College: Writing a Reading Summary

Dec 13, 2010
Brittain Whiteside-Galloway

Question mark - jscreationzs

An important and integral skill in college English courses the ability to construct a well-written summary. A summary is a restatement, not an opinion.

Writing a summary of an essay or excerpt or what-have-you sounds like an easy task, right? So much easier an assignment than composing your own essay, you think. Did you really think you were getting off the hook that easily? Lesson plans and assignments increase--not decrease--in difficulty as a semester or trimester progresses.

Crystal Clear

To begin with, make certain that you have a clear understanding of what the writer is trying to convey to his or her readers.

Presentation: your words, not your opinion

When you are confident that you have a clear understanding of the material being read and summarized, present the essential points to your audience in your own words. While you are to use your own words, you are not to use your own opinion. Leave out anything that states or implies your viewpoints, analyses, reactions, and/or opinions. Concentrate on the principal concepts of the essay, excerpt, or whatever type of reading material you are to summarize.

Your audience = key factor to consider when writing a summary--and presenting it, as well

While writing your summary, do not lose focus of who your target audience is. You must be able to reasonably assume your audience is familiar with the material you're summarizing; otherwise, they won't comprehend what you're presenting to them and your writing will be in, well...vain.

What your summary should include

All chief ideas expressed in the original reading material.
No opinions, biased viewpoints, or anything of that nature.
Though quotations can add immensely to a paper, using quotations in summaries may be harmful to your grade. Should you use direct quotes from the material, check to make sure that the quote(s) is/are appropriate and is/are well-integrated into your summary.
Though this rule applies to all written material, be certain that your grammar and/or punctuation is correct; a general rule of thumb is to have at least 3 people proofread your work before submitting it.
No chop' n' change- be sure that your overall summary is coherent and cohesive.

Handy-dandy tips

Read the material carefully. If you don't understand or misunderstand the reading, writing a summary is futile.
Highlight or underline the main points in the reading; this makes locating the principal concepts easier and more beneficial for you time-wise.
Take notes on the reading material- thoughts or questions you might have about certain pieces of the reading.
Once you have completed your draft, read through your work carefully to ensure that your summary lacks any and all opinion(s)- other than that of the author's, if stated in the material.
Reading the material several times may be necessary in order to gain clear understanding of what the writer is trying to get across to readers. Do this before beginning to write.

Students become all too familiar with the monotonizing assignments that call for their opinions, persuasions, arguments, etc; because of this, when required to complete an assignment that demands none of those, students may be perplexed as to how to go about writing such a piece. This article should be of good aid for students who need pointing in the right direction.