How to Summarize

A summary is a shorter version of a longer piece of writing. The summary captures all the most important parts of the original, but expresses them in a shorter space. Summarizing involves putting the main ideas into your own words, including only the main points. Summaries are significantly shorter than the original and take a broad overview of the source material.

Follow the steps outlined below to write a summary:

1. Read the original carefully in order to understand it completely and accurately.
2. Group the original writing into related paragraphs or sections.
3. Write a one or two sentence summary for each group of related paragraphs. These sentences should reflect the main idea of each section accurately.
4. Write one sentence which gives the main idea of the entire writing.
5. Start with a summary introduction, which includes the name of the article or book, the author and if appropriate the date and name of the journal, magazine or newspaper in which the article appeared. Include in your summary introduction your statement of the overall thesis of the original. Follow this with the sentence you wrote for each group of related paragraphs, keeping them in the order of the original.
6. In your final draft, eliminate repetitions and generally make your summary coherent.

When summarizing, follow the guidelines listed below:

* Include only the main points of the original passage

* Do not worry about following the original order of ideas.

* Keep the length down to no more than half the length of the original.

Here is an example of summarizing provided by Summer Leibensperger (the Academic Center, the University of Houston-Victoria,

http://www.uhv.edu/ac/research/write/):

Original Passage:

Height connotes status in many parts of the world. Executive offices are usually on the top floors; the underlings work below. Even being tall can help a person succeed. Studies have shown that employers are more willing to hire men over 6 feet tall than shorter men with the same credentials. Studies of real-world executives and graduates have shown that taller men make more money. In one study, every extra inch of height brought in an extra $1,300 a year. But being too big can be a disadvantage. A tall, brawny football player complained that people found him intimidating off the field and assumed he "had the brains of a Twinkie." (Locker, K.O. (2003). Business and administrative communication, p. 301)

Let’s first identify the main points in the original passage.

Topic sentence: “Height connotes status in many parts of the world.”

Main point: “Even being tall can help a person succeed.”

Main point: “Executive offices are usually on the top”

Main point: “being too big can be a disadvantage”

Summary:

Though height may connote slowness to some people, in the business world, it is almost universally associated with success. For example, taller men are more likely to be hired and to have greater salaries. Further, those in top positions within a company are more likely to work on the top floors of office buildings (Locker, 2003).

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