Sections taken from http://users.drew.edu/~sjamieso/summary.html
Drew University On-Line Resources for Writers
The key features of a summary
(1) it is shorter than the source,
(2) it repeats the ideas of the source in different phrases and sentences.
The Reader’s Summary
Obviously, you cannot write a good summary of a source that you do not understand. There are reading strategies that will help you comprehend a source text as fully as possible. One of those techniques is the reader’s summary, which you write for yourself, as a way of understanding the text you are reading. Read a section of the book or article, or the whole thing if it is short, and then close the text and write a summary of the key points. When you’ve finished, skim the text again to make sure you didn’t omit anything. This use of summary helps you learn and helps you check what you’ve learned.
Summary-Outline Notes
Summary-outline notes are a form of note-taking using a divided page. Take a notebook page and divide it down the middle. Write the main points in the left hand column leaving a few lines between each. In the right hand column, summarize the point in the left column in a few sentences. This will help you get an overall picture of the argument through the outline, and a more detailed reminder of the content via the summaries.
From http://pirate.shu.edu/~jonesedm/1201Fall2000/Summarizing.htm
How to Summarize an Essay or Long Work
1. Before summarizing, you should identify all the main parts of the essay.
2. Label each part with a phrase.
3. Write what you think the author’s purpose was in writing the essay. That is, who was he writing to or for, and why was s/he writing them?
4. Finally, in 2-3 sentences capture the main idea of the entire essay, taking into account all the parts and the overall purpose.
5. Edit these sentences so that they sound elegant.
6. In “summary”: a good summary takes into account the complexity of the essay (all the parts) but does so with elegance (clarity and style).
