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Summary
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A summary or recap is a shortened version of the original. The main purpose of such a simplification is to highlight the major points from the genuine (much longer) subject, e.g. a text, a film or an event. The target is to help the audience get the gist in a short period of time.
itten summary starts with a lead, including title, author, text type and the main idea of the text.
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Encyclopedia
A summary or recap is a shortened version of the original. The main purpose of such a simplification is to highlight the major points from the genuine (much longer) subject, e.g. a text, a film or an event. The target is to help the audience get the gist in a short period of time.
Written summary
A written summary starts with a lead, including title, author, text type and the main idea of the text. It has a clearly arranged structure and is written in a logical, chronological and traceable manner. In contrast to a résumé or a review, a summary contains neither interpretation nor rating. Only the opinion of the original writer is reflected – paraphrased with new words without quotations from the text. Unlike a retelling, a summary has no dramatic structure and is written in present tense or historic present. Because summaries should be significantly shorter than the original, minor facts have to be left out. However all major conclusions should remain. In summaries only indirect speech is used and depictions are avoided. Summaries of books or dissertations present the major facts in common scientific language and should be about from a half up to one page long.
How to write a summary
- Read the text
- Formulate the main statement
- Reread the text and underline important ideas and arguments according to the main statement
- Introduce the author and title of the work in the opening sentence
- Mention the important facts in chronological order
- Check that your summary reflects the original conclusion
Summary in nonfiction
Nonfiction summaries serve to familiarize the reader with an entire work’s subject matter in a short space of time. They are written in a balanced and objective way, mirroring the genre’s aim to portray actual events from the author’s point of view. Generally, nonfiction summaries do not offer analysis or assessment.
Summarizers use their own words to write the shortened versions and draw on the original make-up of the pieces to structure the distillations. They exclude superfluous examples, descriptions and digressions. The opening sentence should introduce the topic, and the final sentence should sum up the theme, taking into account the knowledge gained from the body of the text.
In recent years, a summarizing industry has sprung up. Leading companies in this field are and . These firms focus mainly on business literature. They adhere to the nonfiction guidelines mentioned above, but also provide numerical ratings and evaluations of the titles covered. Shorter, more concise nonfiction summaries are called abstracts. They are approx. 5 pages, thus longer than scientific abstracts.
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