Steps to Comprehend and Summarize Text

Suppose your teacher is teaching a very important lesson and giving away all related concepts. Will it be possible for you to note down each and every word that the teacher has said? No! So, we know we can make small notes for it. Interestingly, you can also make a summary from those notes to get the central idea. You make a summary in your own words for better understanding. In this section, we will study how to summarize a note or a passage in the best way with the help of note making examples.

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Introduction to Summary

A summary is a record which a writer writes in his or her words. It gives the main points of the passage, note or a conversation. A summary is a brief collection of all the important points. It is a short version of a long essay. A summary must have all the points from the passage or from the notes. This is among the note making examples.

Usage of Summary

• It is a good way of improving the ability to read. Writing summaries helps the writer to focus on understanding the whole.
• It has a great importance in academic terms
• Writing summary has an important role in the professional era

Browse more Topics under Note Making

• Intro, Advantages and Strategies of Note Making
• Styles of Note Making
• Mechanics of Linear Note Making

Good Summaries as Note Making Examples

• A good summary has an objective of the whole passage
• It should not have irrelevant content
• It may contain the main idea of each of the paragraphs
• A good summary may use the keywords from the original text but not the metaphor
• You must express a good summary in your own words

Steps for Summarizing

1. The very first step for making a summary is to have a reading skill
2. Underline or mark the main sentences of the passage
3. After collecting the main points, check for the appropriateness of the ideas for making the summary
4. Prepare the first draft of the summary. Use can omit or add any piece of information.
5. Limit the written summary

Techniques for Summarization

There are three important techniques for making a summary. They are-

1. Selection
2. Rejection
3. Substitution

Selection

For making a summary, it is very important to select the main idea, keywords and the special terms in the source. They help in getting the idea and making the summary.

Rejection

It is a process of removing unwanted and not so important sentences while making summaries as note making examples.

Substitution

It is a process in which new sentences get to add up instead of the previous one. Also, several sentences are combined to form one sentence. It reduces the length of the summary.

Important Points to Remember for Making Summary

While making a summary it is very important to keep a few things in mind. Some of them are

• Carefully select the theme of the passage
• Read with who, what, when, where, why, and how questions in mind
• Do not rewrite the original text
• Leave no scope for confusion
• Include all the main ideas
• Do not include any unnecessary or repetitive sentences
• Do not make any assumptions
• The length of the summary must not exceed 25 percent of the original text
• Do not change the original source
• Do not include quotations, metaphors, and other figures of speech
• Logically link each section
• Prefer short, simple and clear sentences
• Try to cover maximum points
• Reach a conclusion if required

Summaries as Note Making Examples

Till now we get ourselves familiar with all the necessary skills for making a good summary. Here we are going to make a summary from a given passage. It is also very interesting to make a summary from notes. Let us get started with the note making examples.

Passage

Conversation is indeed the most easily teachable of all arts. All you need to do in order to become a good conversationalist is to find a subject that interests you and your listeners. There are, for example, numberless hobbies to talk about. But the important thing is that you must talk about other fellow’s hobby rather than yours’. Talk to your friends about the things that interest them, and you will get a reputation for good fellowship, and a brilliant mind. There is nothing that pleases people so much as your interest in their interest.

It is just as important to know what subjects to avoid and what subjects to select for good conversation. If you don’t want to be set down as a bore, be careful to avoid certain unpleasant subjects. Avoid talking about yourself, unless you are asked to do so. People are interested in their own problems not in yours.

To be a good conversationalist you must know not only what to say, but how also to say it. Be mentally quick and witty. Finally, try to avoid mannerism in your conversation. Don’t click your tongue, or roll your eyes or use your hands excessively as you speak.

Summary

Conversation is the easiest and the most effective tool than other arts. To have such an attractive quality, you need to pick a subject that interests your listeners more than you. Talking to your friends on topics that can indulge them in the conversation for a longer period of time gives such an idea. Being a good conversationalist, you have to be quick and witty. You should have a pleasant and non-hurting quality. Mannerism should be avoided.

Solved Example for You

Problem: From the given note try to make a suitable summary.

Title: Horrible Civic Sense and Possible Solution.

1. Deteriorating civic sense in urban India
2. Bad behavior of the rich
   1. Bad drinking habits
      1. Drinking on roadside
      2. Wee hours
   2. Disrespect towards women
      1. Passing lewd comments on women
      2. No difference in behavior: rich or not so rich
   3. Police apathy compounding the problem
      1. Policemen looking the other way
      2. Not interested in happenings
3. An accident in Gurgaon as an example
   1. A small car hit by big car symbolizing class division in society
      1. Man test driving: hitting family in a small car, killing the husband and injuring wife
   2. Money power coming to the rescue of the rich
      1. Police turning a blind eye towards the culprit
      2. Culprit managing to flee from the scene
      3. Culprit getting bail by using monetary influence
4. Pondering over reasons for the current situtn
   1. Overpowering sense of sudden wealth
      1. Sudden wealth: people irresponsible citizens
      2. All pervasiveness of uncivil behavior
      3. More in north: some incidence in other parts as well
   2. Questionable role of media in framing value system
      1. Media ignoring important social issues
5. Searching for solution
   1. Stop accepting the state of affairs
      1. Individual unable to resist crime
   2. Challenging the perpetrators of crime
      1. Group to fight crime, bad behavior
   3. Rapid ecomic growth and slow ecomic growth
      1. Which is better?
      2. The preferred situation

Keys

• Situtn – Situation
• Ecomic – Economic

Solution:

Summary

It has been observed that urbanization has promoted insensitivity, arrogance, and selfishness. The narrator feels disturbed to see the youngsters consuming alcohol and passing indecent comments. The horrible accident that took place in Gurgaon is the pinnacle of absurdity and injustice. Avinash Shah was killed by a businessman while test driving a new car. His wife and daughter barely survived. The culprit was not arrested. He was arrested after two days so that the law can be manipulated. Who is responsible for such mishaps? Media, police or the system? The reply may be any. But we need to fight against such malpractices together. The slower growth rate of the economy is preferred than insane and uncivilized society.