A summary is a condensed version of a longer piece of writing. Summaries should not include any of your own thoughts, interpretations, or conclusions. When writing a summary, you should begin by stating the text’s title, author, and main point in the most concise way possible. Your own words are used to create a summary.

Determine the significance of the author’s significant sub-claims in order to support the main point. Indicate the source and author of each quote you use in your citations. Place “quotation marks” around the passage you’ve chosen, and immediately after the passage, include the paragraph number where the passages can be found.

Summary Writing

To sum up is to provide the reader with a complete picture of a larger work. A summary is a condensed version of an article, essay, television show, or film that summarises the main points of the original material. To summarise a work, the summary writer provides enough information to allow the reader to understand the subject matter while also highlighting his or her own personal understanding of the subject matter in a succinct manner.

Summaries are designed to give readers an overview of important or interesting information without introducing any personal biases or opinions. Like an abstract, a synopsis can give a brief rundown of the most important points in an article or piece of media. Examples include synopses for movies and scientific papers.

Summary of a Poem

Prior to writing a poem summary, it is essential to spend some time studying the poem.

• One can learn a lot about a poem by investigating its history, such as who wrote it and when
• At least three readings of the poem are recommended
• While writing summary, make a note of everything you remember, either by the side of the poem or on paper
• Write paragraphs that represent a single thought or argument in the summary
• The introduction and conclusion are essential
• The poet’s name and the year the poem was written are important; so be sure to include them in your introduction
• Find out which category the poem belongs to (an epic poem or a narrative or a dramatic one)
• Descriptive poetry is more focused on a specific location or event, while epic poetry deals with universal themes
• Poems written from the point of view of a particular character constitute narrative poetry
• In order to better understand the poem’s themes and motifs, it is important to identify the figures of speech used, such as metaphor, simile, oxymoron, alliteration or onomatopoeia
• Examine whether or not the writer is employing repetition to emphasise a particular point or to heighten the dramatic tension
• Analyse the text to see if any literary references or allusions were made
• Write about the poem’s overall mood and point of view
• Identify the poem’s comic or sombre undertones
• Inquire as to whether it is written from the viewpoint of one of the poem’s characters or from that of the poet
• Determine if the poet is addressing the reader directly or if they are being addressed by someone else

State concisely everything you’ve learnt about the poem together in the concluding statement of your summary.

Summary: An Example

Let’s take an example of summarising “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland”-

It is a well-known children’s book that can be enjoyed by adults as well. Charles Dodson, an English writer who used the pseudonym Lewis Carroll to publish the book in 1865, is the author.

The book has had a lasting impact on both popular culture and literature due to its fantasy plot and the overarching theme of “a growing girl exploring the wonders of the world.” Readers have long been baffled by Wonderland’s cryptic prose and seemingly contradictory logic.

Alice, a seven-year-old girl, is the book’s protagonist and must find her way through “Wonderland,” a strange land. The White Rabbit, the Caterpillar, the Cheshire Cat, the Mad Hatter, and the Dormouse are just a few of the strange characters Alice meets on her magical journey through Wonderland.

The White Rabbit serves as Alice’s tour guide, taking her to a variety of locations and introducing her to a variety of experiences. The perpetually rushing rabbit is a metaphor for the relentless march of time.

Cheshire Cat, who can disappear and reappear, is the only character who pays attention to Alice in the entire novel. To help Alice, the Cat gives her “advice” on the strange rules of this world she’s in. Wonderland’s magic is symbolised by the Cheshire Cat’s smile, which is as famous and enigmatic as the Mona Lisa’s.

As Alice grows up in a dangerous world, she learns from each of the characters. All of the settings and objects in “Alice in the Wonderland” are used as symbols in order to convey a specific message to the audience. Lewis Carroll depicts the complexities of life through his use of symbolism.

A lesson that Alice may have picked up on during her magical, initiatory journey could be this: don’t try to find meaning in every situation that comes your way, but don’t give up and keep going.

Conclusion

A writer’s ability to effectively summarise an event, novel, play or newspaper article in one paragraph is an important skill to have. To create an effective summary, find the central point. In order to convey the most important information, a summation distils the source material down to its essence. Use your limited sentences wisely to convey the main point you want to make to the reader. 

Keep it short and to the point. A summary is not a rewrite, but rather a brief account of the original work. It’s typical for a summary paragraph to have five to eight sentences in length.