What is a summary?

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A summary is a condensed or shortened version of a book, article or other piece of writing. The
summary presents the most important ideas in your own words and without any comment on the
ideas. Summarizing assists understanding, organizing and retaining ideas. Please do not re-
write the text word for word! A summary is also not a critique; the purpose is not to find holes or
gaps in the authors arguments. A summary should be written in your own words and display to
the reader your own understanding of the text and the authors main thesis and arguments.

How to summarise?

Skim the reading to be summarised
To do this:

read the title
look at any illustrations or diagrams
identify how the reading or chapter is formatted; for example, whether it is divided into
sections with headings and sub-headings or only by paragraphs
try to predict generally what you think the reading is about
try to identify the purpose of the reading. For example, is it persuade you of a particular
point of view, or to report an investigationetc?

Establish what are the most important or main ideas

Go through the reading again and highlight key words and phrases.
Look for signpost words such as first, second and finally.
Remember when you are selecting the main ideas that these are the ideas that are most
important to the author of the reading and not the ideas that you find most interesting or
unusual.

Look for the strategic moves of the author and in doing so you focus on his/her line of
argumentation. An argument involves putting forward reasons to influence someones belief that
what you are proposing is the case. Usually an argument consists of at least two components:
(a) making a point or statement and (b) providing sufficient reason.

In addition you should think about:


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These guidelines are based on UNISA (2006) Summarising:
http://www.unisanet.unisa.edu.au/learningconnection/student/learningAdvisors/summarise.asp (29.03.08); Robert
Barass (1996) Students must write: a guide to better writing in coursework and examinations. London: Routledge;
Christopher Hart (1999) Doing A Literature Review. Releasing the Social Science Research Imagination. London:
Sage; and with help from Christoph Klutsch.

What is the authors intention in writing the text?
What is the main thesis of the text?
What are the main arguments?
What is the author trying to achieve by writing the text? Does he/she ultimately do this?
What is the authors theoretical position? If you are unsure, do some background
research on him/her.
Which theories are applied? Which theories are hinted at, which are left out?
Does the author justify his/her own position by criticising another theoretical school?
Is the text only limited to one theory?
Are you as a reader convinced by the text and the arguments presented?
How does the author back up his/her claims?
Does he/she use case studies, data? Are the sources reliable?

How does the author advance his / her position? Differentiate between

Opinions: views based on evidence and experience but which are not necessarily correct
Assumptions: things assumed to be true but which may not be
Assertions: things stated as if they were true but for which evidence is not provided by the writer.
Facts: things that on the basis of all evidence at present are generally accepted as true
Statements: they might be just interpretations as well.
Speculations: these may or may not be well founded, and so could be helpful or misleading.

Some tips on reading skills:

Start reading as early as possible.
Expect to write at least a couple of drafts.
Start by reading the text intro. and conclusion, then skim read.
Read it through carefully, highlight important points and make notes.
Expect to read the text a few times before you fully understand the content.

Presentation of summary.

The summary should have a good structure.
Place on top of the page the full reference of the article your are summarizing
Start with an introduction in which you refer to the author by name, his/her main thesis
and the theoretical background to which the author belongs. Also highlight the main
arguments to which you will refer to in the main body of the summary.
Structure your summary into paragraphs according to the main arguments advanced.
Write clearly and concisely and avoid repeating the author word for word.
End the summary with a short conclusion.

Use of language:

Use short, clear sentences and avoid unfamiliar vocabulary as it can lead to ambiguity. Avoid
writing in first person, (I think that) and use the present passive or the third person: It is
stated in the text that or The author states, contends, maintains, asserts etc
If you use a direct quote, please add a correct academic reference straight after e.g. author,
date, page number (Panitch, 2001, 45). It is normally not necessary to go to other texts in the
course of writing the summary, but if so please also reference and write this on as a bibliography
entry at the end.