Summary Writing Techniques and Practices

This video tutorial guides students on writing objective summaries by following five steps: annotating the text, determining the central idea, writing a topic sentence, using transition words, and proofreading. The tutorial emphasizes using the five Ws and gist notes to ensure summaries are factual and in the student's own words.

What is an objective summary?

• A summary that is fictional

• A summary that includes personal opinions

• A summary that only includes facts from the text

• A summary that is subjective

Which of the following is NOT a step in writing an objective summary?

• Reading and annotating the text

• Determining the central idea

• Including personal opinions

• Using transition words

What is the first step in writing an objective summary?

• Writing a topic sentence

• Using transition words

• Reading and annotating the text

• Determining the central idea

What should you look for when annotating a text?

• The text's length

• The text's publication date

• The five W's: who, what, when, where, why

• The author's biography

What is the central idea of a text?

• The text's publication date

• The text's main theme

• The author's opinion

• The text's length

What should you do with unknown words in the text?

• Delete them

• Replace them with known words

• Box them for further understanding

• Ignore them

What is the importance of annotating the text?

• To add personal opinions

• To help determine the central idea

• To confuse the reader

• To make the text longer

What is the role of the five W's in writing a summary?

• To help determine the central idea

• To provide a detailed analysis

• To list references

• To add personal opinions

What should you do if you have questions about the text?

• Ignore them

• Add them as side commentary

• Ask the author

• Delete them

What should you do if a section of the text surprises you?

• Ignore it

• Rewrite it

• Add it as side commentary

• Delete it