The SummaryHow to effectively summarize another

author’s work

What is a summary?It is a brief restatement in your own words of

the content of a paper or essay written by another author

It focuses on the central idea of the textIt includes the main points in their orderIt may include some important examplesIt should never include personal opinion

What is a summary?If you are summarizing an academic paper,

you should keep your summary in an academic tone.

It is always necessary to attribute summarized ideas to the original source.

Summaries are shorter than the original and take a broad overview of the source material.

From: Purdue OWL

Follow these helpful steps:Read the entire text, noting the key points

and main ideas.Summarize in your own words what the

single main idea of the essay is.Paraphrase important supporting points that

come up in the essay.Consider any words, phrases, or brief

passages that you believe should be quoted directly.

Characteristics of a Summary1) BREVITY Be concise: say everything that needs to be said

in as few words as possible2) COMPLETENESS Being brief does not mean leaving anything out.

Make sure you are including all important points!

3) OBJECTIVITY Do not include any opinions or personal feelings.

Include only the ideas of the author you are summarizing.

Characteristics of a SummaryFrom page 23 in Becoming an Active Reader

Be SPACE conscious: a summary should represent 20 per cent of the original length

Specific

Precise

Accurate

Clear

Efficient

An Essential Component!ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS include the author’s

name and the title of the work you are summarizing in the first sentence.

For example, if you were summarizing the text Interpretation of Dreams by Sigmund Freud, your summary would begin something like this:

1) In Sigmund Freud’s Interpretation of Dreams, he states that…

OR2) In his famous and influential work the Interpretation of Dreams, Sigmund Freud argues that …

“Overload” by Andy ClarkRead “Overload” by Andy Clark on page 25 in

the textbookSummarize the piece in your own wordsCompare your summary with the example

summary on page 27Did you miss any important details?Why does the example summary include a direct

quotation?Read over the Review Questions on page 28

and be prepared to share your answers with the class