Writing Summaries

Summarizing is one of the most important academic skills since whenever you study, either for an exam or just to get background information, when you read a book or an article, the outcome is a condensed version of the original.

To write a satisfactory summary is not an easy task and to make it easier, here are some ground rules to bear in mind when doing so.

• Do not start writing a summary until you have fully understood the meaning of the original text, which means you might need to read the text at least twice. Although it does not mean being familiar with every single word, you should be able to guess the meaning of those words you do not understand.
• Based on the comprehension of the original, make notes about the most important ideas or concepts – however, do not copy the exact words used in the text as this would be considered quoting and you need to refer to the original by using quotes or otherwise you might be accused of plagiarism.
• Leave out unnecessary details and do not include your opinion. Summaries do not express personal stance, unless the author´s opinion is expressed and is important for understanding of the general message of the text or makes an important reference.
• If possible – i.e. when there is no time limit, use the notes and make them into the first draft of the written summary. Keep the ideas in the right and logical sequence. Where you are not sure, consult the original. Only then rewrite the draft into the final version.
• Start the summary with a strong beginning and continue expanding on the notes. The basic division of the summary usually includes introduction, body of the summary and conclusion. However, considering the variety of purposes for which we summarize this is only a very general rule.
• Make sure that your version is comprehensible and logical – imagine a third person who has not read the original should read your summary. Would the person get the same picture of the original text except for minor or unnecessary details? If the answer is yes, then you have done a good job. If not, get back to the points where you failed to achieve accuracy of expression, coherence or brevity.

When summarising, we frequently use expressions like despite, although, nevertheless, however, but, first, before, because, for this reason, on the other hand, therefore, since, consequently, the bottom line is, in other words and others to demonstrate relations between ideas/concepts and to help us order the text into logical sequence. These are called LINKING WORDS and their correct position in the text can make all the difference between a successful and natural sounding summary and an unsatisfactory one. Below there is a list of the most common ones.

 Linking words of:

• sequence: firstly, second, secondly, third, thirdly, next, last, finally, in addition, moreover, furthermore, in conclusion, to summarise
• comparison: similarly, likewise, also, too, as, just as, and, like, similar to, be the same as, not only ... but also, to compare with/to
• cause: for, because, since, as, because of, to cause
• effect: so, as a result, as a consequence, therefore, thus, consequently, hence, to result from, due to, to result in, to affect
• contrast: however, nevertheless, still, although, but, yet, despite, in spite of, in comparison, while, whereas, on the contrary, on the other hand, having said that
• emphasis: undoubtedly, indeed, obviously, generally, admittedly, particularly, especially, clearly
• example: for example, for instance, that is, such as, including, namely, especially, particularly, in particular

 
To understand a text and to summarize it well, the reader/writer needs to be familiar with REFERENCE WORDS. These are expressions, mainly pronouns, which make reference to a word, words or concepts either mentioned in the text previously – we speak of backwards reference or those which will be mentioned in the text later – then we speak of forwards reference. Reference words express connections between ideas/concepts and play a significant role in cohesion and clarity of the text.

    Reference words: 

• personal pronouns: I, you, he, she it, we, you, they
• possessive pronouns: mine, yours, his, hers, its, ours, yours, theirs
• demonstratives: this/that/these/those/such
• comparatives: another, other, both, similar, the same, better, earlier, the former, the latter ...
• the definite article the

Next follows a set of primarily linguistic exercises which should help to give you a practical idea of how to summarize, how to use expressions making the formal framework of basically any summary and hopefully you will find these exercises useful when compiling a summary in the future.