1|ps Ior Summary Wr|t|ng (SM)

8ead Lhe LexL once Lhrough and Lry Lo geL a glsL of whaL Lhe LexL ls all abouL
2 8ead Lhe quesLlon and deLermlne Lhe Lask look ouL for words llke feellngs response whaL you
saw and dld beneflLs problems advanLages and dlsadvanLages
3 o noL Lry Lo rephrase lf you are noL very good ln Lngllsh lL ls beLLer Lo selecL lnLelllgenLly and
[oln Lhe senLences wlLh connecLors
4 onLenL marks Language 3 marks So lL ls beLLer Lo go for conLenL lf Lhe senLences are
llfLed lnLelllgenLly you wlll geL abouL 2 marks for language
3 ,emorlse some synonyms as Lhey are useful Lo replace slngle words 1hls wlll help you geL
more marks for language
6 o keep wlLhln Lhe word llmlL as polnLs afLer 3 words are noL Laken lnLo accounL
b SUMMAk WkI1ING
SecLlon 8 of Lhe S, Lngllsh aper 2 presenLs a quesLlon on summary wrlLlng ?ou are advlsed Lo spend
forLyflve mlnuLes on Lhls secLlon
lor Lhls secLlon a LoLal of 3 marks are allocaLed Cf Lhese 2 are awarded for conLenL and anoLher
for language accuracy and sLyle 8ead Lhe lnsLrucLlons carefully 8y dolng Lhls you oughL Lo know very
clearly
Jhlch parL of Lhe passage ls supposed Lo be summarlzed (you may Lo be requlred Lo summarlze
Lhe JCLL passage)
2 JhaL aspecL of Lhe conLenL of Lhe passage ls Lo be summarlzed (lor lnsLance you may be asked
Lo summarlze only Lhe advanLages or dlsadvanLages or cerLaln reacLlons of people or even Lhe
causes/ouLcomes of cerLaln lncldenL
3 1he lengLh of your summary le Lhe number of words LhaL you are allowed ln your flnal
summary lf lL ls sLaLed LhaL your summary ,DS1 noL be longer Lhan 6 words please adhere
Lo Lhls word llmlL lf you wrlLe more Lhan 6 words all Lhe exLra facLs conLalned Lhere are nC1
Laken lnLo accounL by Lhe examlner
4 1ake noLe of any sLarLlng words or phrases glven and use Lhem as lnsLrucLed Lo begln your
summary on'L forgeL Lhe number of words ln Lhe sLarLlng llne are lncluded ln counLlng Lhe
LoLal number of words ln your summary
Cnce you have undersLood Lhe quesLlon clearly only Len should you begln Lo read Lhe passage 1ry Lo
undersLand whaL Lhe passage ls all abouL whaL lLs message/Lheme ls or whaL Lhe sLory ls abouL
urlng Lhe second readlng begln Lo underllne Lhe lmporLanL ldeas and relevanL Lalls lck Lhese ouL and
llsL Lhem down o ensure LhaL Lhe polnLs you are plcklng ouL are meeLlng Lhe requlremenLs of Lhe
quesLlon glven 8ead Lhe passage once more Lo ensure LhaL you have noL lefL ouL any perLlnenL polnLs
now begln summarlzlng lgnore lrrelevanL explanaLlons and superfluous examples locus on Lhe maln
ldeas and Lhose LhaL supporL Lhe Lheme of Lhe passage Cenerallze and converL lengLhy senLences lnLo
shorLer ones Dse one or shorLer words LhaL can subsLlLuLe Lhe meanlng of a long phrase ln Lhe passage
lor example my moLher my faLher my broLher and slsLer can be rephrased as my famlly
Croup slmllar polnLs LogeLher for example Lhe feellngs of a person or Lhe advanLages of a cerLaln
procedure/machlne 8aLher Lhan use Lhree or four senLences Lo convey all of lL you ca puL lL all ln one or
Lwo senLences Dse commas Lhey help ?ou wlll need sklll for Lhls and LhaL ls why you should pracLlce
wrlLlng a loL of summarles before Lhe real examlnaLlon
,any sLudenLs grapple wlLh summary wrlLlng because Lhey geL caughL up wlLh Lhe words used ln Lhe
passage 1hey wanL Lo use all of Lhem 1he reason? 1hey feel LhaL Lhe auLhor's words are besL and LhaL
almosL all LhaL ls conLalned wlLhln Lhe orlglnal passage ls lmporLanL and necessary Lo be lncluded ln Lhelr
summary As such mosL sLudenLs Lend Lo copy Lhe auLhor's words as much as posslble and Lry Lo lnclude
almosL everyLhlng from Lhe orlglnal passage lnLo Lhe summary
1he resulL ls a chop cuLandpasLe verslon of Lhe orlglnal lL has llLLle meanlng and relevance lL ls nC1
even a summary and you geL a few marks when you wrlLe a chopped summary llke Lhls
8emember you geL more marks lf you use your CJn JC8S l know Lhls ls noL easy buL you musL Lry
on'L be afrald Lo rearrange reorganlze and compound facLs 1he maln lssue here ls wheLher you have
undersLood Lhe meanlng of Lhe passage and wheLher you can falLhfully LranslaLe lL lnLo a passage LhaL ls
made up malnly of your own words
So begln pracLlclng wrlLlng a loL of summarles now Lvery Llme you read a reporL ln a newspaper or an
arLlcle ln a magazlne ask yourself whaL ls Lhls repoL/arLlcle all abouL? JhaL ls lLs message? 1ry Lo
summarlze lL ln your mlnd lmaglne LhaL someone younger ls asklng you whaL ls lL LhaL you are readlng
and Lry Lo vlsuallze Lhe slmpllfled answer/verslon LhaL you are golng Lo Lell hlm/her 1haL ls a summary
Jhere marks are concerned Lry Lo geL as many as you can for Cn1Ln1 SLlck Lo Lhe meanlng of Lhe
passage as much as posslble buL do lL uslng your own words o noL be lazy Secure as many polnLs as
you can by readlng and scannlng Lhe passage carefully for relevanL facLs and deLalls
!oL all of Lhese down dlllgenLly and Lry Lo lncorporaLe Lhem all ln a slmpllfled summarlzed form 1ry noL
Lo leave ouL lmporLanL facL Lach facL lefL ouL means one less mark for you
As for language do Lake Lhe Lrouble Lo read Lhrough your flnal drafL and make sure LhaL your grammar
puncLuaLlon and spelllng are as accuraLe as you can posslbly make Lhem ?our error musL be mlnlmal
and Lhe language you use musL noL make lL dlfflculL for Lhe examlner Lo undersLand whaL you are Lrylng
Lo say
1|ps on Summary Wr|t|ng ( SM )
SUMMAk WkI1ING ( SM )
1he quesLlon on summary wrlLlng ls based on Lhe same LexL used for readlng comprehenslon 1hls
should be an advanLage as you would be famlllar wlLh Lhe LexL afLer several readlngs esplLe Lhls many
sLudenLs are noL comforLable wlLh summary wrlLlng 1helr fears sLem from Lhelr lnablllLy Lo ldenLlfy
lnformaLlon relevanL Lo Lhe answer Some are also worrled LhaL Lhey may noL be able Lo puL Lhe
lnformaLlon LogeLher lnLo a coherenL paragraph Jeak sLudenLs have an addlLlonal problem Lo grapple
wlLh Lhe language Jhlle Lhese concerns are genulne Lhere ls no reason Lo worry as Lhese problems can
be easlly overcome wlLh proper guldance and help from your Leachers
8emember LhaL summary wrlLlng ln Lhe conLexL of Lhls paper ls largely a readlng sklll (as you are
requlred Lo selecL relevanL lnformaLlon ln Lhe LexL) wlLh a blL of wrlLlng Lhrown ln (as you have Lo sLrlng
Lhe polnLs LogeLher lnLo a unlfled LexL)
1he Lask ls made easler for you as you do noL need Lo summarlse Lhe whole LexL only cerLaln aspecLs
1herefore lL ls lmporLanL LhaL you read Lhe quesLlon carefully and conslder whaL lnformaLlon ls relevanL
1he allocaLlon of marks for summary wrlLlng ls as follows for conLenL and 3 for language Dsually
Lhere are more Lhan conLenL polnLs buL you should be able Lo ldenLlfy aL leasL o noL worry Loo
much abouL paraphraslng lnsLead focus on geLLlng marks for conLenL noL language ( unless lf you are
good aL paraphraslng )
1h|ngs ou Need to Do
8ead Lhe quesLlon carefully Ask yourself JhaL am l requlred Lo summarlse?"
2 ,ark Lhe flrsL and lasL llnes of Lhe passage you are asked Lo refer Lo
3 1hen selecL lnformaLlon LhaL ls relevanL Lo your answer 1o do Lhls underllne Lhe relevanL llnes or
ldeas as you read Lhe LexL Always ask yourself wheLher Lhe lnformaLlon ls relevanL and keep on looklng
aL Lhe quesLlon Lo remlnd yourself whaL Lhe quesLlon wanLs you Lo flnd
4 Look Lhrough Lhe llnes/ldeas you have underllned SomeLlmes an ldea ls repeaLed ln anoLher llne Ask
yourself ls Lhls ldea a repeLlLlon?
3 Summarlse Lhe ldeas ?ou can comblne ldeas by [olnlng phrases or senLences or you may wanL Lo
paraphrase ldeas/senLences owever make sure your senLences are compleLe senLences and noL
fracLured blLs and pleces
6 lf you cannoL paraphrase see lf Lhere are words ln Lhe LexL LhaL you can replace wlLhouL affecLlng Lhe
meanlng lor example you can use a pronoun Lo replace a noun
7 lf you are a weak sLudenL copy Lhe enLlre senLence 1hls way you wlll noL lose marks for conLenL or
language
8egln Lhe summary wlLh Lhe words glven and remember LhaL Lhe Lhree doLs afLer Lhe Lh word
mean you have Lo compleLe Lhe senLence wlLh some relevanL lnformaLlon from Lhe LexL
9 Crganlse Lhe ldeas/polnLs ln Lhe manner ln whlch Lhey are found ln Lhe LexL o noL wasLe Llme Lrylng
Lo rearrange ldeas
Adhere Lo Lhe word llmlL JrlLlng more Lhan Lhe requlred number of words wlll noL geL you exLra
marks AnyLhlng shorL of Lhe word llmlL means you lack conLenL
ay aLLenLlon Lo Lhe Lense (and someLlmes pronoun) used ln Lhe glven words
2 JrlLe Lhe summary ln one paragraph Some sLudenLs are ln Lhe hablL of drawlng columns Lo
faclllLaLe counLlng of words 1hls ls flne buL wrlLe your flnal drafL ln one paragraph
1h|ngs to avo|d
o noL lnclude lnformaLlon noL found ln Lhe LexL
2 o noL lnclude your own ldeas or oplnlons
3 o noL spend Loo much Llme paraphraslng as you mlghL end up loslng marks for conLenL unless you
can do so wlLhouL alLerlng/dlsLorLlng meanlng
4 o noL repeaL ldeas SomeLlmes an ldea ls repeaLed ln Lhe LexL and you may noL noLlce lL as lL may
have been paraphrased
3 o noL lnclude maLerlal from oLher llnes ln Lhe LexL
Gu|de||nes for read|ng comprehens|on
8ead Lhe whole passage Lhrough once Lo geL a general ldea of whaL Lhe passage ls abouL o noL
worry lf you come across unfamlllar words SomeLlmes lL ls noL necessary Lo undersLand every word you
read
2 o read Lhe passage a second Llme lf necessary 1he second readlng helps you Lake ln Lhe deLalls and
lmprove your undersLandlng
3 8ead Lhe quesLlons carefully Dse cue words ln Lhe quesLlons Lo help you answer Lhe quesLlons 1hese
can be Lhe wh" words (whaL when where why who whose how) and acLlon verbs (ldenLlfy flnd
llsL)
4 CuesLlons someLlmes conLaln words found ln Lhe passage Dse Lhese words Lo help you ldenLlfy Lhe
parL of Lhe passage where Lhe answer can be found
3 ?ou do noL have Lo answer quesLlons ln compleLe senLences (look aL Lhe sample answers glven)
6 ?ou can llfL words clauses or senLences from Lhe passage Lo answer quesLlons ?ou do noL have Lo
use your own words unless you are Lold Lo do so ,oreover Lhere ls a danger ln paraphraslng you
mlghL alLer/dlsLorL Lhe meanlng expressed ln Lhe passage and hence lose preclous marks
7 lor quesLlons on vocabulary lf you are asked for a word Lhen glve only CnL word and noLhlng else
,ake sure you spell Lhe word correcLly lf you are asked for a phrase Lhen glve Lhe relevanL phrase lf
you copy Lhe senLence where Lhe word or phrase are found you musL lndlcaLe Lhe chosen word or
phrase by underllnlng lL or puLLlng lL wlLhln quoLaLlon marks
Some quesLlons requlre you Lo use your own words and you musL do so
9 o pay aLLenLlon Lo Lhe Lense (and someLlmes pronoun) used ln Lhe quesLlons when formulaLlng your
answers