Summarising

“Summarizing improves our ability to write concisely by making us aware of the kind of
details or expressions that can be avoided to achieve precision in writing.”

Summarizing is a process of condensing information without changing the original

meaning and focus of a passage. Writing a summary is one of the most important study
skills required for a professional student. It helps in reading as it forces us to focus on
what we read. It encourages active reading and helps remember the material better.

Purpose

Summarizing is an essential study skill required for study purposes. Professional may
have to write an abstract, a synopsis, a précis, or an outline. An abstract is a very short
version of a long text or passage. Every research article or paper contains an abstract,
which briefly tells the reader what the article is all about. A synopsis is generally a brief
account of a research plan, which a researcher is supposed to submit before he or she
starts the research work. Precis, which is synonymous with summary, is a brief account
of something without details or formalities. An outline is a sketch in phrases or sentences
that professional writers make before they start writing a professional document like a
proposal or a report. All the above forms of writing involve the process of summarizing.
In short, summarizing is putting down the main ideas of someone else’s work in your
own words. It is always shorter than the original since the idea is to include only the main
points of the original work and to leave out the irrelevant. It is productive skill integrating
both reading and writing skills. It involves the following:

Reading Strategy

In order to summarize a text or a passage, a careful reading plan should be adopted to

ensure complete comprehension. The following reading method may be used:
• Go through the text quickly in order to understand the main idea.
• Concentrate on the topic, headings, and sub-headings.
• Then, read the text again carefully in order to understand the details.
• You should be able to make a distinction between:
 Main v/s secondary points
 Facts v/s opinions
 Important v/s less important
 Relevant v/s irrelevant information
• Identify all examples, repetitions, restatements, and unnecessary details in order
to remove them.
• Note down phrases and expressions that can be replaced by words or shorter
phrases.
• Note the logical organization of the passage (the logical order may be changed
without disturbing the meaning).
 Summarizing Techniques

Mainly three techniques are used in summarizing, that is, selection, rejection, and
substitution.

Selection
In order to summarize a passage, the reader may select what is important. The process of
choosing the information that is essential to the meaning of the passage is known as
‘selection’. In order to select the core information, the reader need to concentrate on the
main theme and supporting details of a passage.

Rejection
It is the process of removing all that is not important. The reader may reject unnecessary
information. The following are generally not included in a summary:
 Repetitions
 Examples and illustrations
 Redundant expressions
 Minor supporting details

Substituion
In order to summarise a passage, the technique of substitution may have to be used. It
may involve synthesis (combining several sentences into one sentence), sentence
substitution (substituting short sentences for long and clumsy sentences), and one word
substitution (substituting one precise word for several words or phrases).

PARAPHRASING

Paraphrasing refers to the process of rewriting a passage or text in different words

without changing or distorting its meaning. It involves changes in lexis, structure, and
logical organization of the core information in a passage without changing its meaning.
In short, Paraphrasing is re-writing another writer’s words or ideas in your own
words without altering the meaning. The paraphrase is about the same length as the
original since the purpose is to rephrase without leaving out anything, and not to shorten.
Phrasing requires various linguistic skills, which include using appropriate synonyms,
replacing sentence patterns by appropriate equivalents, simplifying difficult terms and
expressions for clarity, and modifying paragraph structure and organization without
altering the basic meaning. Paraphrasing has its uses in several writing activities. As
technical writing involves selection of relevant technical material, evaluating evidence,
and drawing appropriate conclusions, the ability to rephrase technical material in one’s
own words is essential. Rewriting and rephrasing are essential components of effective
presentation.
• Note down the core information.
• Read the core information for identifying all the words and phrases that can be
replaced without distorting the meaning of the passage.
 • Restructure the outlines by using different words, phrases, sentence structures,
sentence types and organization.
• Note expressions that can be replaced by changing sentence structure.
• Do not replace scientific and technical terms.

Techniques of Paraphrasing
The following techniques may be used for paraphrasing the core information in a
passage:
 Replacement of words and phrases by the use of synonyms.
 Change of sentence structure by
• Active to passive
• Complex sentence to simple sentence
• Direct to indirect sentence
 Change of paragraph structure
 Change of logical organization