Summarizing/Paraphrasing

1
Summarizing/Paraphrasing
2
Summarizing

• A summary is a short piece of writing about a
  longer piece. A summary includes only the most
  important details or main ideas.

3
How to summarize

• 1. Pick out the main idea.
• Ask yourself, What is this mostly about? What is
  the most important piece of information?
• 2. Ignore supporting details.
• These are anything that helps to describe the
  main idea or give additional information.
• 3. Rewrite ONLY the main idea(s) in your own
  words.

4
Just focus on the 5 Ws and the H!

• Who?
• What?
• Where?
• When?
• Why?
• How?
• To Summarize, answer these questions!

5

• Mallory took a road trip around the state of
  Texas this summer with her family. They visited
  Houston, Austin, and Dallas. Her family wanted to
  see as many historical landmarks as possible.
  Near Houston, the toured the Old Spanish
  Cemetery, Fort Houston, and Sabine Pass. In the
  Austin area, they visited Austin College and the
  Mary Street Stone House. In the Dallas area, they
  went to the Flippen Homestead, the Alexander
  Mansion, and the Matthews-Atwood House.
• I ask myself, What is this paragraph mostly
  about? What is the main idea?

6

• Who? Mallory
• What? Road trip
• Where? Texas
• When? Summer
• Why? Historical Landmarks
• How? N/A
• Now, I can write my brief summary.
• Mallory took a road trip to Texas this summer and
  visited many historical landmarks.

7
Guided Practice

• I tied them silently together, twining cords of
  willow from the ogres bed then slung a man
  under each middle one to ride there safely,
  shielded let and right. So three sheep would
  convey each man. I took the woolliest ram, the
  choicest of the flock, and hung myself under his
  kinky belly, pulled up tight, with fingers
  twisted deep in sheepskin ringlets for an iron
  grip. So, breathing hard, we waited until
  morning(767)

8
Guided Practice

• What is the main point? What is happening?
• Restate it in 1-2 sentences.
• Odysseus hid himself and his men in between sheep
  to escape detection by the Cyclops.

9
Group Work

• With your group, you will choose an article from
  a magazine and read it together.
• You will then identify the 5 Ws and the H of the
  article.
• Then you will write a 20-word summary of the
  article. ONLY 20 WORDS!!

10
Paraphrasing

• What is paraphrasing?
• Paraphrasing is taking a section of a text and
  restating it in your OWN words.

11
Paraphrase Practice

• Paraphrase the old saying, Dont count your
  chickens before they hatch.
• Dont just write Wait until the chickens have
  hatched before counting them.
• Instead, examine the idea behind the phrase and
  restate it in more direct terms.
• Never assume youll get something you want until
  you have it.

12
Paraphrase Practice

• As we have all read it, lets paraphrase an
  excerpt from Romeo and Juliet.
• Two households, both alike in dignity / In fair
  Verona, where we lay our scene, / From ancient
  grudge break to new mutiny/ Where civil blood
  makes civil hands unclean (Shakespeare 3).
• In the beautiful city of Verona, where our story
  takes place, a long-standing hatred between two
  families erupts into new violence, and citizens
  stain their hands with the blood of fellow
  citizens.

13
Group Work

• Your group will receive a sheet of paper with
  song lyrics.
• As a group, you will paraphrase the song lyrics.
• Get ready to perform!

14
Quick Review

• What is summarizing?
• How long should a summary be if we are looking at
  a short passage?
• How is it different from a paraphrase?

summarizing guidelines