Pre-writing

Identifying Main Points and Concerns

If you ever watch TV shows with a serial plot, you might be familiar with the phrase “Previously, on _________.” The snippets at the beginning of an episode are designed to remind the viewer of the important parts of previous episodes—but how do makers of the show determine what a viewer needs to be refreshed on? And why am I watching full episodes if they’ll just tell me what I need to know in the first minute of the next episode?

Typically, the makers of the show choose short, punchy bits that will be relevant in the new episode’s narrative arc. For instance, a “Previously, on The Walking Dead” might have a clip from ten episodes ago showing zombies invading Hershel’s farm if the new episode focuses on Hershel and his family. Therefore, these “previously ons” hook the viewer by showcasing only exciting parts and prime the viewer for a new story by planting specific details in their mind. Summaries like this are driven by purpose, and consequently have a specific job to do in choosing main points.

You, too, should consider your purpose when you begin writing summary. Your choices about what to summarize and how to summarize it should be determined by what you’re trying to accomplish with your writing.

As you engage with a text you plan to summarize, you might begin by identifying main points or concerns and preoccupations of the text. (You might refer back to the Reading and Listening chapter of this text to help you with this). After reading and rereading, what ideas stick with you? What keeps cropping up?

Tracking Your Reactions

As you read and reread a text, you might try taking regular breaks to check in with yourself and track your reactions. What events, ideas, or contexts are you reminded of as you read? Do you understand and agree with the author? What is your emotional state? At what points do you feel confused or uncertain, and why?

Try out the double-column note-taking method. As illustrated below, divide a piece of paper into two columns; on the left, make a heading for “Notes and Quotes,” and on the right, “Questions and Reactions.” As you move through a text, jot down important ideas and words from the text on the left, and record your intellectual and emotional reactions on the right. Be sure to ask prodding questions of the text along the way, too.

In addition to the double-column note-taking method, check out this list of note-taking apps on the California Community College website.

Getting Ready to Write

Summarizing requires you to make choices about what matters, what words and phrases mean, and how to articulate their meaning.

Once you have read and re-read your text at least once, taking notes and reflecting along the way, you are ready to start writing a summary. Before starting, consider: What are you trying to accomplish (purpose) with your summary? What details and ideas (subject) are important for your reader (audience) to know? Should you assume that they have also read the text you’re summarizing? I’m thinking back here to the “Previously on…” idea: TV series don’t include everything from a prior episode; they focus instead on moments that set up the events of their next episode. You too should choose your content in accordance with who your audience is and the goals of your text.

Drafting

I encourage you to start off by articulating the “key” idea or ideas from the text in one or two sentences. Focus on clarity of language: start with simple word choice, a single idea, and a straightforward perspective so that you establish a solid foundation.

Then, before that sentence, write one or two more sentences that introduce the title of the text, its authors, and its main concerns or interventions. Revise your key idea sentence as necessary.

Additional tips:

• Write in present tense
• Use transitional words to link ideas
  • See Transitional Words and Phrases for University Writing in Technical Writing Essentials by Suzan Last for more information

At the end of your summary, leave your reader with a sense of closure without adding a repetitive re-cap.

Revising

Once you have a strong working draft of your summary and/or response, read it over at least once, slowly, out loud, to eliminate careless errors. Then, revise to reduce wordiness. Are there words or phrases that don’t contribute to the overall meaning of the sentence, of the paragraph? Is there a simpler way to express something?

It’s also always good practice to look at the feedback dimensions provided for the assignment and self-assess according to the criteria.

Adaptations

This section has been adapted from Chapter Five: Summary and Response in EmpoWORD: A Student-Centered Anthology and Handbook for College Writers by Shane Abrams, licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

References

Wen, Y., Yan, Q., Pan, Y., Gu, W., and Liu, Y. (2019). Medical empirical research on forest bathing (Shinrin-yoku): a systematic review. Environmental Health and Preventive Medicine, 24(70), 1-21. doi.org/10.1186/s12199-019-0822-8