Introduction to summaries

How to write a summary for IGCSE Lang (2019-2020 syllabi)

1. Introduction to Writing Summaries Source: Cox, M. (2015). First Language English (4 th ed.). United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press

2. What is a summary? A summary is a reduced version of a text. It is informative.

3. How to summarise When you summarise a passage, you need to identify the key words in the text, i.e. the single phrases which tell you what each part of the text is about. It is useful to have a highlighter with you in an exam so that you can annotate the passage to select material for any summary question. Highlight only the essential points rather than whole sentences or paragraphs.

4. What should not be included in a summary? You should never include the following in your summary: Repetition Minor detail Quotations Direct speech Imagery Examples Lists

5. Language use in summaries The summary question will ask you to summarise using your own words , so be careful not to copy whole phrases or sentences. It not necessary, however, to change every single word. Try to paraphrase the information in texts and to make your sentences shorter than those in the original. If you are not sure what a word means, don’ It is good style, saves time and words, and avoids repetition to use complex sentences when writing your summary .