Communication L3 Summary(1)

SummaryAsummaryisashortpieceofwritingthatgivesthemainfactsorideasofastoryorarticle,etc.Itisacondensedorcompressedversion/abriefrestatementoftheessentialthoughtoflongerwriting.Itrestatesallthemainpointsofthelongerworkintheirproperrelationshiptoeachotherwithasfewwordsaspossible.ThegoalofasummaryItistogivereadersanobjective,complete,accurateandbalancedviewofsomething(anarticle,astory,anovel,aplay,etc.).4Asummaryisacondensed,abridgedorshortenedversionoftheoriginaltext.Note:Asummaryshouldbewritteninone’sownwords,andifwordingfromtheoriginalneedstoberepeated,thiswordingshouldbeputwithinquotationmarks.Writinganeffectivesummaryisnoteasy.Ingeneral,summariesarewritteninthethirdpersoneveniftheoriginaliswritteninthefirstperson.ThequalitiesofagoodsummaryItshouldbeobjective–thewriterdoesnotincludeanyideasofhis/herown.Itshouldbecomplete–thewriterdoesnotleaveoutimportantfactsorideas.Itshouldbebalanced–thewritergivesequalattentiontoeachmainidea.Inwhatwayissummaryimportant?Inbusinessenvironment:Employeesareoftenaskedtoreportbrieflyonthedevelopmentintheirdepartments.WhatwehavetodowhenwearegivenapieceofwritingtosummarizeThestepsofwritingasummary1)Readthearticle.2)Re-readthearticle.Underlineimportantideas.keyterms.Findthemainpointofthearticle.Dividethearticleintosectionsorstagesofthought,andlabeleachsectionorstageofthoughtinthemargins.Notethemainideaofeachparagraphifthearticleisshort.Circle3)Writebriefsummariesofeachstageofthoughtorifappropriateeachparagraph.Useaseparatepieceofpaperforthisstep.Thisshouldbeabriefoutlineofthearticle.4)Writethemainpointofthearticle,usingyourownwords.Thisshouldbeasentencethatexpressesthecentralideaofthearticleasyouhavedetermineditfromthestepsabove.5)Writeyourroughdraftofthesummary.Combinetheinformationfromthefirstfourstepsintoparagraphs.Note:Includeallimportantdetails.Usetheauthor’skeywords.Followtheoriginalorganizationwherepossible.Includeanyimportantdata.Includeanyimportantconclusions.6)Edityourversion.Beconcise.Eliminateneedlesswordsandrepetitions.Avoidusingtheauthorsays...,theauthorargues...,etc.7)Compareyourversiontotheoriginal.★Donotusequotations,butifyouusethembesuretoquotecorrectly.Indicatequotationswithquotationmarks.Citeeachquotationcorrectly(givethepagenumber).★Donotplagiarize.Citeanyparaphrasesbycitingthepagenumbertheinformationappearson.Avoidparaphrasingwheneverpossible.Useyourownwordstostatetheideaspresentedinthearticle.(AdaptedfromWritingAcrosstheCurriculum4thedition,L.BehrensandL.Rosen,eds.,1991,Harper/Collins,pp.6-7.)Inasummary,youshouldincludeonlytheinformationyourreadersneed.1)Statethemainpointfirst.2)Usealowerleveloftechnicalitythantheauthorsoftheoriginalarticleuse.Donotwriteasummaryyourreaderscannotunderstand.3)Makethesummaryclearandunderstandabletosomeonewhohasnotreadtheoriginalarticle.Yoursummaryshouldstandonitsown.4)Writeasummaryratherthanatableofcontents.Wrong:ThisarticlecoverspointX.ThenthearticlecoverspointY.Right:Glacialadvanceshavebeenrapidasshownbyx,y,andz.5)Addnonewdataandnoneofyourownideas.6)Useasimpleorganization:mainpoints;mainresults;conclusions/recommendations7)Unlesstheexamplesinthearticleareessential,donotincludetheexamplesinyoursummary.Ifyouincludethem,remembertoexplainthem.QuickreviewAsummaryshould:Identifythemainpoints/Focusyourattentiononthemainpoint.Leaveoutanyillustrativeexamples.beapproximately1/3-1/4thelengthoftheoriginalselection.beinyourownwords.Asummaryshouldnot:includeyouropinion.bewhatyouthinktheauthorshouldhavesaid.becopied(plagiarized)materialoraseriesofquotesfromtheselection.17SummaryHowtowriteasummary?First,readtheselectionseveraltimestomakesureyouunderstandit.18Second,answerquestionsabouttheselection,suchas:1.Whatisthetopic?2.Whatistheauthorsayingaboutthetopic?Thisanswerwillgiveyouthemainideaoftheselection.3.Underlineormakeamarginalnoteofthemainissues.4.FromyournoteswriteasummaryThird,thefirstsentenceshouldincludethefollowinginformation:TitleoftheselectionAuthor’sname,ifthisinformationisavailableMainideaoftheselection20Howtowriteasummary?Inthearticle,”_________________,”(TITLE)____________(AUTHOR’SNAME)(claims/discusses/states)that_____________________________.(MAINIDEA--INYOUROWNWORDS)ORAccordingto__________________________(AUTHOR’SNAME)inhis/herarticle,“_____________________,”(TITLE)__________________________________________________.(MAINIDEA--INYOUROWNWORDS)21SAMPLETOPICSENTENCES‘Atatypicalfootballmatchwearelikelytoseeplayerscommittingdeliberatefouls,oftenbehindthereferee'sback.Theymighttrytotakeathrow-inorafreekickfromanincorrectbutmoreadvantageouspositionsindefianceoftheclearlystatedrulesofthegame.Theysometimeschallengetherulingsoftherefereeorlinesmeninanoffensivewaywhichoftendeservespunishmentorevensendingoff.Nowonderspectatorsfightamongstthemselves,damagestadiums,ortakethelawintotheirownhandsbyinvadingthepitchinthehopeofaffectingtheoutcomeofthematch.'[100words]Howtogatheressentialfacts1)Keeponlyessential(extremelyimportantandnecessary)factsandmainactions(theeventsinastory,film,play,etc.).