{"id":81,"date":"2023-05-11T12:12:29","date_gmt":"2023-05-11T12:12:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-technicalwriting\/chapter\/check-choesiveness-2\/"},"modified":"2023-05-22T22:47:14","modified_gmt":"2023-05-22T22:47:14","slug":"check-choesiveness-2","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-technicalwriting\/chapter\/check-choesiveness-2\/","title":{"raw":"Writing A Summary","rendered":"Writing A Summary"},"content":{"raw":"<div class=\"textbox learning-objectives\">\r\n<h3>Learning Objectives<\/h3>\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Identify the characteristics of writing a successful summary<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Summarize the best practices for writing a summary<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/div>\r\nAn academic summary provides an objective, condensed (shortened) description of the content of a piece of writing or presentation. Unlike a review, it does NOT analyze, evaluate, or critique; your opinion of the work is not typically part of the summary (unless you have been asked to add your thoughts afterward). Since summaries usually occur within a context (eg., part of your essay), your thoughts about what you have summarized will probably be relevant to your subsequent analysis. But when writing the actual summary of someone else\u2019s ideas, you must neutrally and accurately describe what you take to be the important ideas in the author\u2019s or presenter\u2019s work in as few words as possible. Occasionally, if the work you are summarizing has an unusual form, style, or tone that affects the content, your summary might describe HOW the author presents those ideas.\r\n<h3>What is the purpose of a summary?<\/h3>\r\nA summary is meant to inform your reader\u2014who has not read the text or seen the presentation\u2014of what the text is about. It describes its purpose or main idea, and summarizes the supporting arguments that develop that idea. Readers will then know if they will find it useful and want to read it.\r\n\r\nThere are many kinds of summaries that serve different purposes:\r\n\r\nAn academic summary of someone else\u2019s ideas, in the context of a research essay, helps you to support and develop your ideas. You may summarize someone\u2019s ideas because they support your own, or because they differ from yours and allow you to introduce the idea you want to argue. Someone else\u2019s theory may provide a framework for your analysis, so you might summarize the theory before beginning your argument. A summary can act as a springboard to launch your ideas. An abstract, written by the author(s) of the paper, describes the content and purpose of an academic paper and is included at the beginning of the article. Abstracts are written by the authors, and thus do not use signal phrases.\r\n\r\nGovernment workers often write briefing notes to give the busy ministers and directors a summary of important information needed for a meeting or for a decision. In business, an executive summary gives the busy executive a quick overview of the contents of a formal report.\r\nBeing able to write a clear and useful summary is a valuable skill both in academic and professional contexts.\r\n<h3>How do you write an effective summary?<\/h3>\r\nBefore you can summarize anything, you must understand the content of what you are summarizing and do some pre-writing. Some of the most common flaws in summaries come from not completing these pre-writing steps. For example, some summary writers get bogged down in the small details and neglect to present the main idea; or they present a series of unconnected thoughts that come directly from the source, but do not coherently indicate what that source was about or how ideas were developed; occasionally, a writer may summarize the structure of a text instead of the ideas in that text. These errors occur because the pre-writing work was done poorly.\r\n\r\nWhat are the three stages of writing a summary?\r\n\r\n<strong>Pre-writing Stage<\/strong>\r\nActively read the article or pay attention to the presentation. Make notes. Make sure you understand what you are summarizing: what is its main purpose? What is the \u201cthesis\u201d? What are the main points that support the thesis? Explain it verbally to someone else based on your notes. Use your own words to make sure you really understand what you have read or seen.\r\nReread the article (or your notes on the presentation, or the slides if they have been provided) and break it up into sections or \u201cstages of thought.\u201d Briefly summarize each section and indicate how it relates to the main idea. Again, paraphrase using your own words. Except for the occasional key word or phrase, avoid quoting directly.\r\nKeep your purpose and intended audience in mind when you design your summary; remember, your intended reader has not read the article or seen the presentation. Why are you summarizing it? Why is your audience reading your summary?\r\n\r\n<strong>Writing Stage<\/strong>\r\nNow you are ready to begin writing your summary. Provide the author\u2019s name and title of the text being summarized. If you are are summarizing a speaker\u2019s presentation, give the presenter\u2019s name, the title or topic of the presentation. If context is important to your summary, give some details about the intended audience, etc.\r\n\r\nKeep the following in mind:\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>summarize the key points used to develop the main idea<\/li>\r\n \t<li>leave out minor details and examples that are not critical to the main idea<\/li>\r\n \t<li>do not quote from the article; or limit quotations to a single key word or important phrase.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>use signal phrases, such as \u201cDombrowski explains\u201d and \u201cDombrowski asserts\u201d to show that the ideas are not yours<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\nPay attention to verb tense: summaries of ideas are generally given in the present tense, while results and findings are often given in the past tense.\r\n\r\nDombrowski explains \u2026 (present tense)\r\nHollander\u2019s study found that \u2026 (past tense)\r\n\r\nSummaries of presentations are generally given in the past tense, since the presentation happened only once in the past, while a text can be read and reread several times, making it more \u201cpresent.\u201d However, a video presentation, such as a TED Talk, would likely be summarized in present tense, much like an article, because it can be reviewed over and over again. Which verb tense you should use is not subject to absolute rules; you will have to use some judgment to determine what sounds best (and avoid what sounds awkward).\r\nCite and document your source using an IEEE note [1].\r\n\r\n<strong>Example Reference<\/strong>\r\n[1] P.M. Dombrowski. \u201cCan ethics be technologized? Lessons from Challenger, philosophy, and rhetoric.\u201d In IEEE Transactions of Professional Communication, vol. 38.3, Sept. 1995, pp. 146-50 . DOI: 10.1109\/47.406727\r\n\r\n<strong>Rewriting Stage<\/strong>\r\nReview and revise your draft using the following steps:\r\n\r\nRevise content and organization: Is it complete? Should you add any important details? Is it well organized? Does it follow the order of the original text? Can you get rid of any unnecessary content? Have you used your own words and phrasing? Have you used signal verbs to indicate what ideas belong to the summarized source?\r\n\r\nEdit for flow: Do ideas flow smoothly together creating a logical sequence of ideas? Are sentences clear, concise, correct and coherent? Or do they require effort to decode? Do transitions effectively indicate the relationships between ideas? Have you effectively introduced, developed and concluded?\r\n\r\nProofread: Look for mechanical errors (typos, spelling, punctuation), and for grammar and usage errors that may have crept in during revision and editing.\r\n\r\n<strong>Signal Phrases<\/strong>\r\nSignal phrases allow you to clearly indicate when words, phrases and ideas you include in your writing come from someone else. These include verbs that introduce summaries, paraphrases, and quotations. In general, it is best to avoid bland, generic verbs like\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>says (too vague)<\/li>\r\n \t<li>writes (too vague)<\/li>\r\n \t<li>talks about (too informal)<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<strong>\u201cI Can\u2019t See the Forest for the Trees\u201d<\/strong>\r\nA summary should move from a statement of the general purpose to the specific ideas used to develop that purpose; it should be neither too vague nor too specific. There is an expression: \u201cI can\u2019t see the forest for the trees.\u201d It means you get too focused on the details so you miss the \u201cbig picture.\u201d You don\u2019t want to be too general or too detailed. You want to give an accurate description of the forest as a whole, and quickly go over the main characteristics of the types of trees that comprise it (the key examples used to illustrate the main idea). Don\u2019t let your summary get bogged down in the minor details, specific examples, and precise data (the species of fungus on the leaves of the trees).","rendered":"<div class=\"textbox learning-objectives\">\n<h3>Learning Objectives<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Identify the characteristics of writing a successful summary<\/li>\n<li>Summarize the best practices for writing a summary<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<p>An academic summary provides an objective, condensed (shortened) description of the content of a piece of writing or presentation. Unlike a review, it does NOT analyze, evaluate, or critique; your opinion of the work is not typically part of the summary (unless you have been asked to add your thoughts afterward). Since summaries usually occur within a context (eg., part of your essay), your thoughts about what you have summarized will probably be relevant to your subsequent analysis. But when writing the actual summary of someone else\u2019s ideas, you must neutrally and accurately describe what you take to be the important ideas in the author\u2019s or presenter\u2019s work in as few words as possible. Occasionally, if the work you are summarizing has an unusual form, style, or tone that affects the content, your summary might describe HOW the author presents those ideas.<\/p>\n<h3>What is the purpose of a summary?<\/h3>\n<p>A summary is meant to inform your reader\u2014who has not read the text or seen the presentation\u2014of what the text is about. It describes its purpose or main idea, and summarizes the supporting arguments that develop that idea. Readers will then know if they will find it useful and want to read it.<\/p>\n<p>There are many kinds of summaries that serve different purposes:<\/p>\n<p>An academic summary of someone else\u2019s ideas, in the context of a research essay, helps you to support and develop your ideas. You may summarize someone\u2019s ideas because they support your own, or because they differ from yours and allow you to introduce the idea you want to argue. Someone else\u2019s theory may provide a framework for your analysis, so you might summarize the theory before beginning your argument. A summary can act as a springboard to launch your ideas. An abstract, written by the author(s) of the paper, describes the content and purpose of an academic paper and is included at the beginning of the article. Abstracts are written by the authors, and thus do not use signal phrases.<\/p>\n<p>Government workers often write briefing notes to give the busy ministers and directors a summary of important information needed for a meeting or for a decision. In business, an executive summary gives the busy executive a quick overview of the contents of a formal report.<br \/>\nBeing able to write a clear and useful summary is a valuable skill both in academic and professional contexts.<\/p>\n<h3>How do you write an effective summary?<\/h3>\n<p>Before you can summarize anything, you must understand the content of what you are summarizing and do some pre-writing. Some of the most common flaws in summaries come from not completing these pre-writing steps. For example, some summary writers get bogged down in the small details and neglect to present the main idea; or they present a series of unconnected thoughts that come directly from the source, but do not coherently indicate what that source was about or how ideas were developed; occasionally, a writer may summarize the structure of a text instead of the ideas in that text. These errors occur because the pre-writing work was done poorly.<\/p>\n<p>What are the three stages of writing a summary?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Pre-writing Stage<\/strong><br \/>\nActively read the article or pay attention to the presentation. Make notes. Make sure you understand what you are summarizing: what is its main purpose? What is the \u201cthesis\u201d? What are the main points that support the thesis? Explain it verbally to someone else based on your notes. Use your own words to make sure you really understand what you have read or seen.<br \/>\nReread the article (or your notes on the presentation, or the slides if they have been provided) and break it up into sections or \u201cstages of thought.\u201d Briefly summarize each section and indicate how it relates to the main idea. Again, paraphrase using your own words. Except for the occasional key word or phrase, avoid quoting directly.<br \/>\nKeep your purpose and intended audience in mind when you design your summary; remember, your intended reader has not read the article or seen the presentation. Why are you summarizing it? Why is your audience reading your summary?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Writing Stage<\/strong><br \/>\nNow you are ready to begin writing your summary. Provide the author\u2019s name and title of the text being summarized. If you are are summarizing a speaker\u2019s presentation, give the presenter\u2019s name, the title or topic of the presentation. If context is important to your summary, give some details about the intended audience, etc.<\/p>\n<p>Keep the following in mind:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>summarize the key points used to develop the main idea<\/li>\n<li>leave out minor details and examples that are not critical to the main idea<\/li>\n<li>do not quote from the article; or limit quotations to a single key word or important phrase.<\/li>\n<li>use signal phrases, such as \u201cDombrowski explains\u201d and \u201cDombrowski asserts\u201d to show that the ideas are not yours<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Pay attention to verb tense: summaries of ideas are generally given in the present tense, while results and findings are often given in the past tense.<\/p>\n<p>Dombrowski explains \u2026 (present tense)<br \/>\nHollander\u2019s study found that \u2026 (past tense)<\/p>\n<p>Summaries of presentations are generally given in the past tense, since the presentation happened only once in the past, while a text can be read and reread several times, making it more \u201cpresent.\u201d However, a video presentation, such as a TED Talk, would likely be summarized in present tense, much like an article, because it can be reviewed over and over again. Which verb tense you should use is not subject to absolute rules; you will have to use some judgment to determine what sounds best (and avoid what sounds awkward).<br \/>\nCite and document your source using an IEEE note [1].<\/p>\n<p><strong>Example Reference<\/strong><br \/>\n[1] P.M. Dombrowski. \u201cCan ethics be technologized? Lessons from Challenger, philosophy, and rhetoric.\u201d In IEEE Transactions of Professional Communication, vol. 38.3, Sept. 1995, pp. 146-50 . DOI: 10.1109\/47.406727<\/p>\n<p><strong>Rewriting Stage<\/strong><br \/>\nReview and revise your draft using the following steps:<\/p>\n<p>Revise content and organization: Is it complete? Should you add any important details? Is it well organized? Does it follow the order of the original text? Can you get rid of any unnecessary content? Have you used your own words and phrasing? Have you used signal verbs to indicate what ideas belong to the summarized source?<\/p>\n<p>Edit for flow: Do ideas flow smoothly together creating a logical sequence of ideas? Are sentences clear, concise, correct and coherent? Or do they require effort to decode? Do transitions effectively indicate the relationships between ideas? Have you effectively introduced, developed and concluded?<\/p>\n<p>Proofread: Look for mechanical errors (typos, spelling, punctuation), and for grammar and usage errors that may have crept in during revision and editing.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Signal Phrases<\/strong><br \/>\nSignal phrases allow you to clearly indicate when words, phrases and ideas you include in your writing come from someone else. These include verbs that introduce summaries, paraphrases, and quotations. In general, it is best to avoid bland, generic verbs like<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>says (too vague)<\/li>\n<li>writes (too vague)<\/li>\n<li>talks about (too informal)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>\u201cI Can\u2019t See the Forest for the Trees\u201d<\/strong><br \/>\nA summary should move from a statement of the general purpose to the specific ideas used to develop that purpose; it should be neither too vague nor too specific. There is an expression: \u201cI can\u2019t see the forest for the trees.\u201d It means you get too focused on the details so you miss the \u201cbig picture.\u201d You don\u2019t want to be too general or too detailed. You want to give an accurate description of the forest as a whole, and quickly go over the main characteristics of the types of trees that comprise it (the key examples used to illustrate the main idea). Don\u2019t let your summary get bogged down in the minor details, specific examples, and precise data (the species of fungus on the leaves of the trees).<\/p>\n\n\t\t\t <section class=\"citations-section\" role=\"contentinfo\">\n\t\t\t <h3>Candela Citations<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t <div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <div id=\"citation-list-81\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t <div class=\"licensing\"><div class=\"license-attribution-dropdown-subheading\">CC licensed content, Shared previously<\/div><ul class=\"citation-list\"><li>Appendix B: Writing a Summary. <strong>Authored by<\/strong>: Suzan Last. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: BC Campus . <strong>Located at<\/strong>: <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/technicalwriting\/chapter\/appendixb-writingsummary\/\">https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/technicalwriting\/chapter\/appendixb-writingsummary\/<\/a>. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/\">CC BY: Attribution<\/a><\/em><\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t <\/section>","protected":false},"author":395986,"menu_order":4,"template":"","meta":{"_candela_citation":"[{\"type\":\"cc\",\"description\":\"Appendix B: Writing a Summary\",\"author\":\"Suzan Last\",\"organization\":\"BC Campus \",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/technicalwriting\/chapter\/appendixb-writingsummary\/\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"cc-by\",\"license_terms\":\"\"}]","CANDELA_OUTCOMES_GUID":"","pb_show_title":"on","pb_short_title":"","pb_subtitle":"","pb_authors":[],"pb_section_license":""},"chapter-type":[],"contributor":[],"license":[],"class_list":["post-81","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry"],"part":74,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-technicalwriting\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/81","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-technicalwriting\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-technicalwriting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-technicalwriting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/395986"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-technicalwriting\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/81\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":416,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-technicalwriting\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/81\/revisions\/416"}],"part":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-technicalwriting\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/74"}],"metadata":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-technicalwriting\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/81\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-technicalwriting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=81"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-technicalwriting\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=81"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-technicalwriting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=81"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-technicalwriting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=81"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}