Summaries are not just a way to be evaluated. They are important for other reasons too. Learning to summarize improves your reading skills as you learn how to scan and skim texts such as a blog post, a newspaper, an article etc. It also makes your reading faster so you can focus on the main points.
Besides, It improves your vocabulary as you use your own words to restate the passage's meaning, like synonyms. Lastly, it helps you develop critical thinking. Keep in mind that a summary shares the same meaning with the original text but in different and fewer words.
This actually means that a summary has to be shorter than the original text. Writing a summary consists of two steps, reading and writing. At this step you have to skim the text to determine its main idea.
To do so, you have to look for the keywords. Keywords can be either the most important information in each paragraph, or the paragraph's topic sentence, usually found in its first line. Underlining the text's keywords is always a good move. If the text is really long, Then, read the first and the last sentence of the paragraph. These sentences will probably contain the main meaning of each paragraph.
A summary is only a paragraph long and it is usually written in present or past tense. You have to write only the main points of the original text. Do not just copy.
Try to rephrase the author. And be careful, don't express your own opinion while writing a summary, because if you do so, it stops to be a summary and becomes an essay. Start your summary with an introductory sentence.
This introductory sentence includes the original title in your own words as well as the text's author. Let's see an example of making the introductory sentence. Cinema's struggle for survival amid coronavirus and Hollywood delays. By Alice Tidy.
In this article, Alice Tidy presents how coronavirus has affected Hollywood movies. Continue writing the rest of the paragraph using the keywords that you've found previously. Your sentences have to share the same meaning as the original content. Some tips to have in mind when writing a summary.
When you are done writing the summary, read it once more. Watch out for spelling mistakes. Make sure you have covered the important points.
This means that you need to use your keywords correctly. Leave out any examples mentioned by the text's author. Avoid using questions or first person.
It is clear now, isn't it? If you've found this video useful, please leave a like and consider subscribing to the channel. See you.