English 111 Fall 2009 Summary Handout Bateman

Writing a Summary of Non-fiction Prose

What is a summary?

A brief restatement in your own words of the main ideas in a text

How is a summary different from a direct quotation or a paraphrase?

Direct quotation:

Paraphrase:

What are the characteristics of a good summary?

Complete

Concise

Clear

Objective

Same order as the original

Correct

Tips for writing summary:

1.  Identify the source of the summary in the first sentence

2.  Summarize thesis (main idea or purpose) of the text in the beginning of the summary

3.  Identify and report the main ideas in the text

4.  Follow the order of the original text

5.  Maintain the same emphasis on ideas as the original text

6.  Do not express your opinions or interpretations; emphasize reporting the literal details

of the story.

7.  Use your own words; do not use extended quotations or paraphrases.

8. 

When you do use quotes, be sure to follow the correct guidelines for incorporating

them.

9.  Follow your summary with a correctly written Work Cited entry. For example,

Work Cited

Gross, Amy. “The Appeal of the Androgynous Man.” Mademoisele(1976). Rpd. in Strategies for 

Successful Writing. 8th

ed . James A. Reinking and Robert von der Osten.. Upper Saddle River,

NJ: Pearson, Prentice Hall, 2007. 23-25. Print.

 

English 111 Fall 2009 Summary Handout Bateman

Steps in writing a summary

  Prewriting and pre-reading:

o  Survey and then read the text quickly to get a sense of the plot, characters, and setting, etc.

in the story.

o  Look for the divisions in the story.

o  See related handout “Reading Strategy” for more information  

  Re-reading and drafting:

o  Restate the main idea of the text in your own words (look for the subject of the story and

what the writer says about the subject).

o  Summarize the main idea of each section (or paragraph, chapter) of the text.

  Revising and rewriting

o  Combine the sentences to form the summary.

o  Edit and revise carefully.

Other guidelines/reminders

  The first time you mention a writer’s name, use the full name. After your first reference to the

writer’s name, use the last name only.  

  Titles of short works (stories, poems, essays) are put in quotation marks.

  Titles of books, plays, and periodicals are underlined or italicized.

  Follow the spelling, capitalization, and punctuation exactly in direct quotes and titles.

  Write your own title for your assignments, including journals.

o  Example summary title:

  Summary of “The Appeal of an Androgynous Man”