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One has been provided by one of our viewers, Mrs. Sam Biggs, a 6th Grade teacher at Norquay Elementary School in Vancouver BC, Canada. She has taken our information about How to Write a Summary and created a template for her students.
With Sam Biggs’s and my permission, please feel free to copy this page and use it, or copy and paste the portion you wish into your word processor. How to Write a Summary
1 - Read the entire document through. This will give you a more complete understanding of its meaning. While reading, on a separate piece of paper, make a notation of the subject being written about. Notice that the subject should be spoken of at least in the beginning and the ending of the piece. If you do not find this information in its proper place, note that also. It will determine if the writer has made their point in the end. Having read through once, ask yourself:
How does the middle support and move the idea along? How does the ending fit?
Pay no attention to trivial information. In writing a summary, critically analyze each paragraph and note when new topics are introduced to support the story. Make note of only the most important and they may be few. 3 - When you have finished the above steps, look only at your notes, and write a one or two-sentence statement that explains what the story is about. This step is a lot easier to do with a shorter story or article. But learning how to write a summary using these steps applies to everything in writing, including book-length stories. 4 – Next, list the main points you’ve highlighted in order to show the flow of the plot or article topic and purpose. 5 – You’re almost to the bottom of the list of points in how to write a summary. Now write what you believe the story or article is about. Use only the main points that you have highlighted. Write in your own voice or terminology. Do not write what is already in the material. 6 – The last step in writing a summary is writing the conclusion. State what you feel was the purpose of the story or article, or what the author accomplished in the writing. Do not inject any of your own thoughts. In other words, do not state how you feel the story should have ended. Do not state how you might have written it. Only state how the author brought the writing to conclusion. 7 – As with anything written, once your summary is finished, proofread and edit. Be certain that any strange spelling and terminology used by the original author of the piece are included in your summary. For additional information, see our entire article. This template was adapted from: How to Write a Summary
Writing a Summary
How does chapter _____ begin?
_____________________________________________________________ How does the middle of chapter _____ support and move the idea of ______________________________________ along?
_____________________________________________________________ How does the ending of chapter _____ fit?
_____________________________________________________________ How does chapter _____ begin?
_____________________________________________________________ How does the middle of chapter _____ support and move the idea of ______________________________________ along?
_____________________________________________________________ How does the ending of chapter _____ fit?
_____________________________________________________________ How does chapter _____ begin?
_____________________________________________________________ How does the middle of chapter _____ support and move the idea of ______________________________________ along?
_____________________________________________________________ How does the ending of chapter _____ fit?
_____________________________________________________________ State what you feel was the purpose of the story, or what the author accomplished in the writing from chapter _____ to _____.
_____________________________________________________________
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