Chapter 1

Summarizing a written text

A-10

Your goal in summarizing a text is to state the work’s main ideas and key points simply, objectively, and accurately in your own words. Writing a summary does not require you to judge the author’s ideas; it requires you to understand the author’s ideas.

In summarizing, you condense information, put an author’s ideas in your own words, and test your understanding of what a text says. Since a summary must be fairly short, you must decide what is most important.

If you have sketched a brief outline of the text, refer to it as you draft your summary.

To summarize a written text, do the following:

Find and state the author’s central idea, the thesis.
Divide the whole piece into a few major and perhaps minor ideas.
State any important findings, conclusions, or recommendations.

Guidelines for writing a summary of a written text

Summary of a written text (big-box stores)

Annotated article (big-box stores)

Outline of a written text (big-box stores)