SUMMARISING

Summarising is an essential skill. It is something that we do everyday. We are summarising when: we tell our friend briefly what a movie is about, we give someone a gist of what we did that day, we inform someone of how we come to a decision about something, etc.

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The ability to summarise information is one of the most important critical thinking skills you can develop. Taking large quantities of information, understanding what that information means, and condensing it into a shorter version of the original allows you to have important information on hand for easy reference without having to memorise long passages or complex statistics.

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What is a summary in the academic context? A brief restatement in your own words of a text's main ideas. A condensation of "an extended idea or argument into a sentence or more in your own words.

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Why Summarise? to represent the gist of an author's work . to avoid unnecessary details when the main point is all you need. to use own words (unless the text includes technical terms or words in common usage) and sum up the main point of a text.

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Deciding on the main point of an essay can be difficult, since authors frequently make several points in one text. While all the points made might be important to demonstrate why the author believes what he does, they can usually be subsumed into a more general point that the entire article makes.

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The following steps help ensure that you find the main point rather than only the first point that the author makes.

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Steps to summarise written texts (i)

Read the text quickly in order to get a sense of the article's general focus and content (skimming). Reread the text in order to ensure that you've got all the main ideas (scanning).

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Steps to summarise written texts (ii)
Underline the important words (marking). Write down key-words, i.e. words that sum up the meaning of the text, but which needn't necessarily occur in the text (making notes).

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Steps to summarise written texts (iii)

Sum up the key-words in simple sentences (summing up in simple form). Combine the simple sentences by using conjunctions like "as, though, because, since" etc or participle constructions or infinitives (summing up in complex form).

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Steps to summarise written texts (iv) Compare the original text with your text to find out that you've got the essential information (check). Edit very carefully for neatness and correctness.

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The following slides will guide you on the characteristics of a good summary.

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The characteristics of a summary (i)
It contains all the main points of the original. It maintains and communicate the meaning of the original. It does not contain your own opinion or views on the original. It does not include examples or supporting points.

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The characteristics of a summary (ii) It attributes the original author. It focuses exclusively on the presentation of the writer's main ideas. It contains the main ideas presented in more than one paragraph, in a chapter or a text.

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The characteristics of a summary (iii) It combines specific statements into general statements. It changes speeches into statements. It demonstrates the writers understanding on a text's subject matter.

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The characteristics of a summary (iv) It tends to be 60% shorter than the original text i.e. the original is cut to about one third. It omits the original text's examples, analogies, and details.

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Read the following paragraphs.

See what makes a good summary (Article 1). See what other phrases can be used in citing a text

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(Article 1)

For nearly 1,400 years Islam, though diverse in sectarian practice and ethnic tradition, has provided a unifying faith for peoples stretching from the Atlantic to the Indian Ocean and beyond. Starting in the 1500s, Western ascendancy, which culminated in the colonization, eroded once glorious Muslim empires and reduce the influence of Islam. After the breakup of the Ottoman Empire following World War I and the decline of European colonial empires following World War II, Muslim nations adopted

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Western ideologies communism, socialism, secular nationalism, and capitalism. Yet most Muslims remained poor and powerless. Their governments, secular regimes often backed y the West, were corrupt and repressive (Belt, 2002) Belt, Don. The World of Islam. National Geographic, January 2002: 76-85

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(Article 1)

A well written summary:

For nearly 1,400 years, Islam has united people globally. Western interference, through colonization, and political ideologies, has not improved their lives (Belt, 2002) Reasons maintains the original tone properly documented properly punctuated

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(Article 2)
Source: Rychnovsky (1999) Clawing into Controversy Original:

In some respects, the increasing frequency of mountain lion encounters in California has as much to do with a growing human population as it does with rising number of mountain lions. The scenic solitude of the western ranges is prime cougar habitat, and it is falling swiftly to the developers spade. Meanwhile, with their ideal habitat already at its carrying capacity, mountain lions are forcing younger cats into less suitable terrain, including residential areas. Add that cougars have generally grown bolder under a lengthy ban on their being hunted, an unsettling scenario begins to emerge.
Can you identify the main points? Try to summarize the text.

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Summary (Article 2):

According to Rychnovsky (1999), contact between mountain lions and humans is on the rise in California because increasing numbers of lions are competing for a shrinking habitat in the face of development. As the lions wild habitat shrinks, older lions force younger lions into residential areas. These lions have lost some of their fear of humans because of a ban on hunting.

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Here are other ways you could introduce your summary:
Rychnovsky (1999) states that contact In his/ her book/ article, Rychnovsky (1999) mentions Contact between mountain lions and humans is on the rise in California because increasing numbers of lions are competing for a shrinking habitat in the face of development, according to Rychnovsky (1999).

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Should Should Should

be written in your own words match the tone of the original text

make specific reference to the author and/or title and the page(s) of the text
Should

not include any of your opinions

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FOR CLASS: Bring articles you might want to use in your term paper.

Sources
Summary Skills DLA by Chaffey College Writing Center Wisc-online (adapted) http://www3.surrey.ac.uk/Skills/pack/suggest.html EAP LMS notes