This is a visual representation of what you do when you summarize a written passage

summary. Click on the highlighted word





What is a Summary?



A summary is a brief restatement--in your own words--of the contents of a passage.



Why do we need to make summaries?

Sometimes someone may ask us to tell them what a movie or a class was about. At that point, they don’t expect us to tell them every word that was said in the movie or every word that the teacher said. Instead, they expect us to give them the main plot of the movie or the main topic of the class and the major points of interest that help us to understand what happened in the movie or the class.



In the same way, a summary is the way in which we are asked questions such as,|

“what was the movie about?”

“how did the game go?” and

“what did I miss in class today?”

you must be able to summarize.

Your questioner doesn't want to know every word and action in the movie, every play in the game, or every word from class; the questioner is asking you to select the most important details and summarize them.

Similarly, when you summarize a reading you need to be able to find the important data and then present it as clearly and concisely as possible.