![]() ![]() Next, just like in step 5, attempt to put those summaries together without looking at them.Read each of your paragraph summaries in sequential order, from the first paragraph to the last.In order to produce a single summary for the entire text, you’re going to need to combine your paragraph summaries. If the text you’re reading is longer than a paragraph, you’re going to have multiple summary statements written in the margins. If not, consider if you should add those details. Match your summary to your highlights.Īfter you’ve written your summary from memory, go back into the text and see if your summary includes most of the ideas you highlighted. If you can’t recall exact names, facts, dates or small details, leave it out of your summary.Use simple language, as if you are really talking to a young child.This should only be a few sentences or a few bullet points. This is doable, as you only just read the paragraph a moment ago. It’s very important not to look at the text for this step. From your memory, reconstruct the author’s main argument as if you are teaching it to a six-year-old. You don’t need to understand everything you read in order to create a general summary of the material.Ĥ.When you’ve finished reading your chunk of text, ask yourself how much you understood what you read, on a scale of 1-10.If you don’t understand something, re-read it or look it up.Stop reading if you zone out, and then restart the sentence.Notice when something is unclear to you.If you’re reading challenging material, you may end up spending more time comprehending the text than you spend writing your summary – this is okay. Writing a summary of a text is impossible if you don’t understand what you’re reading. One to three highlights per section of text is usually the right amount.The middle text often contains vocabulary, examples, and additional details.Main ideas are usually stated in the first few sentences and are repeated at the end of the paragraph.Here’s exactly how to use my highlight and rewrite strategy. ![]() Accompany most of your highlights with a few simple margin notes. Highlight and rewrite as you read.Īs you read your chunk of text, highlight or underline the main ideas you think are important. If you don’t comprehend what you’re reading, writing a summary is impossible. Working with small batches of text at a time is helpful for comprehension. Whether you’re reading an article, textbook, or book, read somewhere between one and two paragraphs at a time, depending on the difficulty of the material. For text that’s shorter in length, such as a paragraph, simply follow steps 2-5. The strategy I outline below is a complete summarization strategy for text that’s at least a page in length. Exact language and quotations from the passage.Names and dates, unless they are related to the main idea.Information that’s interesting to you but not important to the main idea.Descriptive language (keep your language simple + avoid adjectives).The author and title of the text, if you’re taking notes on an article or novel.Names of key people (usually just 1-2), and only if they’re connected to the main idea.The purpose of the passage (what does the author want you to learn?).This will be a broad idea like racism, finding one’s identity, political conflict, etc. The main topic or theme of the passage.A summary is NOT a shortened version of text, a paraphrase, or a play-by-play account of plot points. ![]()
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