Summaries should:
- be in your own words
- acknowledge the source ('source' = the person who originally wrote the text you are summarising)
- clearly give the main ideas or argument being summarised
Key questions about summary
- Where are you going to use the summary? In an essay? As part of a presentation?
- Are you going to use the main ideas of the original source or are you going to use details as well?
- Do you have a good understanding of the original text? (If you do not understand the text this will become clear in your summary).
How to write a summary
Make sure you have a good understanding of the text.
You can use the N.O.W approach*:
| N | Note down key points |
| O | Organise the notes |
| W | Write your summary using these notes |
For example:
1. Look at this text about earthquakes and economics. You want to use it for an essay about disasters.
2. Make a note/highlight of what you consider the main points to be and compare your notes with this one.
| Japan is prone to earthquakes
and typhoons. However, sound building construction, education and good
communications mean the people in Japan are less vulnerable to
earthquakes than citizens of poorer nations. Japan suffered 43 disasters
from 1960 to 1981 with an average of 63 deaths per disaster. Bangladesh
had 63 catastrophes over the same period with an average death toll of
over 10,000.
The difference in the killing power of disasters between rich and poor areas is dramatic. A 1972 earthquake in Nicaragua killed 5000 people. An earthquake in a similarly densely populated area in California the previous year killed a total of just 65 people. As the poor populations of the third world increase, and as social, political and economic systems force growing populations to live in vulnerable areas the number of people suffering as result of earthquakes will increase. Annual earthquake victims increased by 500 per cent from the 1960s to the 1970s. Poverty increases the effect of disasters by a great deal. Timberlake, L. (1988) The
Independent. 12.9.88 - The Greatest Threat on Earth. |
3. Now organise the notes to help make a reliable summary. Summaries need:
This is an example but many variations are possible. Notice how the notes have been reorganised in the third column. This was done to make a better summary paragraph.
The final summary might look like this.
If you want to know more about the language used to introduce citations/sources click here
| Quotations | Paraphrasing | Summary |