| Summary Writing |
| The purpose of the summary is to convey to others your understanding of a text you have read, without their having to read it themselves. Thus for your readers, your summary essay functions as a substitute for the source that you are summarizing. You don't want to misrepresent your source or mislead your audience. Certainly an important feature of the summary, then, is its fidelity to the source; you must represent your source accurately and comprehensively, with as little of your own interpretation as possible. (You should not add your own examples and explanations.) |
| Follow these steps when writing your summary: (i) Provide the title of the source (ii) Provide the name of the author (iii) Summarize the author's main points in your own words (iv) If you choose to use some of the exact same words of the author, use quotation marks to show that these are not your words, but the authors. (If you include direct quotation at all, limit it to one quotation. Remember: you're summarizing, not repeating. |
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