Writing Summaries

Which one of the following is NOT a part of a summary?

• using your own words
• summary being shorter than the text
• exact words from the text
• including main ideas only

Which best describes a summary?

• a really long detailed piece of writing

• the entire text told in your own words

• something that teachers make you write

• the main ideas and important details of a text

Which of the following statements about SUMMARIZING is TRUE?

• The summary is a thought that is true but is not in the passage.

• The summary is what the passage is mostly about.

• The summary is specific, detailed information contained in the passage.

• The summary is always found in the first sentence of the passage.

Read the following passage and choose the best answer.

Lisa knew all of the seven dwarfs except one. She remembered Grumpy, Sleepy and Bashful. And of course she couldn't forget Doc and Dopey. Dopey was her favorite. But there was one she just could not remember. Let's see. There's also Sneezy, and that's six. But she could not remember that last one. What was his name?

• Dopey was Lisa's favorite dwarf.

• Lisa could not remember the name of one of the dwarfs.

• There were seven dwarfs in all.

• Lisa had a good memory.

What can you summarize?

• only novels
• only nonfiction
• only movies
• anything you read or watch

You should write your summary

• in your own words with complete sentences
• in a secret language that you make up
• in one draft without revising
• in fragments without punctuation

Which of the following statements about SUMMARIZING is FALSE?

• The summary is what the passage is mostly about.

• The summary is what all or most of the sentences or paragraphs are about.

• The summary is usually found in more than just one sentence of the passage

• The summary is one isolated thought in a passage.

When summarizing a story you must include...

• Everything that happened
• The most significant information
• An Inference
• My background knowledge

Summaries help me...

• understand what I'm reading
• write about what I read
• include the key points of a text
• all of the above

All of the above are important steps to be taken when summarising EXCEPT

• deleting

• paraphrasing

• selecting

• highlighting