Summarizing Texts PDF

# LESSON 3 MS. CHE # SUMMARIZING VARIETY OF TEXTS # SUMMARY * Also known as **abstract** or **précis (pray-see)**, it is a form of writing that is a product of careful digesting and relating to a shorter form of any long composition. * It is also a form of note-taking that consists of stating...

# LESSON 3 MS. CHE # SUMMARIZING VARIETY OF TEXTS # SUMMARY * Also known as **abstract** or **précis (pray-see)**, it is a form of writing that is a product of careful digesting and relating to a shorter form of any long composition. * It is also a form of note-taking that consists of stating briefly, sometimes in a sentence, sometimes in a paragraph of your own words, the essential ideas together with some details of the subject that was discussed at greater length in the original form. * Summaries aim to precisely condense (make it shorter) a larger work to present only the key ideas. It conveys the gist of what has been read, listened to, or viewed. * Is a short overview of the main points of an article or other sources, written entirely in your own words. * Express the most important facts or ideas about something or someone in a short clear form. ## WHY IS SUMMARIZING A SIGNIFICANT CRITICAL READING SKILL? Barrot and Sipacio (2017) argues that summarizing is an important skill because it helps you: * Deepen your understanding of the text * Learn to identify relevant information or key ideas * Combine details or examples that support the main idea and key words presented in the text; and capture the key ideas in the text and put them together clearly and concisely. ## What is NOT Summarizing? You are NOT summarizing when you: * Write down everything * Write down ideas from the text word-for-word * Write down incoherent and irrelevant ideas * Write down ideas that are not stated in the text; or * Write down a summary that has the same length or is longer than the original text. ## STRATEGIES/TECHNIQUES IN SUMMARIZING * Summarizing a text has so much to do with comprehension. One cannot summarize unless he/she is able to understand key ideas of what is being read. There are some guidelines in summarizing a text but first, here are some strategies/techniques to help you better understand what you read. ## Finding the Main Idea * Every coherent text has one central idea, which connects the different parts of the text. You need to find this main idea for you to understand and summarize the text. However, there is not a single way to find the main idea because every text is different. Instead, you need to look at the whole thing. ## Separating General Ideas from Details/Examples * To summarize a text, you need to distinguish general ideas from details or examples. It is important that you do not confuse the general idea from the details because you might misunderstand the overall meaning of what you are reading. * First, skim the text, reading fast and trying to understand the overall idea in a simple way. In order to distinguish general ideas from details, you need some context. Until you've read the whole thing, you will not get the text's context or background. * Second, look for linking phrases like 'for example', 'for instance', 'specifically', or in 'particular'. Linking phrases like these show you that what follows is an explanation of a more general idea that was mentioned before. * Third, remember that one sentence can contain both general ideas and details mixed together. ## Identifying Key Words One of the problems you may often encounter when reading English texts is that there are words which you do not understand. You might have several words which you do not know and that makes things more difficult but there are strategies you can use * First, look for proper nouns, which start with a capital letter. Sometimes you might think that you do not understand a word, but you do not realize that it is actually a proper noun like a person's name or a place name. * Next, look for words that tell you that an idea is important. You could look for words like 'important', 'notable', 'significant' or 'essential'. * Another strategy in finding key words is looking for repeated words. if words are often repeated in a text, that means that word is significant in giving meaning to a text. So basically, the key to making a good summary is to first have a grasp (hold it firmly) of the essential ideas presented in the text. You cannot translate into your own words and shorten something that you do not understand. ## General Guidelines in Summarizing * Clarify your purpose before you read. * Read the text at least twice until you fully understand its content. Locate the gist or main idea of the text, which can usually be found either at the beginning, in the middle, or in the end. * Highlight key ideas and phrases; another strategy is to annotate( explanation or comment) the text. * Write all the key ideas and phrases you identified on the margins or on your notebook in a bullet or outline form. * Without looking at the text, identify the connections of these key ideas and phrases using a concept map. * List your ideas in sentence form in a concept map. * Combine the sentences into a paragraph. Use appropriate transitional devices to improve cohesion. * Never copy in verbatim (exactly same words) a single sentence from the original text. * Refrain from adding comments about the text. Stick to the ideas it presents. * Edit the draft of your summary by eliminating redundant ideas. Compare your output with the original text to ensure accuracy. * Record the details of the original source (author's name/s, date of publication, title, publisher, place of publishing, and URL, (if online). It is not necessary to indicate the page number/s of the original text in citing sources in summaries. * Format your summary properly. When you combine your summaries in a paragraph, use different formats to show variety in writing. ## Using Reporting Verbs when Summarizing * A reporting verb is a word used to discuss another person's writings or assertions. They are generally used to incorporate the source to the discussion in the text. * To make your summary more interesting and to show importance to each of your sources, you should vary the verbs you use. You can use the past or the present tense of the verb depending on your meaning. ## English Tenses (VERB FORM) | PRESENT | PAST | | :------- | :----- | | I am | I was | | I have | I did | | I go | I went | | I dance | I danced | | Emphasis | Addition | Contrast | Time | | :--------------- | :------------------- | :-------------------- | :------------------ | | Undoubtedly | Apart from this | Unlike | Following | | Unquestionably | Moreover | Nevertheless | At this time | | Obviously | Furthermore | On the other hand | Previously | | Clearly | In addition | Whereas | First/Firstly | | Absolutely | Additionally | Alternatively | Second/Secondly | | Indeed | Besides | Conversely | Third/Thirdly | | It should be noted | Not only... but also | Even so | Finally | | Without a doubt | Also | Differing from | Subsequently | | Importantly | Too | Despite | Above all | | Particularly | An additional | Nonetheless | Before | | Especially | | In spite of | Last but not least | | Definitely | | In contrast | First and foremost | | In particular | | | |