Summary Writing
Integrate comprehension strategies including summarising to analyse and interpret complex and abstract ideas.
The most predictable marks you will ever be set. You reduce a short passage to seven points, in your own words, inside a fixed word limit. Most of the marks are for finding the points; the rest are for how you write them.
Method
Read the limit before you read the passage
A summary task fixes the number of points and the number of words. A common setting is seven points in 80 to 90 words. Headings are never counted.
Content marks and language marks are separate
The language marks depend on own words, full sentences, staying inside the limit, and stating your word count.
Examples are never points
Statistics, place names, illustrations and figures of speech are there to support a point. Leave them out.
Four words in a row is lifting
If four or more consecutive words match the passage, rewrite them.
Worked example
e.g. Summarise, in your own words, SEVEN reasons the writer gives for the decline. Write 80 to 90 words. (10)
- Read the instruction twice. Write down three things: how many points, how many words, own words or not.Seven points. 80 to 90 words. Own words.
- Number the paragraphs of the passage.There is almost always one point per paragraph.
- Underline one point in each paragraph. Ignore examples, statistics and repetition.Seven underlinings, one per paragraph.
- Write the points as rough notes first. Do not write sentences yet.Notes only, in the order they appear.
- Turn each note into your own words. This is where the language marks are.Change the wording, keep the meaning.
- Join the notes into full, flowing sentences.Not bullets, unless point form was asked for.
- Count the words and write the total at the end.Over the limit is a penalty. No word count is a penalty.
Practice
Work through the drill. These are the four ways the ten marks are usually lost.
1
A passage has eight paragraphs and the question asks for seven points. Where is the point most likely missing?
AnswerIn the opening paragraph, which usually introduces the topic rather than making a point. Check the first paragraph last.
2
Your summary is 104 words and contains all seven points. What happens?
AnswerYou lose language marks for exceeding the limit. Cut the examples first — they were never points.
3
The passage says: transport costs about R60 a day, which most households cannot absorb. What is the point, and what is the example?
AnswerThe point is that job-hunting costs more than households can afford. The example is R60 a day. Write the point, drop the figure.
4
You have written seven correct points but copied three phrases straight from the passage. Which marks are at risk?
AnswerThe three language marks. Content may survive, but lifting is the single most common deduction in the summary question.
5
You finish with 30 seconds left and no word count written. Is it worth adding?
AnswerYes. It takes seconds and it is a stated requirement. Count in tens as you read back.