell’s terms. We’re applying Mitchell, but we also have to explain if our assignment is going to be successful.

At this point, I have beaten this assignment into submission, but I’m hoping you can see the value in taking an assignment apart like this.

Reading and Writing Successfully in College: A Guide for Students Copyright © 2023 by Patricia Lynne is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Writing a Summary

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A  summary  is a short explanation of the main ideas in a text. Learning to summarize is a very important skill. When writing and responding to a text (essay, article, lecture, story, novel, or video), as you are often expected to do in college, you will be expected to summarize what you read, often in the introduction of each essay you write. It takes a careful reading of a text to write a good summary, and writing a good summary will illustrate your level of comprehension of a text.

When you write a summary, you are answering the question, “What was the essay (or article, or lecture, or story, or video) really about?” Summaries vary in length depending upon the purpose of the summary and/or scope of the specific assignment given. A general summary differs from a detailed summary in that fewer supporting details are stated. 

Summary Dos and Don'ts

• Report the overall topic right away 
• Begin with the name of the essay and the author
• Write in present tense
• Describe the main points covered in the text
• Include supporting details as needed depending upon the length and depth of the summary desired
• Mention any important conclusions drawn
• Use reporting verbs (see list below) to show that these are the author's ideas, not yours

DO not (unless the assignment asks you to):

• include your own opinion about the text 
• include quotations from the original text
• exceed half the length of the original text

Reporting Verbs

When writing a summary, it is very important to make it clear that you are describing the ideas in the text, not your own ideas. The use of reporting verbs shows that you are reporting on someone else's (the author's) ideas. Learn more about verbs . Below are some reporting verbs that you might use:

The article

• addresses 
• claims 
• concluded with the idea
• concluded by saying  

The researchers

• report 

Examples of summaries

Summary of an article.

Below is an example summary of Michael Moore's article, "Why Doesn't GM Sell Crack?" 

Notice that the summary has the following strong aspects:

• It begins with the title and author.
• It is much shorter than the orginal.
• It focuses on the most important parts of the argument
• It uses reporting verbs
• It remains objective 

In the article "Why Doesn't GM Sell Crack?" Michael Moore argues that companies need to be regulated so that they do not take actions that hurt the community or environment. He explains that many people believe that companies should have the right to do whatever will make the most money. However, he disagrees with this philosophy. He gives the example of selling crack, which would be very profitable for companies but bad for the consumers and community. This example shows how the government does make some laws to restrict companies and protect society. Moore points out that most Americans agree that a company should not be able to sell crack just to make a profit. Therefore, he argues, we might extend this reasoning to other harmful actions, such as polluting the environment or treating workers unfairly. Moore believes that companies should be restricted from committing actions that hurt society. 

Notice that the summary uses reporting verbs such as "argues" and "shows" to indicate that the viewpoint in the paragraph comes from Moore's article, not from the author of the summary. Also notice that the summary is objective; it does not give any opinion about Moore's argument but simply reports it as accurately as possible. Finally, notice that the summary covers the essay's main ideas, with a few brief supporting examples.

Summary of a Story

Below is an example summary of the Brother’s Grimm version of the story “Little Red Riding Hood.” While “Little Red Writing Hood” is not an argumentative/non-fiction work (the type you’ll most likely be expected to summarize in college) it is a story that most people know, making it a good story to summarize and provide as an example. Go to Wikipedia entry on "Little Red Riding Hood."

• It focuses on the most important parts of the story rather than the details.

Summary of "Little Red Riding Hood"

The Brother’s Grimm version of the traditional tale “Little Red Riding Hood” is a story about a girl who wears a red riding hood and who is asked by her mother to take some food to her ailing grandmother who lives across the woods. Little Red Riding Hood, who is quite young, walks from her house, through the woods from her house to her grandmother’s house, carrying a basket of food. On the way to her grandmother’s house, she meets a wolf who asks her many questions about what she’s doing and where she’s going. After a bit, the wolf goes on his way, leaving Red Riding Hood to continue on her way alone. Once at her grandmother’s house, Little Red Riding Hood, notices that her grandmother looks different, that her eyes, ears, nose, and teeth are much bigger than she remembers. After a long conversation about the “grandmother’s appearance,” the wolf, who had eaten Little Red Riding Hood’s grandmother and had dressed in her clothing, jumps from the bed and eats Little Red Riding Hood. At the very end of the story, a hunter comes by the grandmother’s house and cuts the grandmother and Little Red Riding Hood from the wolf’s stomach and they are removed alive.

Notice this summary begins with the title of the story and the author and that the summary is much shorter than the original version of the story itself. Also notice that it is written in the present tense, as is necessary to do when writing about a text – even one that was read a long time ago and/or that was written in the past tense.

This summary does not go into a lot of detail; it only focuses on the plot (if this were a summary of an essay, it would focus on the essay’s main points rather than plot). The details in the story of “Little Red Riding Hood” that would be tempting to focus on, but unnecessary, are the lines of dialogue between Little Red Riding Hood and the wolf, regarding the wolf’s appearance: “’My grandma, what big eyes you have,’” said Little Red Riding Hood. ‘The better to see you with, my dear,’ responded the wolf.” To include details about the dialogue, and/or quotes from this part of the story, would be unnecessary, as they are not totally important to the plot, and can easily be summarized. Lastly, it’s important to notice the use of phrases like, “On the way to her grandmother’s house,” “After a long conversation with the wolf about the grandmother’s appearance,” and “At the very end of the story,” and recognize that these phrases are stand-ins for the kinds of details not necessary to include in a summary.

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 Academic Summary Skills

What is a summary?

A summary is a synthesis of the main points of an article written in your own words. It is a combination of selecting the relevant information and condensing it so that it is no more than a third of the length of the original text. A good summary illustrates that you have understood the text clearly.  ( Written by AEUK, 2022)

Summarising video

A 9:30-minute video on how to summarise effectively using t he 6-key stages of summarising. It also includes an example summary and two practice activities.

Video Download Worksheet:  This is the worksheet that accompanies the video : here

Suggested Steps in Writing Summaries

Example summary.

This uses the suggested steps in writing summaries.

Goal Setting Theory

Developed in 1968 by Edwin A Locke, goal-setting theory is based on the premise that setting specific and measurable goals is more effective than establishing unclear goals.  In his article, Locke illustrates five principles for setting clear objectives. Clarity: goals need to be clear and specific. Challenge: goals should be challenging because goals that are too easy are demotivating. Commitment: People need to be committed to the goal or they are less likely to achieve the goal. Feedback: Regular feedback should be provided to ensure the individual remains on track. Task complexity: goals should be broken down into smaller goals (Wrobleski, 2019).

Sample Notes

GST: specific & measurable goals more effective than unclear goals (Edwin A Locke, 1968).

• Clarity: goals = clear & specif.
• Chall: Not too easy > demot.
• Commit: No commit., no achieve.
• FB: provide fb reg.
• Task complex.: Div. tasks into manageable tasks.
• (Wrobleski, 2019).

Possible summary for Goal-Setting Theory

Drawing on the work of Edwin A Locke, Wrobleski (2019) defines goal setting theory as an idea where setting specific and measurable goals is more productive than specifying unclear goals. There are five fundamentals for setting clear aims: clarity, challenge, commitment, feedback and task complexity. 

 Summary Practice 1

• Read the text on Data D emocratization below.  Write a summary of between 30-50 words using the above ‘suggested steps in writing summaries’.

Democratizing IT

Data democratization refers to the process of making digital information available and accessible to everyone within an organisation, regardless of their technical know-how. It means empowering employees to work with data, understand data and make faster data-informed decisions. According to Marr (2021), when staff members are given access to the organisation’s data, operations become more streamlined and efficient as those who know the business will not have to wait for data scientists to analyse the data for them. However, organisations who democratize data need to have a strong leadership in place to ensure the data is properly managed.

Data democrat. = all elec. Info. avail. to  all employees.

Employees = work & undRst data & make faster decisions.

Bus. become more efficient = no waiting for IT specialists to analyse data (Marr, 2021).

But need good leader = ensure data is managed properly.

Possible summary for Data Democratization

Data democratization means making electronic information obtainable to all employees in an organisation. According to Marr (2021), this enables operations to become more systematic as the staff do not have to wait for IT specialists to analyse the data. However, as data must be managed appropriately, good leadership is essential.  

 Summary Practice 2

• Read the text on Behavioural Economics  below.  Write a summary of between 30-50 words using the above ‘suggested steps in writing summaries’.

Behavioural economics

Behavioural economics is a field of economics that incorporates the studies of psychology, neuroscience and sociology to better understand the decision-making processes of individuals (The Observer, 2017). This fairly new subject aims to gain a deeper understanding of why people, at times, make choices that are irrational and the thoughts and emotions that underpin the decisions made (The Guardian, 2017). Decisions, according to Samson (2018), such as whether to pay more for a certain brand, how much to spend on a holiday and which candidate to support in a public vote all involve a decision-making process and it is this mechanism that behavioural economists attempt to understand in order to predict human behaviour.

Behav, Econ. = econ. + psy, neurosci + sociol.

Aim = Better undRst DM process of ppl. (The Observer, 2017).

New sub.  -> deep undRst why ppl make rash D & thoughts & emo. underpin. dec. (The Guardian, 2017).

E.g, pay + 4 cert. brand,  how much 2 pay 4 hol. & who 2 vote for invol. DM. (Samson, 2018).

Behav. Econ. tries 2 undRst DM to predict hum. bev. 

Possible summary for Behavioural Economics

The Observer (2017) defines behavioural economics as a combination of economics and  psychological subjects used to analyse the decision-making process of individuals in order to predict human behaviour (Samson, 2017). Behavioural economists try to understand why people sometimes make poor choices and the thoughts that led to the decisions made (The Guardian, 2017). 

Writing Skills   summary writing

Here are six summary lessons based around 3 topics: general academic, business and STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics). Each topic has two lessons: introduction to summary writing and improve your summary writing. 

Introduction to Summary Writing: 1A General Academic 

Suitable for students beginning their academic studies, this lesson supports students through the summary writing process. It includes an introductory worksheet, an information guide and five practice   tasks which are based on general academic themes. Sample notes and sample summaries are also provided .   Example  Level  ** ** *  [B1/ B2/C1]   TEACHER MEMBERSHIP  / INSTITUTIONAL MEMBERSHIP

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Introduction to Summary Writing: 1B Business

Suitable for students beginning their academic studies, this lesson supports students through the summary writing process. It includes an introductory worksheet, an information guide and five practice   tasks which are based on a range of business topics. Sample notes and sample summaries are also provided .   Example  Level  ** ** *  [B1/ B2/C1]   TEACHER MEMBERSHIP  / INSTITUTIONAL MEMBERSHIP

Introduction to Summary Writing: 1C STEM 

Suitable for students beginning their academic studies, this lesson supports students through the summary writing process. It includes an introductory worksheet, an information guide and five practice   tasks which are based on STEM topics. Sample notes and sample summaries are also provided .   Example  Level  ** ** *  [B1/ B2/C1]   TEACHER MEMBERSHIP  / INSTITUTIONAL MEMBERSHIP

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Summary lessons.

These next lessons follow on from the above introduction to summary writing.

Improve your Summary Writing: 2A General Academic

Following on from summary writing 1A, this lesson provides students with further practice on the summary writing process. It includes a review worksheet, two practice tasks which are based on general academic subjects and a peer feedback checklist.  Sample notes and sample summaries are also provided . Example  Level  *** **   [B1/ B2/C1]   TEACHER MEMBERSHIP  / INSTITUTIONAL MEMBERSHIP

Improve your Summary Writing: 2B Business

Following on from summary writing 1B, this lesson, this lesson provides students with further practice on the summary writing process. It includes a review worksheet, two practice tasks which are based on business topics and a peer feedback checklist. Sample notes and sample summaries are also provided . Example  Level  *** **   [B1/ B2/C1]   TEACHER MEMBERSHIP  / INSTITUTIONAL MEMBERSHIP

Improve your Summary Writing: 2C STEM

Following on from summary writing 1C, this lesson, this lesson provides students with further practice on the summary writing process. It includes a review worksheet, two practice tasks which are based on STEM subjects and a peer feedback checklist. Sample notes and sample summaries are also provided . Example  Level  *** * *  [B1/ B2/C1]   TEACHER MEMBERSHIP  / INSTITUTIONAL MEMBERSHIP

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Academic Reading to Writing Summary

AEUK Academic Reading summaries have been specifically written for university reading tests. The texts are based around academic journals and the lesson includes key points with support and a model answer. Also includes a critical thinking worksheet.

A short 8-minute listening lecture written by AEUK on Amazon. It discusses the company, recruitment, recent criticisms of safety and Amazon’s response,  It includes a video, test questions, tapescript and PPT.   Exampl e.  Level *** ** [B2/C1]  / Video [9.10] /  MP3 / PPT link in download  / TEACHER MEMBERSHIP / INSTITUTIONAL MEMBERSHIP

Summary writing: the path to brexit.  .

The text discusses the background history of the EU, its three key treaties and the economics of the EU. It then highlights the dissatisfaction of EU policy in the UK that led to the referendum and then explores the future policies of leaving the EU.The summary writing task consists of a note-taking worksheet, a summary writing task, critical thinking questions, sample notes, a sample summary and sample critical thinking answers. ( Example )   Level *** ** [ B2/C1] TEACHER MEMBERSHIP  / INSTITUTIONAL MEMBERSHIP

Reading Test: The path to Brexit.

The text discusses the background history of the EU, its three key treaties and the economics of the EU. It then highlights the dissatisfaction of EU policy in the UK that led to the referendum and then explores the future policies of leaving the EU. The reading test worksheet tests  headings / T,F,NG / open answers / gap fill / information tables / reference words / vocabulary . ( Example ).  Level *** ** [ B2/C1]   TEACHER MEMBERSHIP   /   INSTITUTIONAL MEMBERSHIP

Summary Writing: CSR – Corporate Social Responsibility

The text discusses the popularity of CSR and its historical evolution from the 1950s. It highlights the key values associated with effective CSR policies and examines the key challenges of implementing it. Finally, the author points out that there are still a number of areas that need to be addressed regarding transparency and better legislation . The summary writing task consists of a note-taking worksheet, a summary writing task, critical thinking questions, sample notes, a sample summary and sample critical thinking answers.   ( Example ) .  Level *** ** [ B2/C1 ] TEACHER MEMBERSHIP  / INSTITUTIONAL MEMBERSHIP

Reading Test: CSR – Corporate Social Responsibility

The text discusses the popularity of CSR and its historical evolution from the 1950s. It highlights the key values associated with effective CSR policies and examines the key challenges of implementing it. Finally, the author points out that there are still a number of areas that need to be addressed regarding transparency and better legislation. The reading test worksheet tests   headings / T,F,NG / open answers / gap fill / information tables / reference words / vocabulary.  ( Example )  Level *** ** [ B2/C1]  TEACHER MEMBERSHIP   /   INSTITUTIONAL MEMBERSHIP

Circular Economy. Reading & Summary Writing Lesson 

The text provides an overview of both the linear and circular economy. It discusses the positive aspects of a circular economy and how economies can change to this new model. The summary writing task consists of a note-taking worksheet, a summary writing task, critical thinking questions, sample notes, a sample summary and sample critical thinking answers.  ( Example )  Level *** ** [ B2/C1 ] TEACHER MEMBERSHIP  / INSTITUTIONAL MEMBERSHIP

Reading Test: The Circular Economy 

The text provides an overview of both the linear and circular economy. It discusses the positive aspects of a circular economy and how economies can change to this new model.The reading test worksheet tests  headings / T,F,NG / open answers / gap fill / information tables / reference words / vocabulary.  ( Example )  Level *** ** [ B2/C1 ]   TEACHER MEMBERSHIP   /   INSTITUTIONAL MEMBERSHIP

TED Talk: A short listening lecture on what is the circular economy, how humans are the stewards of the earth and have a responsibility to protect it and examples of how the circular economy works. Exampl e.  Level *** ** [B2/C1]  / Video [13.13] / TEACHER MEMBERSHIP / INSTITUTIONAL MEMBERSHIP

Covid-19 pandemic, covid-19: reading & summary writing lesson.

The text provides an explanation of COVID-19, its possible origins, the global transmission of the virus, global responses and future control. The summary writing task consists of a note-taking worksheet, a summary writing task, critical thinking questions, sample notes, a sample summary and sample critical thinking answers . Example   Level *** ** [ B2/C1 ] TEACHER MEMBERSHIP  / INSTITUTIONAL MEMBERSHIP

Reading Test: COVID-19 Pandemic 

The text provides an explanation of COVID-19, its possible origins, the global transmission of the virus, global responses and future control. The reading test worksheet includes:  headings / T,F,NG / open answers / gap fill / information tables / reference words / vocabulary. Example     Level *** ** [ B2/C1 ]   TEACHER MEMBERSHIP   /   INSTITUTIONAL MEMBERSHIP

COVID-19 – Lecture Listening Test

This is a lecture on defining COVID-19, how COVID-19 affects the body, typical symptoms, why some people get sick and others don’t, COVID-19 mutations and recent vaccines. It includes a video, test questions and PPT. Worksheet Example   Level *** ** [B2/C1]   PPT link  /  Video   [12.14] / MP3 / TEACHER MEMBERSHIP / INSTITUTIONAL MEMBERSHIP

COVID-19 Pandemic PDF Book

Amazing value – five lessons in one book. introduction (internet research), reading test, summary writing, 1 x lecture listening & a seminar / example /   webpage link /, economic inequality, economic inequality: summary  reading & writing lesson.

The text discusses what is economic inequality and how it is measured. It also discusses the unfairness of wealth distribution between the rich and the poor and suggests possible solutions to address the situation. The summary writing task consists of a note-taking worksheet, a summary writing task, critical thinking questions, sample notes, a sample summary and sample critical thinking answers.  ( Example) Level *** ** [ B2/C1 ] TEACHER MEMBERSHIP  / INSTITUTIONAL MEMBERSHIP

Reading Test: Economic Inequality.

The text defines economic inequality. It discuses differences in income distribution between the rich and poor, it highlights how inequality is measured and offers a range of solutions to address income inequality. The reading test worksheet tests  headings / T,F,NG / open answers / gap fill / information tables / reference words / vocabulary.  ( Example )  Level *** ** [ B2/C1]   TEACHER MEMBERSHIP   /   INSTITUTIONAL MEMBERSHIP

Economic Inequality- Lecture Listening Lesson

This is a lecture on what is economic inequality, how is wealth distributed, how the past has affected the present and the current debate. it includes a video, test questions and ppt ( example ).   level *** ** [b2/c1] / ppt link in download   /   video   [10.00] teacher membership / institutional membership, economic inequality lesson pdf book, amazing value – five lessons in one book. introduction, definition, reading test & summary writing, 1 x lecture listening, [extra reading text] & seminar / example.

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Ethical Consumerism

Ethical  consumerism : reading & summary writing lesson.

The text provides a clear definition of ethical consumerism, discusses what is and what isn’t ethical consumerism and summarises the future of ethical consumption. The summary writing task consists of a note-taking worksheet, a summary writing task, critical thinking questions, sample notes, a sample summary and sample critical thinking answers.   Level *** ** [ B2/C1 ] TEACHER MEMBERSHIP  / INSTITUTIONAL MEMBERSHIP

Reading Test: Ethical Consumerism 

The text provides a clear definition of ethical consumerism, discusses what is and what isn’t ethical consumerism and summarises the future of ethical consumption. The reading test worksheet tests  headings / T,F,NG / open answers / gap fill / information tables / reference words / vocabulary. More reading tests     Level *** ** [ B2/C1 ] TEACHER MEMBERSHIP / INSTITUTIONAL MEMBERSHIP

Ethical consumerism 

This is a lecture on defining  ethical consumerism, the associated problems with consumers and the positive advances in the ethical consumerism movement. It includes a video, test questions and PPT. More listening tests.   Level *** ** [B2/C1] PPT /  Video   [09.01] / MP3 /  TEACHER MEMBERSHIP / INSTITUTIONAL MEMBERSHIP

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Financial Crisis

Summary writing: the causes of the 2008 financial crisis.

The text discusses the background history of the financial crash through focusing on prime and sub-prime mortgage lending. It then explores the key reasons behind the profitable trading systems of that time, highlighting the collapse and then the following banking regulations that were introduced in 2009/2010. The summary writing task consists of a note-taking worksheet, a summary writing task, critical thinking questions, sample notes, a sample summary and sample critical thinking answers.  ( Example ) .  Level *** **  [ B2/C1 ]  TEACHER MEMBERSHIP  / INSTITUTIONAL MEMBERSHIP

Reading Test: The causes of the 2008 Financial Crisis

The text discusses the background history of the financial crash through focusing on prime and sub-prime mortgage lending. It then explores the key reasons behind the profitable trading systems of that time, highlighting the collapse and then the following banking regulations that were introduced in 2009/2010. The reading test worksheet tests  headings / T,F,NG / open answers / gap fill / information tables / reference words / vocabulary . ( Example ) .  Level *** * * [ B2/C1]   TEACHER MEMBERSHIP   /   INSTITUTIONAL MEMBERSHIP

The Gig Economy

Summary writing: the gig economy.

The text discusses the rise of the gig economy and makes an attempt to define exactly what it is. It then highlights key gig companies investigating the importance and limitations of this new contemporary employment platform. Finally, it puts forward the future challenges of the gig economy for employees, employers and society . The summary writing task consists of a note-taking worksheet, a summary writing task, critical thinking questions, sample notes, a sample summary and sample critical thinking answers.  ( Example ) . Level *** ** [ B2/C1 ] TEACHER MEMBERSHIP  / INSTITUTIONAL MEMBERSHIP

Reading Test: The Gig Economy  

The text discusses the rise of the gig economy and makes an attempt to define exactly what it is. It then highlights key gig companies investigating the importance and limitations of this new contemporary employment platform. Finally, it puts forward the future challenges of the gig economy for employees, employers and society. The reading test worksheet tests  headings / T,F,NG / open answers / gap fill / information tables / reference words / vocabulary . ( Example )   Level *** ** [ B2/C1]   TEACHER MEMBERSHIP   /   INSTITUTIONAL MEMBERSHIP

The Gig Economy – AEUK Test

This is a lecture on the defining the Gig Economy and discussing the positives and negatives of three Gig Economies (AirBnB, Uber and Task Rabbit). It includes a video, test questions and PPT (see example ).   Level *** ** [ B2/C1 ]  / PPT link in download /   Video   [ 12.14] TEACHER MEMBERSHIP / INSTITUTIONAL MEMBERSHIP

Gig Economy Lesson PDF Book

Amazing value – six lessons in one book. introduction, definition, reading test, summary writing, lecture listening & seminar  more information, summary writing: globalisation: international trade..

The text defines the key points associated with globalisation. It discusses the disparity of progression of trade between countries and highlights the integration of in-ward and out- ward looking policies. It finally points out that three key areas of international globalisation are imperative for the economic growth of a country. The summary writing task consists of a note-taking worksheet, a summary writing task, critical thinking questions, sample notes, a sample summary and sample critical thinking answers.  ( Example )  Level ***** [ B1/B2/C1 ] TEACHER MEMBERSHIP  / INSTITUTIONAL MEMBERSHIP

Reading Test: Globalisation: International Trade.

The text defines the key points associated with globalisation. It discusses the disparity of progression of trade between countries and highlights the integration of in-ward and out- ward looking policies. It finally points out that three key areas of international globalisation are imperative for the economic growth of a country. The reading test worksheet tests headings / T,F,NG / open answers / gap fill / information tables / reference words / vocabulary. ( Example )   Level *** ** [ B1/B2/C1]   TEACHER MEMBERSHIP   /   INSTITUTIONAL MEMBERSHIP

Globalisation: economic, political, & cultural relationships   –   by Edeos

This lecture discusses the key elements to the rise of globalisation. It focuses on the inter-connected relationships of politics, culture and the economy. It includes a lot of important vocabulary. The worksheet is based on note-taking followed by a gap-fill summary. ( E xample) . Level: *** ** [B2/C1]  /   Video [8.10]  / TEACHER MEMBERSHIP / INSTITUTIONAL MEMBERSHIP

Understanding happiness: Reading & Summary Writing Lesson 

The text discusses the three dimensions of happiness, happiness at home and work and the recent research into what are the important features of happiness. The summary writing task consists of a note-taking worksheet, a summary writing task, critical thinking questions, sample notes, a sample summary and sample critical thinking answers .  (  Example )  Level *** ** [ B2/C1 ] TEACHER MEMBERSHIP  / INSTITUTIONAL MEMBERSHIP

Reading Test: Understanding happiness 

The text discusses the three dimensions of happiness, happiness at home and work and the recent research into what are the important features of happiness. The reading test worksheet tests  headings / T,F,NG / open answers / gap fill / information tables / reference words / vocabulary.  ( Example )  Level *** ** [ B2/C1 ]   TEACHER MEMBERSHIP   /   INSTITUTIONAL MEMBERSHIP

  What makes a good life? – Robert Waldinger

TED TALK: Lessons from the longest study on happiness by Harvard. It discusses the success of the study and what the findings were. [ Example]   Level: ** ** * [B2/C1]  / Download PPT.  / Video [12:46]   /  TEACHER MEMBERSHIP / INSTITUTIONAL MEMBERSHIP

Happiness Lesson PDF Book  

Amazing value – six lessons in one book. introduction, definitions, questionnaire, reading test & summary writing, 1 x lecture listening & seminar / example /   webpage link, agenda setting theory: reading & summary writing lesson .

Mass communication: The text provides an overview of agenda setting in the media. It discusses its purpose, impact and relevancy in contemporary society. The summary writing task consists of a note-taking worksheet, a summary writing task, critical thinking questions, sample notes, a sample summary and sample critical thinking answers .  ( Example )  Level *** ** [ B2/C1 ] TEACHER MEMBERSHIP  / INSTITUTIONAL MEMBERSHIP

Reading Test : Mass Communication: Agenda Setting Theory 

The text provides an overview of agenda setting in the media. It discusses its purpose, impact and relevancy in contemporary society. The reading test worksheet tests  headings / T,F,NG / open answers / gap fill / information tables / reference words / vocabulary.  ( Example )  Level *** ** [ B2/C1 ]   TEACHER MEMBERSHIP   /   INSTITUTIONAL MEMBERSHIP

A 10-minute lecture on Gatekeeping Theory. The lecture provides a basic historical background, followed by key factors associated with the theory and finally discusses its role in the 21st century . Exampl e.  Level *** ** [B2/C1]  / Video [10.19] / MP3 /   PPT link in Download / TEACHER MEMBERSHIP / INSTITUTIONAL MEMBERSHIP

Mergers and acquisitions, reading & writing argument essay [mergers & acquisitions].

Topic: Mergers & Acquisitions . Two short texts (included) – students read the texts, make notes of key arguments ,  and write a 400-600 word essay using in-text referencing and paraphrasing. Lesson includes teacher notes, outline & a model essay [webpage] .   Example  Level **** * [ B2/C1] / TEACHER MEMBERSHIP  / INSTITUTIONAL MEMBERSHIP

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Noise Pollution:  Reading & Summary Writing Lesson

The text discusses what noise pollution is and how it has recently been recognised as harmful to health. The text explores recent empirical evidence into the detrimental effects of noise pollution and presents the W.H.O (2018) guidelines for reducing urban noise.The summary writing task consists of a note-taking worksheet, a summary writing task, critical thinking questions, sample notes, a sample summary and sample critical thinking answers .  Example. Level *** ** [ B2/C1 ] TEACHER MEMBERSHIP  / INSTITUTIONAL MEMBERSHIP

Reading Test: Noise Pollution – the under-estimated threat to health

The text discusses what noise pollution is and how it has recently been recognised as harmful to health. The text explores recent empirical evidence into the  detrimental  effects of noise pollution and presents the W.H.O (2018) guidelines for reducing urban noise. The reading test worksheet tests  headings / T,F,NG / open answers / gap fill / information tables / reference words / vocabulary.  ( Example )  Level *** ** [ B2/C1 ]   TEACHER MEMBERSHIP   /   INSTITUTIONAL MEMBERSHIP

Why Noise is bad for your health and what you can do about it.   – Mathias Basner

TED TALK: This lecture discusses the rise in environmental noise and its psychological and physical effects. It proposes a number of possible solutions to control and reduce noise. Level: ** *** [B1/B2/C1]  /   Video [09:58] TEACHER MEMBERSHIP / INSTITUTIONAL MEMBERSHIP

Noise Pollution Lesson PDF Book

Amazing value – five lessons in one book. introduction, definition, reading test, summary writing, lecture listening & seminar   more information, contemporary office design: reading & summary writing lesson .

The text discusses the evolution of open plan office space, important considerations in office planning, the drawbacks associated with open plan and possible solutions. The summary writing task consists of a note-taking worksheet, a summary writing task, critical thinking questions, sample notes, a sample summary and sample critical thinking answers.  ( Example )  Level *** ** [ B2/C1 ] TEACHER MEMBERSHIP  / INSTITUTIONAL MEMBERSHIP

Reading Test: Contemporary Office Design 

The text discusses the evolution of open plan office space, important considerations in office planning, the drawbacks associated with open plan and possible solutions.The reading test worksheet tests  headings / T,F,NG / open answers / gap fill / information tables / reference words / vocabulary.  ( Example )  Level *** ** [ B2/C1 ]   TEACHER MEMBERSHIP   /   INSTITUTIONAL MEMBERSHIP

TED TALK: Why work doesn’t happen at work – Jason Fried

TED TALK: the problems with working in an office environment and highlights two main reasons and three possible improvement solutions. Example.   Level: ** *** [B1/B2/C1]  /   Video [15:21]  / Download PPT.  & adapted PPT Video /  MEMBERSHIP

Phone addiction

Mobile phone addiction: reading & summary writing lesson .

The text discusses the rise in mobile phone use, the factors that lead to addiction and implications for the future. Students take notes on key ideas and write a summary of 200-250 words. The summary writing task consists of a note-taking worksheet, a summary writing task, critical thinking questions, sample notes, a sample summary and sample critical thinking answers.  ( Example )  Level *** ** [ B2/C1 ] TEACHER MEMBERSHIP  / INSTITUTIONAL MEMBERSHIP

Reading Test: Mobile Phone Addiction 

The text discusses the rise in mobile phone use, the factors that lead to addiction and implications for the future. The reading test worksheet tests  headings / T,F,NG / open answers / gap fill / information tables / reference words / vocabulary.  ( Example )  Level *** ** [ B2/C1 ]   TEACHER MEMBERSHIP   /   INSTITUTIONAL MEMBERSHIP

Mobile Phone Addiction [TED Talk]  by R. Sleight 

This lecture discusses the rise in smartphone use, associated data in terms of user usage, and five insights to control addictive tendencies. ( Example) . Level: *** ** [B1/B2/C1]  /   Video [11:48] / MP3 / TEACHER MEMBERSHIP / INSTITUTIONAL MEMBERSHIP

Academic Plagiarism: Summary  Reading & Writing Lesson

The text discusses what academic plagiarism is, what custom essay writing services are and why university students use them. It highlights the key problems associated with using these sites and offers possible solutions to prevent students from using them. The summary writing task consists of a note-taking worksheet, a summary writing task, critical thinking questions, sample notes, a sample summary and sample critical thinking answers . Example. Level *** ** [ B2/C1 ] TEACHER MEMBERSHIP  / INSTITUTIONAL MEMBERSHIP

Reading Test: Academic Plagiarism – the use of custom essay writing services / writing mills

The text discusses what academic plagiarism is, what custom essay writing services are and why university students use them. It highlights the key problems associated with using these sites and offers possible solutions to prevent students from using them. The reading test worksheet tests headings / T,F,NG / open answers / gap fill / information tables / reference words / vocabulary.   ( Example )  Level *** ** [ B2/C1]   TEACHER MEMBERSHIP   /   INSTITUTIONAL MEMBERSHIP

Academic Plagiarism- Lecture Listening Lesson (same text as reading)

This lecture focuses on academic plagiarism, what are custom essay writing services and the associated problems and solutions. it includes a video, test questions, tapescript and ppt ( example ).   it is exactly the same text as the reading lesson. level *** ** [b2/c1] / ppt link in download   /   video   [12.00]   / teacher membership / institutional membership, why are some countries poor reading & summary writing lesson .

The text discusses how wealth is measured, how governments and institutions influence wealth, the importance of international trade and a range of possible solutions. The summary writing task consists of a note-taking worksheet, a summary writing task, critical thinking questions, sample notes, a sample summary and sample critical thinking answers .  ( Example )  Level *** ** [ B2/C1 ] TEACHER MEMBERSHIP  / INSTITUTIONAL MEMBERSHIP

Reading Test:  Why  are some countries poor? 

The text discusses how wealth is measured, how governments and institutions influence wealth, the importance of international trade and a range of possible solutions. The reading test worksheet tests  headings / T,F,NG / open answers / gap fill / information tables / reference words / vocabulary.  ( Example )  Level *** ** [ B2/C1 ]   TEACHER MEMBERSHIP   /   INSTITUTIONAL MEMBERSHIP

  Why some countries are poor and others are rich   – The School of Life

A really good lecture on the three key elements of why some countries are poor. It discusses how corruption of institutions, culture and geographical features all play a significant role in poverty. The worksheet is based on note-taking followed by a gap-fill summary. Example. Level: ** ** * [B2/C1]  /   Video [8.47]   / MP3 / TEACHER MEMBERSHIP / INSTITUTIONAL MEMBERSHIP

Tax Evasion

Tax e vasion: reading & summary writing lesson.

This reading text is about tax evasion and tax avoidance. The writer discusses the methods some MNCs and rich individuals use to reduce or avoid paying tax and puts forward some suggestions to mitigate this issue. The summary writing task consists of a note-taking worksheet, a summary writing task, critical thinking questions, sample notes, a sample summary and sample critical thinking answers . .  ( Example )  Level *** ** [ B2/C1 ] TEACHER MEMBERSHIP  / INSTITUTIONAL MEMBERSHIP

Reading Test: Tax evasion & tax avoidance

This reading text is about tax evasion and tax avoidance. The writer discusses the methods some multinational corporations (MNCs) and rich individuals use to reduce or avoid paying tax and puts forward some suggestions to mitigate this issue. The reading test worksheet includes:  headings / T,F,NG / open answers / gap fill / information tables / reference words / vocabulary.  ( Example )  Level *** ** [ B2/C1 ] TEACHER MEMBERSHIP / INSTITUTIONAL MEMBERSHIP

TED Talk: In this short (12 minute) lecture, the speaker explains how MNCs use the ‘double Irish Dutch sandwich’ to significantly reduce their tax liabilities. He also explains why many corporations have left their home countries and have set up in London instead. The listening test consists of ten comprehension questions, six critical thinking questions and an answer key . Exampl e.  Level *** ** [B2/C1]  / Video [12.27] / TEACHER MEMBERSHIP / INSTITUTIONAL MEMBERSHIP

Video Games:  Reading & Summary Writing Lesson

The text discusses three serious health issues connected to playing video games. The text uses eight key sources to highlight gaming to be a future health concern . The summary writing task consists of a note-taking worksheet, a summary writing task, critical thinking questions, sample notes, a sample summary and sample critical thinking answers. Example. Level *** ** [ B2/C1 ] TEACHER MEMBERSHIP  / INSTITUTIONAL MEMBERSHIP

Reading Test: The impact of video games on health.

The text discusses three serious health issues connected to playing video games. The text uses eight key sources to highlight gaming to be a future health concern. The reading test worksheet tests  headings / T,F,NG / open answers / gap fill / information tables / reference words / vocabulary.  (see Example )  Level *** ** [ B2/C1 ]   TEACHER MEMBERSHIP   /   INSTITUTIONAL MEMBERSHIP

Your Brain on Video Games – Daphne Bavelier

TED TALK: This TED talk discusses how action-packed shooter games can be used as educational and rehabilitation tools. It provides clear examples of research and an analysis of the brain. Power Point. (Example) . Level: *** ** [B2/C1]  /   Video [17:51]  / TEACHER MEMBERSHIP / INSTITUTIONAL MEMBERSHIP

Video Games Lesson PDF Book

Amazing value – five lessons in one book. introduction, definition, reading test, summary writing, lecture listening & seminar. example . .

Topic: The World is Going to University (The Economist, 2015) . Two page text (Download from the Economist) – students read text, make notes of key ideas, relevant support & write a 250 word summary.  Then write a 150-word critical response. Lesson includes a plan, outline, main points & support, a model summary and model response [webpage] .     Example  Level  **** *  [ B2/C1]   TEACHER MEMBERSHIP  / INSTITUTIONAL MEMBERSHIP

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The 4th Industrial Revolution

The 4th industrial revolution ( industry 4.0) : reading & summary writing lesson.

The text provides an overview of the 4th industrial revolution (industry 4.0). It discusses the previous industrial revolutions and the opportunities and challenges of industry 4.0. The summary writing task consists of a note-taking worksheet, a summary writing task, critical thinking questions, sample notes, a sample summary and sample critical thinking answers .  ( Example )  Level *** ** [ B2/C1 ] TEACHER MEMBERSHIP  / INSTITUTIONAL MEMBERSHIP

Reading Test: The 4th Industrial Revolution (Industry 4.0)

The text provides an overview of the 4th industrial revolution (industry 4.0). It discusses the previous industrial revolutions and the opportunities and challenges of industry 4.0. The reading test includes: headings / T,F,NG / open answers / reference words / vocabulary / paraphrasing.  ( Example )  Level *** ** [ B2/C1 ]   TEACHER MEMBERSHIP   /   INSTITUTIONAL MEMBERSHIP

What is the  Fourth Industrial Revolution? –  Graeme Codrington

This lecture briefly highlights how the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Industrial Revolutions connect to the 4th Industrial revolution. It clearly explains what is and what isn’t the Fourth Industrial Revolution. The worksheet is based on note-taking followed by a gap-fill summary. Example. Level: ** ** * [B2/C1]  /   Video [10.39] / MP3 / TEACHER MEMBERSHIP / INSTITUTIONAL MEMBERSHIP

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• How to Write a Summary | Guide & Examples

How to Write a Summary | Guide & Examples

Published on 25 September 2022 by Shona McCombes . Revised on 12 May 2023.

Summarising , or writing a summary, means giving a concise overview of a text’s main points in your own words. A summary is always much shorter than the original text.

There are five key steps that can help you to write a summary:

• Read the text
• Break it down into sections
• Identify the key points in each section
• Write the summary
• Check the summary against the article

Writing a summary does not involve critiquing or analysing the source. You should simply provide an accurate account of the most important information and ideas (without copying any text from the original).

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Table of contents

When to write a summary, step 1: read the text, step 2: break the text down into sections, step 3: identify the key points in each section, step 4: write the summary, step 5: check the summary against the article, frequently asked questions.

There are many situations in which you might have to summarise an article or other source:

• As a stand-alone assignment to show you’ve understood the material
• To keep notes that will help you remember what you’ve read
• To give an overview of other researchers’ work in a literature review

When you’re writing an academic text like an essay , research paper , or dissertation , you’ll integrate sources in a variety of ways. You might use a brief quote to support your point, or paraphrase a few sentences or paragraphs.

But it’s often appropriate to summarize a whole article or chapter if it is especially relevant to your own research, or to provide an overview of a source before you analyse or critique it.

In any case, the goal of summarising is to give your reader a clear understanding of the original source. Follow the five steps outlined below to write a good summary.

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You should read the article more than once to make sure you’ve thoroughly understood it. It’s often effective to read in three stages:

• Scan the article quickly to get a sense of its topic and overall shape.
• Read the article carefully, highlighting important points and taking notes as you read.
• Skim the article again to confirm you’ve understood the key points, and reread any particularly important or difficult passages.

There are some tricks you can use to identify the key points as you read:

• Start by reading the abstract . This already contains the author’s own summary of their work, and it tells you what to expect from the article.
• Pay attention to headings and subheadings . These should give you a good sense of what each part is about.
• Read the introduction and the conclusion together and compare them: What did the author set out to do, and what was the outcome?

To make the text more manageable and understand its sub-points, break it down into smaller sections.

If the text is a scientific paper that follows a standard empirical structure, it is probably already organised into clearly marked sections, usually including an introduction, methods, results, and discussion.

Other types of articles may not be explicitly divided into sections. But most articles and essays will be structured around a series of sub-points or themes.

Now it’s time go through each section and pick out its most important points. What does your reader need to know to understand the overall argument or conclusion of the article?

Keep in mind that a summary does not involve paraphrasing every single paragraph of the article. Your goal is to extract the essential points, leaving out anything that can be considered background information or supplementary detail.

In a scientific article, there are some easy questions you can ask to identify the key points in each part.

If the article takes a different form, you might have to think more carefully about what points are most important for the reader to understand its argument.

In that case, pay particular attention to the thesis statement —the central claim that the author wants us to accept, which usually appears in the introduction—and the topic sentences that signal the main idea of each paragraph.

Now that you know the key points that the article aims to communicate, you need to put them in your own words.

To avoid plagiarism and show you’ve understood the article, it’s essential to properly paraphrase the author’s ideas. Do not copy and paste parts of the article, not even just a sentence or two.

The best way to do this is to put the article aside and write out your own understanding of the author’s key points.

Examples of article summaries

Let’s take a look at an example. Below, we summarise this article , which scientifically investigates the old saying ‘an apple a day keeps the doctor away’.

An article summary like the above would be appropriate for a stand-alone summary assignment. However, you’ll often want to give an even more concise summary of an article.

For example, in a literature review or research paper, you may want to briefly summarize this study as part of a wider discussion of various sources. In this case, we can boil our summary down even further to include only the most relevant information.

Citing the source you’re summarizing

When including a summary as part of a larger text, it’s essential to properly cite the source you’re summarizing. The exact format depends on your citation style , but it usually includes an in-text citation and a full reference at the end of your paper.

You can easily create your citations and references in APA or MLA using our free citation generators.

APA Citation Generator MLA Citation Generator

Finally, read through the article once more to ensure that:

• You’ve accurately represented the author’s work
• You haven’t missed any essential information
• The phrasing is not too similar to any sentences in the original.

If you’re summarising many articles as part of your own work, it may be a good idea to use a plagiarism checker to double-check that your text is completely original and properly cited. Just be sure to use one that’s safe and reliable.

A summary is a short overview of the main points of an article or other source, written entirely in your own words.

Save yourself some time with the free summariser.

A summary is always much shorter than the original text. The length of a summary can range from just a few sentences to several paragraphs; it depends on the length of the article you’re summarising, and on the purpose of the summary.

With the summariser tool you can easily adjust the length of your summary.

You might have to write a summary of a source:

• As a stand-alone assignment to prove you understand the material
• For your own use, to keep notes on your reading
• To provide an overview of other researchers’ work in a literature review
• In a paper , to summarise or introduce a relevant study

To avoid plagiarism when summarising an article or other source, follow these two rules:

• Write the summary entirely in your own words by   paraphrasing the author’s ideas.
• Reference the source with an in-text citation and a full reference so your reader can easily find the original text.

An abstract concisely explains all the key points of an academic text such as a thesis , dissertation or journal article. It should summarise the whole text, not just introduce it.

An abstract is a type of summary , but summaries are also written elsewhere in academic writing . For example, you might summarise a source in a paper , in a literature review , or as a standalone assignment.

Cite this Scribbr article

If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the ‘Cite this Scribbr article’ button to automatically add the citation to our free Reference Generator.

McCombes, S. (2023, May 12). How to Write a Summary | Guide & Examples. Scribbr. Retrieved 6 May 2024, from https://www.scribbr.co.uk/working-sources/how-to-write-a-summary/

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44 Summary Writing

What is a summary.

A summary is a comprehensive and objective restatement of the main ideas of a text (an article, book, movie, event, etc.)  Stephen Wilhoit, in his textbook  A Brief Guide to Writing from Readings , suggests that keeping the qualities of a good summary in mind helps students avoid the pitfalls of unclear or disjointed summaries.  These qualities include:

Neutrality  – The writer avoids inserting his or her opinion into the summary, or interpreting the original text’s content in any way.  This requires that the writer avoids language that is evaluative, such as: good, bad, effective, ineffective, interesting, boring, etc. Also, keep “I” out of the summary; instead, summary should be written in grammatical 3rd person (For example: “he”, “she”, “the author”, “they”, etc).

Brevity  – The summary should not be longer than the original text, but rather highlight the most important information from that text while leaving out unnecessary details while still maintaining accuracy.

Independence  – The summary should make sense to someone who has not read the original source.  There should be no confusion about the main content and organization of the original source.  This also requires that the summary be accurate.

By mastering the craft of summarizing, students put themselves in the position to do well on many assignments in college, not just English essays.  In most fields (from the humanities to the soft and hard sciences) summary is a required task.  Being able to summarize lab results accurately and briefly, for example, is critical in a chemistry or engineering class. Summarizing the various theories of sociology or education helps a person apply them to his or her fieldwork. In college, it’s imperative we learn how to summarize well because we are asked to do it so often.

College students are asked to summarize material for many different types of assignments. In some instances, summarizing one source is often the sole purpose of the entire assignment. Students might also be asked to summarize as just one aspect of a larger project, such as a literature review, an abstract in a research paper, or a works consulted entry in an annotated bibliography.

Some summary assignments will expect students to condense material more than others. For example, when summary is the sole purpose of the assignment, the student might be asked to include key supporting evidence, where as an abstract might require students to boil down the source text to its bare-bones essentials.

What Makes Something a Summary?

When you ask yourself, after reading an article (and maybe even reading it two or three times), “What was that article about?” and you end up jotting down–from memory, without returning to the original article to use its language or phrases–three things that stood out as the author’s main points, you are summarizing. Summaries have several key characteristics.

You’re summarizing well when you

• use your own words
• significantly condense the original text
• provide accurate representations of the main points of the text they summarize
• avoid personal opinion.

Summaries are much shorter than the original material—a general rule is that they should be no more than 10% to 15% the length of the original, and they are often even shorter than this.

It can be easy and feel natural, when summarizing an article, to include our own opinions. We may agree or disagree strongly with what this author is saying, or we may want to compare their information with the information presented in another source, or we may want to share our own opinion on the topic. Often, our opinions slip into summaries even when we work diligently to keep them separate. These opinions are not the job of a summary, though. A summary should  only  highlight the main points of the article.

First , it no longer correctly represents the original text, so it misleads your reader about the ideas presented in that text. A summary should give your reader an accurate idea of what they can expect if we pick up the original article to read.

Second , it undermines your own credibility as an author to not represent this information accurately. If readers cannot trust an author to accurately represent source information, they may not be as likely to trust that author to thoroughly and accurately present a reasonable point.

How Should I Organize a Summary?

Like traditional essays, summaries have an introduction, a body, and a conclusion. What these components look like will vary some based on the purpose of the summary you’re writing. The introduction, body, and conclusion of work focused specifically around summarizing something is going to be a little different than in work where summary is not the primary goal.

Introducing a Summary

One of the trickier parts of creating a summary is making it clear that this is a summary of someone else’s work; these ideas are not your original ideas. You will almost always begin a summary with an introduction to the author, article, and publication so the reader knows what we are about to read. This information will appear again in your bibliography, but is also useful here so the reader can follow the conversation happening in your paper. You will want to provide it in both places.

In summary-focused work, this introduction should accomplish a few things:

• Introduce the name of the author whose work you are summarizing.
• Introduce the title of the text being summarized.
• Introduce where this text was presented (if it’s an art installation, where is it being shown? If it’s an article, where was that article published? Not all texts will have this component–for example, when summarizing a book written by one author, the title of the book and name of that author are sufficient information for your readers to easily locate the work you are summarizing).
• State the main ideas of the text you are summarizing—just the big-picture components.
• Give context when necessary. Is this text responding to a current event? That might be important to know. Does this author have specific qualifications that make them an expert on this topic? This might also be relevant information.

So, for example, if you were to get an assignment asking you to summarize Matthew Hutson’s  Atlantic  article, “ Beyond the Five Senses ,” an introduction for that summary might look something like this:

In his July 2017 article in  The Atlantic , “Beyond the Five Senses,” Matthew Hutson explores ways in which potential technologies might expand our sensory perception of the world. He notes that some technologies, such as cochlear implants, are already accomplishing a version of this for people who do not have full access to one of the five senses. In much of the article, though, he seems more interested in how technology might expand the ways in which we sense things. Some of these technologies are based in senses that can be seen in nature, such as echolocation, and others seem more deeply rooted in science fiction. However, all of the examples he gives consider how adding new senses to the ones we already experience might change how we perceive the world around us.

However, you will probably find yourself more frequently using summary as just one component of work with a wide range of goals (not just a goal to “summarize X”).

Summary introductions in these situations still generally need to

• name the author
• name the text being summarized
• state just the relevant context, if there is any (maybe the author has a specific credential that makes their work on this topic carry more weight than it would otherwise, or maybe the study they generated is now being used as a benchmark for additional research)
• introduce the author’s full name (first and last names) the first time you summarize part of their text. If you summarize pieces of the same text more than once in a work you are writing, each time you use their text after that initial introduction of the source, you will only use the author’s last name as you introduce that next summary component.

Presenting the “Meat” (or Body) of a Summary

Again, this will look a little different depending on the purpose of the summary work you are doing. Regardless of how you are using summary, you will introduce the main ideas throughout your text with transitional phrasing, such as “One of [Author’s] biggest points is…,” or “[Author’s] primary concern about this solution is….”

If you are responding to a “write a summary of X” assignment, the body of that summary will expand on the main ideas you stated in the introduction of the summary, although this will all still be very condensed compared to the original. What are the key points the author makes about each of those big-picture main ideas? Depending on the kind of text you are summarizing, you may want to note how the main ideas are supported (although, again, be careful to avoid making your own opinion about those supporting sources known).

When you are summarizing with an end goal that is broader than just summary, the body of your summary will still present the idea from the original text that is relevant to the point you are making (condensed and in your own words).

Since it is much more common to summarize just a single idea or point from a text in this type of summarizing (rather than all of its main points), it is important to make sure you understand the larger points of the original text. For example, you might find that an article provides an example that opposes its main point in order to demonstrate the range of conversations happening on the topic it covers. This opposing point, though, isn’t the main point of the article, so just summarizing this one opposing example would not be an accurate representation of the ideas and points in that text.

Concluding a Summary

For writing in which summary is the sole purpose, here are some ideas for your conclusion.

• Now that we’ve gotten a little more information about the main ideas of this piece, are there any connections or loose ends to tie up that will help your reader fully understand the points being made in this text? This is the place to put those.
• This is also a good place to state (or restate) the things that are most important for your readers to remember after reading your summary.
• Depending on your assignment, rather than providing a formal concluding paragraph where you restate the main points and make connections between them, you may want to simply paraphrase the author’s concluding section or final main idea. Check your assignment sheet to see what kind of conclusion your instructor is asking for.

When your writing has a primary goal other than summary, your conclusion should

• discuss the summary you’ve just presented. How does it support, illustrate, or give new information about the point you are making in your writing? Connect it to your own main point for that paragraph so readers understand clearly why it deserves the space it takes up in your work. (Note that this is still not giving your opinion on the material you’ve summarized, just making connections between it and your own main points.)

Summary Template

Here is a basic summary template for use with any text (article, video, chapter, textbook, etc.) that you are reading and need to briefly summarize in your own words for yourself or for your readers. Use the tips when inserting information from the article that you have read into the template to make filling in the blanks much easier. Feel free to change any wording that you think needs modifying or that sounds ineffective in your final version. The summary essay rubric that follows is correlated to this template so that you can use it as a checklist.

In “Title of Article,” a (state year) adaptation/excerpt/chapter/article from Publication where it appeared , Author (first and last name) argues/explains/describes/ outlines/highlights that Thesis (main point of article) in your own words. First, he/she/ they claim(s) first supporting point. For instance, specific example from the text to illustrate this point (can be paraphrase or quote). Next, he/she/they examine(s) second supporting point. For example, specific example from the text to illustrate this point (can be paraphrase or quote). Third, he/she/they suggest(s) third supporting point. For instance, specific example from the text to illustrate this point (can be paraphrase or quote). To conclude he/she/they state(s) sum up the conclusion (may be a solution, a forecast for the future, etc.)

Sample Summary Essay Rubric

This chapter is adapted from A Guide to Rhetoric , Chapter 5.1, “ Writing Summaries, ” by Melanie Gagich, CC-BY-NC-SA 4.0.

Write What Matters Copyright © 2020 by Liza Long; Amy Minervini; and Joel Gladd is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Common Assignments: Summary

For each source listed, you will begin with a summary of the information you found in that specific source. The summary section gives your reader an overview of the important information from that source. Remember that you are focusing on a source's method and results, not paraphrasing the article's argument or evidence.

The questions below can help you produce an appropriate, scholarly summary:

• What is the topic of the source?
• What actions did the author perform within the study and why?
• What were the methods of the author?
• What was the theoretical basis for the study?
• What were the conclusions of the study?

Remember, a summary should be similar to an abstract of a source and written in past tense (e.g. "The authors found that…" or "The studies showed…"), but it should not be the source's abstract. Each summary should be written in your own words.

Summarizing Video Playlist

Note that these videos were created while APA 6 was the style guide edition in use. There may be some examples of writing that have not been updated to APA 7 guidelines.

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Summary, Paraphrase, and Outlines in WR 111

Major assignment.

One of the important tasks of WR 111 is to teach students to craft strong, clear basic summaries of texts. Paraphrasing and outlining are of course related, though distinct, skills. The resources on this page may help instructors scaffold this assignment for students. For the first summary assignment in the course, spend additional time on the strategies for summarizing, and omit the response after the summary; the the later summary, include the response and focus more on paragraph coherence in the summary itself. These materials may also be adapted for a quick, early-semester review of basic summary in WR 112 , where summary may be used as a precursor to analysis in the context of the major papers, as well as an informal assessment of reading comprehension.

to be able to define summary and list its key characteristics and its purpose; to summarize a text of appropriate level; to refer to an author consistently throughout; to work on paragraph coherence and logical signaling; to balance correct use of verb tenses between the critical present tense and other tenses; to use MLA formatting in a formal paper.

summary; reading comprehension

Basic Summary Assignment (With or Without Response)

• Comprehensive – include the major points necessary to understand the essay
• Concise – stick to the main ideas and don’t include unnecessary details
• Accurate – make sure you understand the essay and are describing it correctly
• Objective – don’t include ideas or analysis of your own
• Original – use your own words and phrasing and avoid using quotes
• Write a basic summary of any essay that we have read together.
• Note that your summary should be as concise as you can make it without leaving out any important points. Your paper should not be more than one page long, and it should include 1-3 paragraphs (aim for 150-300 words).
• Introducing the essay with the full title and author’s name and referring to the author after that by his or her last name,
• Using third person pronouns for the author and not bringing in your own personal opinions or ideas,
• Keeping your verbs in the present tense when referring to things the author of the text says, does, writes, or thinks in the essay (and other tenses as needed for sequence of tenses and/or historical events),
• Respond (if applicable)  to the text you have summarized: at the end of the summary you should include a brief (no more than one to two paragraphs) response to some element in the essay that caught your attention (rhetorical technique, theme, idea, etc.) and discuss what effect it had on you and why. This is your opportunity to offer your own opinion/analysis of the text.
• Does it refer to the author throughout the paragraph?
• Does it show clear logic and paragraph coherence?
• Where can you improve it, and why?
• What strategies did you use while writing? Remember that summaries should typically not proceed sentence by sentence or paragraph by paragraph throughout the entire essay–how do you decide what details to include, though, and what to omit? Did you find or create topic sentences for paragraphs or sections, and eliminate repetitive information and unnecessary details?
• Discuss  your summary with a partner.
• Format  your paper in MLA style.

Paraphrasing Exercise

• Practice  paraphrasing when you are preparing to write a summary, but be sure you understand their differences.
• Note that unlike a summary, which aims at condensation, a paraphrase aims at clarification. A paraphrase restates the ideas in a passage by closely tracing the author’s line of reasoning, much as a translation does. Paraphrases are very useful for understanding difficult material. Unlike a summary, a paraphrase does not condense, but rather is about the same length or even a bit longer than the original. Like a summary, a paraphrase presents someone else’s ideas in your own words and sentence structure.
• the words are not memorable enough to quote;
• the ideas in the source need to be changed in some way to fit the ideas in your paper.
• Put the passage into your own words and grammar. The best way to do this is to cover up the passage and rewrite the main ideas.
• Reread the original passage and revise your paraphrase to be sure the meaning matches the original and that you are not using the author’s words or sentence structure.
• Read the passage you are paraphrasing several times, looking up unfamiliar words.
• Proceed sentence by sentence, translating ideas into your own words.
• Change first person point of view to third person.
• Read over your paraphrase (it should be easier to read than the original)
• Check carefully to make sure you have not plagiarized. Plagiarism includes not only the use of an author’s exact words, but his or her sentence structure.

Outlining Exercise and Reflections

• Use outline form to outline a text we have read together in class.
• Remember  that the purpose of an outline of a text is to remind yourself of the text later on; it does not need to include every single detail of the text, but it will likely include more detail than a short basic summary. It does, however, need to show the connections (cause and effect, sequence, etc.) between different sections of the text you are summarizing.
• Outlining is very connected to your skills in summarizing. How is summary connected to outlining, and how might writing one help you write the other more effectively?
• What new difficulties or obstacles did you encounter throughout the process of completing this assignment which you do not encounter when you summarize?
• How did you work to overcome those obstacles and were you successful? Or do you still have some lingering confusion? Explain.
• What are your goals for your next writing assignment in this class? What planning/writing/language skills do you hope to focus on and improve next, and how are those connected to your work on the outline?