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Summaries
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Learning Goals
You will:
- Understand the function
and purpose of a summary
- Be able to identify the
important (main) and
supporting ideas (key) in a
text
- Create a simple summary
for a variety of texts
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What is a summary?
• - a condensed version of
an original text, usually a
full article, book, movie
etc.
• Usually around a
paragraph in length
• Also usually follows the
same order as the original
text
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Why/when do we summarize?
• Think about a variety of
times when you may have
summarized something for
someone.
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Why/when do we summarize?
• Events on the newest episode
of your favourite show
• The book you read over the
summer
• Giving an overview of your idea
for a project
• Researching for a school
assignment
• And many others…
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Summary and your opinion
• Leave your opinion out of a
summary
• You are just telling the
main idea and most
important details
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Your summary needs to be:
• Accurate
• Clear
• Relevant
• Concise
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What does a summary show
• Shows that you clearly
understand a text…and
that you can
communicate that
understanding to your
readers
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To write an effective summary, follow
these guidelines:
• Determine the main idea of the piece you have
read or viewed.
• Write one sentence that captures that main
idea.
• As you read or view, note the major areas of
evidence that the piece provides.
• Then write one sentence that communicates the
gist of each of these major areas.
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Main Idea and Key Points
The main idea is what the text is about.
Key points are arguments or information that is
used to support the main idea.
Key points may be developed or elaborated
with supporting details.
Your summary should only include main ideas
and key points, not supporting details.
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Should It Go in My Summary?
Only major ideas and necessary information
should go into a summary.
Ask yourself:
“Do you need this information to
understand the text?”
If the answer is yes, put it into your own
words in your summary.
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Avoid Trivial Information
• “trivial information” is an empty
statement that contributes very
little new content about the
topic.
• For example: “I think every
should know about the energy
sources we use.”
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Use more general terms
• Here is an example of how to
substitute a general term for a
list of items in order to
summarize this sentence:
• Details: ”John bought some
milk, bread, fruit, cheese,
potato chips, butter, hamburger
and buns.”
• General term: “John bought
some groceries.”
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General Terms Continued
• Here is another example of how to
substitute a general term for a list of
events in order to summarize this passage:
• Details: “A lot of children cam and
brought presents. They played games and
they blew bubbles at each other. A
magician came and showed them some
magic. Later Jennifer opened her presents
and blew out the candles on her cake.”
• General term: ”Jennifer had a birthday
party.”
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Avoid these
common
problems …
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To avoid plagiarizing, do not
look at the source while you
are writing the summary.
- You may have notes but
avoid looking at those too
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Use what you
remember
from the reading
or viewing.
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Write the summary in your
own words.
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After you have
written the
summary, you
can revisit the
source to confirm
facts.
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Do not open the
summary with “In this
article, it says ...” or
“This video is about
…”
Stinks!
Overdone!
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Use this formula:
Specific name of piece + strong
action verb + main idea.
The 60 Minutes story “Thrift Shop
Masterpiece” explains the
controversy surrounding a
possible Jackson Pollack
painting.
That sounds
so much
better!
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Never assume your audience
already knows the work that
you are referring to even if
the audience is your
professor. Instead, imagine
your audience is anyone in
the school who may come
across your work.
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Let’s Create an Outline for a
Summary!
• Work together with your
classmates to create an
outline of a summary.
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Possible Outline (Hamburger Paragraph)
• Top Bun: introduces the text and
the main idea
• Lettuce: first key point in the text
• Tomato: second key point in the
text
• Cheese: third key point in the text
• Meat: the last key point in the text
• Bottom Bun: restates the main idea
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Practice!
As a class read the passage and then
work together to create a summary
paragraph.
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When one hears the term “reality”
applied to a television show, one might
expect that the events occurred naturally
or, at the least, were not scripted, but this
is not always the case. Many reality shows
occur in unreal environments, like rented
mansions occupied by film crews. These
living environments do not reflect what
most people understand to be
“reality.” Worse, there have been
accusations that events not captured on
film were later restaged by
producers. Worse still, some involved in
the production of “reality” television claim
that the participants were urged to act
out story lines premeditated by
producers. With such accusations floating
around, it’s no wonder many people take
reality TV to be about as real as the
sitcom.
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• With your small groups
(partners), you are going
to visit the website labelled
”Vocabulary Building
Strategies” in Edsby.
• Work together to create a
paragraph summary of
that article.
• You will then share it on the
discussion board for
feedback.
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