A. SUMMARIZING STRATEGIES

THE IMPORTANT THING SUMMARY

This summarizing strategy uses main ideas from a passage.

The important thing about (TOPIC) is (author’s point.) Main idea sentence. Main idea sentence. Main idea sentence. The important thing about (topic) is(author’s point.)

Note

there may be more or fewer main idea sentences depending upon the structure of the reading.

Here is an example:

The important thing about the Writing Process is that it has four steps. Begin by prewriting to get your ideas down. Focus yourself and compose your rough draft. Next, proofread and edit your work. Last, revise. You can repeat these last two steps until you are satisfied with your work, or at least can say “it’s good enough!” The important thing about the Writing Process is that it has four steps.

THE SENTENCE SUMMARY

A sentence summary is a method of summarizing where you sum up a text or section of text in only one sentence. This works best with a paragraph or shorter text.

Sentence Summary Frames for Common Text Structures

Description/Definition:

A __________________ is a kind of _______________ that...

Compare/Contrast:

___x____ and ____y___ are similar in that they both..., but ___x___..., while

___y____...

Sequence:

_________ begins with..., continues with... ends with

Problem-Solution:

_________ wanted..., but...., so...

Cause/Effect:
_________ happens because....

Variation on the Sentence Summary

For longer texts, use the sentence summary strategy to develop a summary sentence for each paragraph or section. Assemble these sentences together with appropriate transitions to form a coherent summary paragraph.

THE FRAYER MODEL SUMMARY

The Frayer Model is used for developing definitions of entire concepts or of individual vocabulary terms. Make these on a large index card or half sheet of paper.

BULLETED LIST SUMMARY

Bulleted lists are commonly used in slide presentations, articles, to do lists, and they are an efficient way to notate textual material for later review.

This is a bulleted list.

• Topic

  • Important Point

  • Important Point

  • Important Point

  • Etc.

Microsoft Word and Google Docs offer a number of options for bullet point styles.

You may notice bulleted lists are used extensively in this text.

THE INFERENCE SUMMARY

An inference is an informed assumption you make based upon the combination of information you are given (text, speech, visuals) and your own experience.

Try this strategy to develop an Inference Summary of a text. Take notes using the structure shown in the table below. Then summarize this information in a paragraph. This example only uses one excerpt, but typically you should use several excerpts.

In the article, Why Do People Deny Science, New Republic science editor, Judith Shulevitz, attempts to explain why it is that people are denying what science tells us about things like climate change. She reports the work of Yale psychologist, Daniel Kanehman, who notes that people tend to disregard objectively viewing the body of scientific research, instead choosing to pay attention to that research which support their existing views in order to “fit in.”