In some cases, it is sometimes necessary to summarize the text, whether it is prepared for ourselves, to check our understanding of it, or for others to share the content in a succinct manner. Writing a summary is not very complicated, but it requires concentration, especially reflection.
Step 1: Take your first reading
No matter what you need to summarize, the rules are the same. This exercise may seem difficult to some. It is for this reason that we want to share an easy way to make a good summary. You won’t necessarily be a comprehensive Mozart, but you will have guidelines and you will know which mistakes you have to avoid. The first step is a first careful reading of the text to be summarized. The purpose of the first reading is to identify the theme of the text and to determine its general idea. After reading this text, you must know what the text is saying by answering the following questions: What is the text about? What is the theme or general idea of the text?
How to do the first reading?
-Take the time to read the full text carefully;
-Don’t take notes. you may lose focus;
-Do not make any mark, do not underline;
Step 2: Analyze the text
This is the second step, which involves rereading the text in more depth, pencil in hand. This step may require multiple proofreading to ensure you understand the entire text. The problem now is to identify related ideas and their relationship and order in the text.
How to analyze text?
-determine the basic idea;
-Emphasize important keywords and phrases;
-Eliminate unnecessary and repetitive thoughts;
-Circle the conjunctions and logical connectors;
-Look up words you don’t understand in the dictionary.
Step 3: Make a plan
Once you have a clear idea of the text, the next step is to develop a plan that you will follow to write your Summary.
How to make a plan?
-Organize the extracted ideas;
-It is best to follow the outline of the original text;
-Set a maximum word count for each idea based on its importance.
Step 4: Write a summary
At this stage, you start writing your abstract in draft form. You should write an introduction first, then state the main idea, then a supporting idea, and finally come to a conclusion.
How to write a summary?
-Rephrasing ideas using terms different from those used in the text;
-Use short and simple conversion formulas (and, therefore, first, also…);
-Write short, precise, clear sentences, avoiding grammatical errors as much as possible.
Step 5: Edit the summary
The final step is review. Now is the time to see if the idea of your abstract is the same as the idea of the original. In this step, you can also check that your digest responds according to the rules for successful digests.
How do I modify the abstract?
-Check that you have not exceeded the word limit that you must write an abstract;
-Read the abstract carefully and check for spelling or grammatical errors;
-Check that all the important ideas are in your summary.
-Most importantly, remember that a complete abstract must be coherent and make it easy for readers to understand what you have written.
The abstract only includes basic information to provide text, presentations, news items… It enables those who consult this abstract to familiarize themselves with the main points in a clear and concise manner.
So there’s no need to give more than a rough outline and get into the details. You don’t have to be very descriptive. We can also avoid talking about numbers, dates, statistics, such elements. Unless any of these messages are necessary to understand the recipient