|
|
Summarizing
A summary reviews the most important points of the text. It should be brief (short). Furthermore, the summary should be written as much as possible in your own words. It contains only the main ideas and does not include much explanation or examples.
How to write a summary
1. Before you begin your summary, check that you have identified the main points of the text.
2. Underline/highlight and/or take notes on the text.
3. Write a sentence which includes the author’s main idea or purpose for
writing the text. To do this, identify the
topic (subject of the text) and then what the author says about the topic.
This sentence is the topic sentence
(main sentence) of your summary.
4. Try to use your own words. If you must use the words of the author, use
quotation marks and give the page
number.
5. Next, give the major supporting information which the author gives to explain the main idea.
6. Finally, give YOUR evaluation of the text. Did the author convince you to
accept his/her main claims?
Was the text effectively written?
For each question: If yes, give three reasons why.
If no, give three reasons why.