How to Write a Summary

There are some places in your writing where it would be effective to include a summary. A  summary can be useful in the introductory paragraph to ground the reader in how you are using a source–this is more complex than the ineffective “book report” because it identifies the author’s argument and should lead the reader into how you are using that argument in your own project. Your own thesis may be adding to or complicating that source’s argument in light of other source’s theories. Also, when you are using a source, your reader needs to know that author’s point, especially before quoting or using paraphrased information from that source in order to provide context. In addition, you may also be assigned (or want to create) an annotated bibliography–this document includes a summary of all of your sources’ arguments.

• A summary begins with an introductory sentence that states the text’s title, author, and main thesis or subject.
• A summary contains the main thesis (or main point of the text), restated in your own words.
• A summary is written in your own words. It contains few or no quotes.
• A summary is always shorter than the original text, often about 1/3 as long as the original.  It is the ultimate “fat-free” writing. An article or paper may be summarized in a few sentences or a couple of paragraphs. A book may be summarized in an article or a short paper.  A very large book may be summarized in a smaller book.
• A summary should contain all the major points of the original text but should ignore most of the fine details, examples, illustrations or explanations.
• The backbone of any summary is formed by critical information (key names, dates, places, ideas, events, words and numbers). A summary must never rely on vague generalities.
• If you quote anything from the original text, even an unusual word or a catchy phrase, you need to put whatever you quote in quotation marks (“”).
• A summary must contain only the ideas of the original text. Do not insert any of your own opinions, interpretations, deductions, or comments into a summary.
• A summary, like any other writing, has to have a specific audience and purpose, and you must carefully write it to serve that audience and fulfill that specific purpose.