Objective Summary Quiz

When you summarize a text, you find its essentials. You think about what you’ve read and decide what matters most. That’s why summarizing builds critical-thinking skills. Summarizing can help you focus on the most important parts of a text and keep them organized in your head. It makes it easier to understand and remember what you’re reading.

• because you’re evaluating the text to decide what’s most important

• because you’re critiquing the text to determine if it was interesting or boring

• because you’re using your imagination to write a new ending

• because you’re combining what you’ve learned in one text with your background knowledge

What is a summary?

• a persuasive argument about a text

• a movie based off of a book

• a theme or universal lesson

• a short explanation of a text

A summary should...

• describe the details but not the main ideas.

• answer the 5 W’s: who, what, when, where and why.

• never mention the main idea of the text.

• always mention the age of the author.

Which of the following questions should you definitely answer in a summary of the novel My Funny Friend Fiona?

• What’s Fiona’s neighbor’s favorite color?

• Is My Funny Friend Fiona a boring book?

• What happens to Fiona?

• How long did it take you to read My Funny Friend Fiona?

What detail should be cut from the following summary?

My Funny Friend Fiona is a novel about a girl named Fiona. It’s really quick to read, and you should read it because it’s the funniest book in the world.

• the name of the main character

• the title of the book

• the fact that the book is a novel

• the opinion that it's the "funniest book in the world"

The article “The Three Men Who Invented the Telephone” is about three different men who contributed to the invention of the telephone. Which of the following should you include in a summary of this article?

• a brief explanation of how each man was involved in the invention of the telephone

• details about how smartphones and cell phones work

• a detail about where the phrase “put someone on hold” came from

• your opinion about who really invented the telephone

Cynthia and the Spaceship is a novel by Evelyn Redding. In the book, Cynthia, the main character, overcomes a challenge to accomplish her dream of owning a spaceship. The novel is set in Chicago in the year 2150.

Which of the following would improve this summary?

• cutting the final sentence

• adding details about the challenge Cynthia faces in the novel

• adding details about what the spaceship looks like

• cutting the title and the author of the book

The article “Orange You Glad” by Wanda Biederman is all about oranges: the history, varieties and products that are made from them. Oranges are not known to grow wildly. They likely originated in Asia, either in India or in China. Spanish travelers brought the fruit to the Americas in the 1500s. There are bitter oranges and sweet oranges. I like to use bitter oranges to make jelly. Orange juice is made from oranges, and orange oil, which is used to flavor foods, is made of sweet oranges. Oranges are packed with vitamin C, a fact that historically made them a popular food among sailors. Vitamin C helps heal wounds and repair bones. The article concludes with the idea that people should eat an orange, and not an apple, every day.

Which of the following details from the passage does not belong in the summary?

• “They likely originated in Asia…”

• “...that historically made them a popular food among sailors.”

• “I like to use bitter oranges to make jelly.”

• “Vitamin C helps heal wounds and repair bones.”