SUMMARIZING Summarizing is one of the most important skills you will learn this semester. It is a crucial skill you will use throughout your career. All writers must know how to summarize, especially when writing about the sciences and producing research. When you can summarize somebody else’s work, you show your reader that you understand and are familiar with the research in your field. EXAMPLE SUMMARY OF ABOVE: Summarizing is very important. What Is Summarizing? Summarizing is taking longer pieces of writing and reducing them to the most important ideas in your own words. The gist, the key ideas, and the main points that are worth noting and remembering are included. Extra words, details and examples are removed. We try to find the key words and phrases that capture the same meaning of what we've read.1 EXAMPLE SUMMARY OF ABOVE: Summarizing presents the main ideas in your own words.
You might need to answer these questions: Who?
What?
Where?
When?
When you summarize…
make sure you fully understand the original text. write out main ideas in your own words. focus on key details. use key words and phrases.
When you summarize, don’t…
write too much. write too little. copy word for word.1
Why?
How?
Paragraph 1 “In the United Arab Emirates, up to 25 percent of Emirati boys do not complete high school, according to 2012 data from the Knowledge and Human Development Authority, or K.D.H.A., in Dubai. The boys, uninspired by teachers or classes, often leave for low-skilled public sector jobs in the army or police force, or roles in the family businesses, analysts say.”2 EXAMPLE SUMMARY OF PARAGRAPH 1:
One in four Emirati boys does not finish high school.
Notice: Only the main idea is summarized. Details about what the students do when they drop out are not included because they are not crucial.
Paragraph 2: “’Teacher quality is a major factor [in low success rates] and, especially in the U.A.E., there needs to be rapid movement in training Arab male teachers,’ said Ms. Ridge, now a researcher at Sheik Saud bin Saqr al-Qasimi Foundation in Ras alKhaimah. ‘Many of them struggle with how to teach and are very unengaging.’”2
EXAMPLE SUMMARY OF PARAGRAPH 2: Poor quality teachers in the U.A.E. are a big reason why students don’t succeed in high school.
Just like writing a topic sentence for a paragraph, a summary contains the topic and the supporting idea. In the above example, the summary would be a good topic sentence.
After reading the text and making sure you understand it, underline the important ideas.
Practice 1: Underline the important ideas in the following paragraph.
Costa Rica is a great place to spend a vacation for two reasons. First of all, Costa Rica has an excellent system of national parks where visitors can observe nature. For example, in Totuguero National Park, visitors can watch sea turtles come ashore to lay their eggs in nests in the sand. Then they can come back several months later to see the new babies crawl down to the sea. In Santa Rosa National Park, visitors can see unusual birds, such as toucans and quetzals. They can observe exotic animals such as spider monkeys. Second, Costa Rica has many beautiful beaches. For instance, the beaches at Manuel Antonio National Park are among the most beautiful in the world, and the beaches on Canoa and Cocos Islands offer perfect conditions for snorkeling and scuba diving. Indeed, Costa Rica is a wonderful place to go if you love the outdoors.3 Summarize the paragraph. Hint: think about how you would write a specific topic sentence for the paragraph. Try to imagine that for each word you write, you must pay one riyal. Obviously, you want to spend as little money as possible.
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Practice 2: Underline the important ideas in the following paragraph. “…an epidemic of overtreatment — too many scans, too many blood tests, too many procedures — is costing the nation’s health care system at least $210 billion a year, according to the Institute of Medicine, and taking a human toll in pain, emotional suffering, severe complications and even death. “What people are not realizing is that sometimes the test poses harm,” said Shannon Brownlee, acting director of the health policy program at the New America Foundation and the author of “Overtreated: Why Too Much Medicine Is Making Us Sicker and Poorer.”4
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References
1. Jones, R. Strategies for Reading: Summarizing. [Internet]. [updated 2012 Aug 26; cited 2012 Jun 27]. Available from: http://www.readingquest.org/strat/summarize.html 2. Hamdan, S. New York Times [Internet]. 2012 May 27 [cited 2012 Jun 5]: Available from: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/28/world/middleeast/28iht-educlede28.html?emc=eta1 3. Hogue, A. First Steps in Academic Writing: Pearson Education; 2007. 4. Parker-Pope, T. New York Times [Internet] 2012 Aug 27 [cited Aug 28]: Available from: http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/08/27/overtreatment-is-taking-a-harmfultoll/?src=me&ref=general