Q&A for How to Write a Summary

Because a summary should be an shortened, objective version of a written work, I would avoid your own persuasive speech in a summary. Remember that this was someone else's work, not your own! Save persuasive writing for an analysis, not a summary.

I would focus on the main themes and try to retell what the story is about the story in a shortened version. Focus on retelling it from the author's perspective, not your own -- and stay in chronological order.

As with everything, start with a plan. Set aside some time to look for the text main ideas. It doesn't matter if it's an article or a textbook page, check the very first sentence of each paragraph, as that's where the main ideas usually are. Then, try paraphrasing some of that, rewriting the main ideas in your own words. That's a real skill you should practice from elementary school to the university level.

You should try to include all the main ideas if you can, but some things may have to be left out to save space. If you think a point is important to the piece you're summarizing, add it to your summary. However, keep in mind that your summary should be concise rather than perfectly detailed.

You should begin with "The book___________, by ___________, tells the story of______________________.

These are some examples of the beginning of a summary: - The story is about... - The text describes... - The article shows...

No, just use the appropriate words to convey a chronological order, for example words like "first," "second," "then," "finally," etc.

If they are minor characters then you shouldn't include them in your summary. Decide on whether the character is important to the storyline. You'll probably just need to focus on the main characters to write an effective summary.

A summary's length depends on the passage you're summarizing. If it's a short article or story, then it should just be one long paragraph. If it's a novel, however, 3 to 5 paragraphs should be enough. So really, it depends on the passage.

Yes it is obligatory, because readers of your summary must have a possibility to easily find and read the original text, that you have summarised.

No. A summary consists only of information/content that is written in the article.

In active voice, the subject is doing something. In passive voice, something is being done to the subject. For example - Active: "The ballerinas beat the truck drivers at arm wrestling." Passive: "The truck drivers were beaten in arm wrestling by the ballerinas."

You might want to ask your teacher if it's okay to include pictures. It depends on the class, the assignment, your grade, etc. Usually, pictures are fine for elementary school projects, but they wouldn't be appropriate for most high school assignments.

In general, you should write summaries in the third person (he/she/it). The perspective should stay the same throughout the summary whichever you choose to use though.

Yes. Just briefly summarize your main points and restate your thesis.

It really depends, but typically between 100 and 500. There are brief, basic summaries and there are more detailed summaries. The length or complexity of the thing you're summarizing can also influence how long your summary is.

It depends on how your instructors/assessors want to see or be presented. Sub-topic wise paragraphs can be included in a summary.

Include all the main characters, then. It is okay if there is more than one, but there shouldn't be too many.

No. An introductory paragraph should only include an explanation of the situation as it stands. The essential information or thesis you will be discussing should be placed after the introduction, but before body paragraphs.

Typically a summary would be written in the past or present tense.

If it is about a book, it should be at least half a page. If it is about a paragraph, it should be around 4 to 6 sentences. Only include an example when it is abut a book.

Mostly. Throw in a little bit of detail that is important. However, when you choose your detail, think about whether it is critical or not. If it's not, leave it out.

It is good to use more than one quote but don't over do it because then it just going to be a page full of quotes. If it's a summary about an article, 2 or 3 quotes should be good.

It depends on the criteria but on a normal basis, a list could be helpful to the reader if you choose wisely.

All normal rules of grammar apply to a summary, so you would need whichever punctuation marks are required in your sentences - periods, question marks, commas, exclamation points, etc.

You can ask for clarification on the story before writing your summary, to ensure that you understand what you are writing about.

You can still give credit to the person who said it.

Roughly the same way, except that you'll need to use different terminology to talk about the parts of a poem and their function/meaning.

Include only important points and characters. If some characters or events are only mentioned a couple of times or are not crucial to the story, leave those bits out.

It depends on the context, but usually a summary would just be a short description of the plot, whereas in a book report you'd go into analysis of the book, discussing character development, themes, symbols, tone, etc.