SUMMARIZING

To answer questions such as "What was the movie about?", "What did I miss
in class today" you must be able to summarize. The person who asked you
these questions does not want to know every detail. You are only required
to select the important details and summarize them. Similarly, in your
studies in the university you will have various opportunities to summarize
the texts you have read.

You may use summarizing as a useful study technique: you may

write down the main points of a writer's article and learn the material
you need.

You may also be assigned to write summaries by your instructors

so that they can check whether you have read the assigned passages.

Most often, summaries are also included in other types of writing

and academic papers. In a research paper you revise and summarize

information on the topic under study. In an argumentative essay you
may summarize texts and research findings that support your thesis.
Here in the prep school our aim is to prepare you for your future studies.
Therefore, you should learn how to summarize texts in an acceptable and
successful manner.
What is a summary?
The goal of writing a summary of an article, a single chapter or a whole book
is to offer as accurately as possible the full sense of the original, but in a
more condensed form. A summary restates the author's main point,
purpose, intent and supporting details in your own words.
Why summarize?
The process of summarizing enables you to grasp the original text better,
and the result shows the reader that you understand it as well. In addition to
this, the knowledge you gained by summarizing makes it possible for you to
analyze and critique the original text.

How to summarize?
There are several techniques to be used while summarizing a text and they
all stress full understanding of a text and require the reader to spot the main
or major ideas in it. But before we move any further, here are some useful
tips about summarizing:

Restate, that is repeat the ideas of the source in different words and
phrases

Do not add your own ideas, opinions or judgment of the arguments

Make it shorter than the source

The Cornell method

Here in this handout we will follow the Cornell method to summarize a
factual text. Divide your notepaper into two columns. On the left hand side,
write the main points, in the right hand column write down a few details or
important explanations about the main point.
Let's assume that you were assigned the news story about the dolphin that lost
its tail.

Make notes as you read along.

Never use a sentence if you can use a phrase.

The following chart demonstrates how to fill in the details as you read
along. The news story is not told in the chronological order. If you use
the outlining method you may not be able to put the story in time order.
However, if you write the main points in the left, and add details in the right
column, you see that your summary forms itself in a logical and
chronological order.

Main point
Dolphin lost tail

put in an aquarium

Explanations
Due to human action
got caught in a line of crab trap

learned to swim without her tail

but cannot swim like other dolphins

prosthetic tail can be a solution

-it's costly
-requires a long time to develop
-dolphin cannot leave the pool even
with the tail
-will require long-term care

real solution is to educate

humans

especially fishermen about fishing

without harming other animals in water

Revise your notes.

After you have made your notes as you read on, look at your
notes again and add any important points you remember about
the passage you have read.
Write your summary. Reconstruct sentences from your notes.

To see the summary written by an intermediate student click here. You will
notice how much shorter the summary is. The original article is 768 words
long. The summary, on the other hand, is only 152 words. To be exact, the
text is reduced to 20% of its original length.
Summarizing an experimental report
Summarizing such texts requires adequate understanding of the
experimental methods and discussions. In such articles usually the report
follows the order:
Purpose
Method
Results
Conclusion
Suppose you were assigned the text Black tea soothes away stress.
In this part of the handout we will try the outlining method to illustrate how
it is used. You can use the Cornell method if you like too.
Read the text very carefully to understand
Purpose of the experiment,
What method was used,
What results were found,
What the author concludes by looking at the results of the study.

The following table illustrates the notes made by a student. Notice phrases
are used instead of full sentences.
Black tea soothes away stress
Method:
Subjects: 75 young male regular tea drinkers
Experimental design: Ss divided into 2 groups monitored for 2 weeks
o Experimental group: given caffeinated tea mixture
o Control group: placebo drink
Task: both groups given challenging tasks:
Subjected to one of 3 stressful situations and asked to prepare a verbal
response
Results:
Increased blood pressure, heart rate and subjective stress ratings in both
groups
50 mins after the task, cortisol levels dropped by an ave of 47% in teadrinking group
27% in the fake tea group
Blood platelet activation was lower in tea drinkers
Tea drinkers: greater degree of relaxation in recovery period
Conclusion and discussion:
Tea drinkers recover from stress more quickly than those who drink a fake tea
substitute
Unclear if ingredients in tea responsible
Tea drinking not decrease stress levels but brings stress hormone levels back to
normal more quickly Important bec. slow recovery after acute stress lead to
chronic illnesses e.g. heart disease

To see the summary written based on those notes, click here.

Summarizing argumentative or theoretical texts
Summarizing conceptually more complex texts may be different from
summarizing factual texts. In such texts, you have to follow the authors
main line of reasoning, spot his arguments, identify the counterarguments
he puts forward to refute another argument, differentiate between main
ideas, and evidence provided to support or refute arguments. While doing
these, you will also have to decide what is essential information and what is
detail. All these require very careful critical reading. Do not forget, in your
studies your summary will often lead to a critical essay, i.e. response or
reaction writing.

Suggestions for writing a summary

Read the material over as many times as necessary in order to
understand it. Look up unfamiliar words
Identify the main points and underline them in the text or list them on
a piece of paper.
Make sure that you note:
o The thesis
o The primary assertions, arguments, or findings; and
o The primary means of support for each point
Making notes in the margin may also help you summarize
You may use the annotations:
o NBnota bene good or important point
o Impimportant
o Main idea/main argument/first argument
o Evidence/proof/support
o Write the first draft of your summary
o Introduce in the first paragraph the full title of the piece, the
authors full name and the topic of the reading
o In the body of your summary, clearly explain the important
content of the reading
o Check the rough draft of your summary against the source text
As you review your work, make sure that your summary is:
o Comprehensive: You have included in your summary all of the
authors major ideas, assertions and findings
o Accurate: in your choice of words and paraphrasing you did not
misrepresent the authors ideas
o Neutral: you tried to be objective and fair and did not include
your own evaluation or comments
o Independent: a person who has not read the source text can
understand what you have written
Suppose you were assigned the text Monkey brain research: The case
against. Following the guidelines outlined above, to see how the student
who has read this text highlighted the major arguments and other important
points click here. From this critical reading, the same student made the
following readers notes:
Monkey brain research
Thesis: no need for brain research on monkeys
Arg 1: research on primates cannot predict side-effects on
humans

Ex: amrinone no harm on primates but bleeding in humans

Ex: Alzheimers vaccine no harm on primates but brain
inflammation in humans
Arg 2: human and primate brains are completely different
cant understand human brain by experimenting on
monkeys
Difference:
Ex: human brain 4 times larger>chimp brain
Chimp brain 4 times larger> macaque brain
Ex: biochemical pathways in human brain
Ex genetic expression
Arg 3: real answers in human tissue
All knowledge about human diseases came from autopsies, pop research
and
studies on human tissues
Conclusion: funding better spent on research involving DNA arrays,
bioinformatics, microdosing, human stem cells, large clinical studies not
animal
research

Monkey Brain Research: The Case Against: Student

Summary

Dr Ray Greek, medical director of Europeans For Medical Advancement,

in his article titled Monkey Brain Research: The Case Against
asserts that there is no need for monkey brain research. Dr Greek
states that brain research on monkeys cannot predict side effects on
human beings. Many drugs and vaccines that had no side effects on
primates may cause serious damage in humans, e.g. an Alzheimers
vaccine that was seen completely harmless on primates caused
brain inflammation in humans. Another reason why we should not
conduct experiments on primates is that human and primate brains
are completely different in size, biochemical pathways and genetic
expression. Finally, knowledge about human diseases came from
autopsies, population research and studies on human tissues. Greek
concludes that funding had better be spent on research involving
DNA arrays, bioinformatics, human stem cells and not on animal

research.