Summary
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- For the legal procedural document, see Summary judgment.
A summary is a shortened version of the original. The main purpose of such a simplification is to highlight the major points from the genuine (much longer) subject, e.g. a text, a film or an event. The aim is the audience to get the gist in a short period of time.
A summary starts with a lead, including title, author, text type and the main idea of the text. It has a clearly arranged structure and is written in a logical, chronological and traceable manner. In contrast to a résumé or a review, a summary contains neither interpretation nor rating. Only the opinion of the original writer is reflected – paraphrased with new words without quotations from the text. Unlike a retelling, a summary has no dramatic structure and is written in present tense or historic present. Because summaries should be significantly shorter than the original, minor facts have to be left out. In summaries only indirect speech is used and depictions are avoided. Summaries of books or dissertations present the major facts in common scientific language and should be about from a half up to one page long.
- How to write a summary:
- Read the text
- Formulate the main statement
- Reread the text and underline important ideas and arguments according to the main statement
- Introduce the author and title of the work in the opening sentence
- Mention the important facts in chronological order
- Check that your summary reflects the original conclusion
