How To Summarize

1. How To Summarize

2. What is a Summary? A summary is a shortened version of an original text. It includes the thesis and major supporting points, and should reveal the relationship between the major points and the thesis.

3. How Long should a Summary be? A summary should include the main idea, major supporting details or explanations, and the author's conclusion. It should also be approximately 1/4 the length of the original selection, be in your own words.

4. A Summary Can Help You • It will give you practice in close, attentive reading, and train you to do justice to what you read (rather than reading into a work only what is familiar to you). • It will strengthen your sense of structure in writing: how a writer organizes material, develops his or her points, and moves from one point to another. • It will develop your sense of what is important in a written work, enabling you to distinguish between key points, the material backing them up, specific examples and illustrations, and mere asides.

5. A summary should NOT include: Your opinion. What you think the author should have said. Copied (plagiarized) material or a series

6. What you Need A big, ugly, overwhelming text: to dissect and shrink. A Hi-lighter: to locate the text’s important parts. Paper: to write down the main point, purpose of the text, major points and documentation information. A ruthless, but respectful attitude: to conquer the mess.

7. How should you write a summary? Handling Stress by James Fits It is normal to feel nervous about an exam. In fact, it is beneficial to be moderately stressed right before the exam. A little tension can give you just the right amount of adrenaline you need to do your best. It can heighten your awareness and sharpen your reflexes, allowing you to perform more quickly. It can even help you recall information you may not have otherwise remembered. However, if your level of stress rises too high, it can result in insomnia, loss of appetite, and sometimes even hair loss! This can obviously affect your performance on the exam. It is important to know as much as possible about stress, if you are going to handle it effectively. All Is Stress Bad? NO! General stress can help, while focused stress can hinder. Take for example that football game you saw last weekend. If the players did not feel somewhat anxious about the outcome of the game, they may not have worked to their full potential. Stress only becomes our enemy when it becomes an end in itself. When the focus of our energy turns to anxiety rather than the task at hand, it becomes detrimental to your efforts. Dealing with Thoughts-Yell STOP! If you feel yourself beginning to brew a storm of anxiety, stop what you're doing and mentally draw a blank. Wait for the clouds to clear before continuing. If you are in an environment that permits it, actually tell yourself to STOP! This may embarrass you a little, but at least it will get your mind off the stress. It may take a while for your mind to clear, but wait for it. The time spent doing this will in the end be less than the time lost due to poor performance because of stress. Daydream Work! Work! Work! All through school, you are told this. In class, your teacher may have scolded you for daydreaming. Now, forget all that. Allow yourself the benefit of daydreaming. If you feel overwhelmed by the material, let your mind wander. Think of being with a friend or at a place of comfort and let your body relax. Feel the physical tension in your body release, and then return to the grindstone. Visualize Success Visualization is a great skill for dealing with stress. Basketball players who visualize their shots have a higher scoring ratio. The same applies for academics. Most people contemplate what failure will feel like. Doing this only sets you up for the fall. Instead, spend time visualizing success. Rehearse what it will feel like to get that A. Be specific with your goals, and physically produce them for yourself. If your goal is to ace an upcoming exam, put a copy of a previous exam on the bulletin board in your dorm or apartment and write a big 'A' on it. If your goal is a specific GPA for the semester, write that figure on the board and chart your progress. Thinking positively results in a higher level of energy and stress levels drop . Praise yourself Talk to yourself using positive language. Treat yourself as you would a friend. By the way, this is good advice throughout life, not just during an exam. Rather than saying, 'Way to go dummy, you don't even know the answer to the first question!' try, 'Get back to that question, maybe it will come to you as you work through the rest of the exam.‘ Encourage yourself and promise yourself a treat after you finish the exam regardless of your feelings toward your performance. This helps you to focus on something other than the importance of this particular exam. Keep in mind that no one exam is going to completely devastate your career as a student. Step I: Read the work through thoroughly.

8. How should you write a summary? Handling Stress by James Fits It is normal to feel nervous about an exam. In fact, it is beneficial to be moderately stressed right before the exam. A little tension can give you just the right amount of adrenaline you need to do your best. It can heighten your awareness and sharpen your reflexes, allowing you to perform more quickly. It can even help you recall information you may not have otherwise remembered. However, if your level of stress rises too high, it can result in insomnia, loss of appetite, and sometimes even hair loss! This can obviously affect your performance on the exam. It is important to know as much as possible about stress, if you are going to handle it effectively. All Is Stress Bad? NO! General stress can help, while focused stress can hinder. Take for example that football game you saw last weekend. If the players did not feel somewhat anxious about the outcome of the game, they may not have worked to their full potential. Stress only becomes our enemy when it becomes an end in itself. When the focus of our energy turns to anxiety rather than the task at hand, it becomes detrimental to your efforts. Dealing with Thoughts-Yell STOP! If you feel yourself beginning to brew a storm of anxiety, stop what you're doing and mentally draw a blank. Wait for the clouds to clear before continuing. If you are in an environment that permits it, actually tell yourself to STOP! This may embarrass you a little, but at least it will get your mind off the stress. It may take a while for your mind to clear, but wait for it. The time spent doing this will in the end be less than the time lost due to poor performance because of stress. Daydream Work! Work! Work! All through school, you are told this. In class, your teacher may have scolded you for daydreaming. Now, forget all that. Allow yourself the benefit of daydreaming. If you feel overwhelmed by the material, let your mind wander. Think of being with a friend or at a place of comfort and let your body relax. Feel the physical tension in your body release, and then return to the grindstone. Visualize Success Visualization is a great skill for dealing with stress. Basketball players who visualize their shots have a higher scoring ratio. The same applies for academics. Most people contemplate what failure will feel like. Doing this only sets you up for the fall. Instead, spend time visualizing success. Rehearse what it will feel like to get that A. Be specific with your goals, and physically produce them for yourself. If your goal is to ace an upcoming exam, put a copy of a previous exam on the bulletin board in your dorm or apartment and write a big 'A' on it. If your goal is a specific GPA for the semester, write that figure on the board and chart your progress. Thinking positively results in a higher level of energy and stress levels drop . Praise yourself Talk to yourself using positive language. Treat yourself as you would a friend. By the way, this is good advice throughout life, not just during an exam. Rather than saying, 'Way to go dummy, you don't even know the answer to the first question!' try, 'Get back to that question, maybe it will come to you as you work through the rest of the exam.‘ Encourage yourself and promise yourself a treat after you finish the exam regardless of your feelings toward your performance. This helps you to focus on something other than the importance of this particular exam. Keep in mind that no one exam is going to completely devastate your career as a student. Step II: Look first in the introduction, then in the conclusion; writers often write explicit thesis statements. Look for andunderline the thesis statement.

9. How should you write a summary? Handling Stress by James Fits It is normal to feel nervous about an exam. In fact, it is beneficial to be moderately stressed right before the exam. A little tension can give you just the right amount of adrenaline you need to do your best. It can heighten your awareness and sharpen your reflexes, allowing you to perform more quickly. It can even help you recall information you may not have otherwise remembered. However, if your level of stress rises too high, it can result in insomnia, loss of appetite, and sometimes even hair loss! This can obviously affect your performance on the exam. It is important to know as much as possible about stress, if you are going to handle it effectively. All Is Stress Bad? NO! General stress can help, while focused stress can hinder. Take for example that football game you saw last weekend. If the players did not feel somewhat anxious about the outcome of the game, they may not have worked to their full potential. Stress only becomes our enemy when it becomes an end in itself. When the focus of our energy turns to anxiety rather than the task at hand, it becomes detrimental to your efforts. Dealing with Thoughts-Yell STOP! If you feel yourself beginning to brew a storm of anxiety, stop what you're doing and mentally draw a blank. Wait for the clouds to clear before continuing. If you are in an environment that permits it, actually tell yourself to STOP! This may embarrass you a little, but at least it will get your mind off the stress. It may take a while for your mind to clear, but wait for it. The time spent doing this will in the end be less than the time lost due to poor performance because of stress. Daydream Work! Work! Work! All through school, you are told this. In class, your teacher may have scolded you for daydreaming. Now, forget all that. Allow yourself the benefit of daydreaming. If you feel overwhelmed by the material, let your mind wander. Think of being with a friend or at a place of comfort and let your body relax. Feel the physical tension in your body release, and then return to the grindstone. Visualize Success Visualization is a great skill for dealing with stress.Basketball players who visualize their shots have a higher scoring ratio. The same applies for academics. Most people contemplate what failure will feel like. Doing this only sets you up for the fall. Instead, spend time visualizing success. Rehearse what it will feel like to get that A. Be specific with your goals, and physically produce them for yourself. If your goal is to ace an upcoming exam, put a copy of a previous exam on the bulletin board in your dorm or apartment and write a big 'A' on it. If your goal is a specific GPA for the semester, write that figure on the board and chart your progress. Thinking positively results in a higher level of energy and stress levels drop . Praise yourself Talk to yourself using positive language. Treat yourself as you would a friend. By the way, this is good advice throughout life, not just during an exam. Rather than saying, 'Way to go dummy, you don't even know the answer to the first question!' try, 'Get back to that question, maybe it will come to you as you work through the rest of the exam.‘ Encourage yourself and promise yourself a treat after you finish the exam regardless of your feelings toward your performance. This helps you to focus on something other than the importance of this particular exam. Keep in mind that no one exam is going to completely devastate your career as a student. Step III: Find and underline the major supports to the thesis in each section/ paragraph.

10. How should you write a summary? Step V: Focus on the structure of a summary. • According to [author's name], • in the article "[title of article]," • complete thesis sentence • major supports in your own words. • Example: According to James Fits, in the article " Handling Stress,"it is important to know as much as possible about stress, if you are going to handle it effectively. General stress can help, while focused stress can hinder. Telling yourself to STOP, daydreaming, visualization, and positive talk are ways to deal with stress.

11. How should you write a summary? Handling Stress by James Fits It is normal to feel nervous about an exam. In fact, it is beneficial to be moderately stressed right before the exam. A little tension can give you just the right amount of adrenaline you need to do your best. It can heighten your awareness and sharpen your reflexes, allowing you to perform more quickly. It can even help you recall information you may not have otherwise remembered. However, if your level of stress rises too high, it can result in insomnia, loss of appetite, and sometimes even hair loss! This can obviously affect your performance on the exam. It is important to know as much as possible about stress, if you are going to handle it effectively. All Is Stress Bad? NO! General stress can help, while focused stress can hinder. Take for example that football game you saw last weekend. If the players did not feel somewhat anxious about the outcome of the game, they may not have worked to their full potential. Stress only becomes our enemy when it becomes an end in itself. When the focus of our energy turns to anxiety rather than the task at hand, it becomes detrimental to your efforts. Dealing with Thoughts-Yell STOP! If you feel yourself beginning to brew a storm of anxiety, stop what you're doing and mentally draw a blank. Wait for the clouds to clear before continuing. If you are in an environment that permits it, actually tell yourself to STOP! This may embarrass you a little, but at least it will get your mind off the stress. It may take a while for your mind to clear, but wait for it. The time spent doing this will in the end be less than the time lost due to poor performance because of stress. Daydream Work! Work! Work! All through school, you are told this. In class, your teacher may have scolded you for daydreaming. Now, forget all that. Allow yourself the benefit of daydreaming. If you feel overwhelmed by the material, let your mind wander. Think of being with a friend or at a place of comfort and let your body relax. Feel the physical tension in your body release, and then return to the grindstone. Visualize Success Visualization is a great skill for dealing with stress.Basketball players who visualize their shots have a higher scoring ratio. The same applies for academics. Most people contemplate what failure will feel like. Doing this only sets you up for the fall. Instead, spend time visualizing success. Rehearse what it will feel like to get that A. Be specific with your goals, and physically produce them for yourself. If your goal is to ace an upcoming exam, put a copy of a previous exam on the bulletin board in your dorm or apartment and write a big 'A' on it. If your goal is a specific GPA for the semester, write that figure on the board and chart your progress. Thinking positively results in a higher level of energy and stress levels drop . Praise yourself Talk to yourself using positive language. Treat yourself as you would a friend. By the way, this is good advice throughout life, not just during an exam. Rather than saying, 'Way to go dummy, you don't even know the answer to the first question!' try, 'Get back to that question, maybe it will come to you as you work through the rest of the exam.‘ Encourage yourself and promise yourself a treat after you finish the exam regardless of your feelings toward your performance. This helps you to focus on something other than the importance of this particular exam. Keep in mind that no one exam is going to completely devastate your career as a student. Step V: Organize your summery. According to [author's name], in the article "[title of article]," complete thesis sentence major supports in your own words]. Example: According to James Fits, in the article " Handling Stress,"it is important to know as much as possible about stress, if you are going to handle it effectively. General stress can help, while focused stress can hinder. Telling yourself to STOP, daydreaming, visualization, and positive talk are ways to deal with stress.

12. REMEMBER Summaries are short restatements of a work's main points. When writing a summary, be sure to record the work's major ideas. Summaries condense a text's main ideas into a few concise sentences. A summarized work is always much shorter than the original. A summary of a work's thesis and supporting points should be written in your own words.

13. Checklist Reread your source until you fully understand it. Write a one sentence restatement of the source's main idea without looking at the source. Use the text’s main idea as your summary's topic sentence. Pull out the text’s main ideas. Write the summary in your own words. Avoid looking at your source while writing your summary. If you must include some of the source's original words and phrases, quote and paraphrase accurately. Document the source's author, title, date of publication and any other important citation information.