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Prévia do material em texto

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OFICINA DE REDAÇÃO EM LÍNGUA 
INGLESA
SUMMARY
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Olá!
Ao final desta aula, você será capaz de:
1. Identificar as especificidades do Gênero Resumo;
2. reconhecer as etapas para a elaboração de Resumos;
3. ler e analisar de Resumos apresentados em diversos contextos.
What is a Summary?
In scholastic and professional settings alike, you are likely to be asked to compose a summary of an article, essay,
paper, report, or other document. The summary is an exercise that combines synthesis capacity and objectivity.
The summary is a text that presents the key facts or ideas developed in another text, exposing them in a short
and respecting the order in which they arise.
Summarize a text is to condense the main ideas, respecting the meaning, structure and type of utterance, that is,
the times and the people, with the help of the vocabulary of each. It is thus to present a reasoning objectively,
choose the essential data of a problem, the characteristics of a situation, the conclusions of an analysis, without
comment or personal perspectives.
The summary is a technique that leads its author to faces texts as a whole. It is not a sequence of independent
sentences. On the contrary, it is an ordered set of ideas, resulting in a complete text, formal and meaningful.
At the end of the day, it is an exercise of intelligence, requiring the drafting of a new text, based on its source text.
A summary is a record in a reader's own words that gives the main points of a piece of writing such as a
newspaper article, the chapter of a book, or even a whole book. It is also possible to summarize something that
you have heard, such as a lecture, or something that you have seen and heard, such as a movie. A summary omits
details, and does not include the reader's interpretation of the original.
When are Summaries Used?
A summary is a piece of writing in which original material is reduced to its main points and key supporting
details. It is a condensed version of someone else’s writing in your own words.
The purpose of any summary is to give quick and accurate details about a certain event presented in a specific
article. Basically, instead of reading everything, a summary eliminates the clutter, offering a brief versions of
what happened.
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If you are reading something that is very important for your studies and/or difficult to understand, writing a
summary helps you to make sure that you have understood it. You can also refer to it later to refresh your
memory, for example when you are revising for an exam, or when you are talking about it in class. (It is also a
good idea to turn lecture notes into summaries.)
When writing academic papers people often need to insert summaries of something that they have read or
heard. For example, you might want to summarize the main points of a book that is relevant to your topic. In
such cases, it is extremely important to use your own words, or quotation marks if you are actually quoting, in
order to avoid plagiarism.
Why do we Need to Summarize?
Summarizing is one of the tasks most often required in academic classes, as it shows a good understanding of a
text.
It is a valuable skill to have when you are integrating materials from sources you have read into your own
writing.
What is a Good Summary?
A good summary should give an objective outline of the whole piece of writing. It should answer basic questions
about the original text such as "Who did what, where, and when?", or "What is the main idea of the text?", "What
are the main supporting points?", "What are the major pieces of evidence?". It should not be a paraphrase of the
whole text using your own words. It should be a text that, built with its author’s own words, reveals the main
idea of the source text.
You should not give your own ideas or criticisms as part of the summary. However, if you want to comment on a
piece of writing it is usual to begin by summarizing it as objectively as possible. No sign of emotion should be
part of a good summary. No selected examples, details, or information which are not relevant to the piece of
writing taken as a whole should be in a summary.
A good summary should probably include the main idea of each paragraph, and the main evidence supporting
that idea, unless it is not relevant to the article or essay as a whole. A summary does not need a conclusion, but if
the original ends with a message to the reader this should not be left out.
Key words from the original text but can be used, but a summary should not contain whole phrases or sentences
from the original unless quotation marks are used. Quotations should only be made if there is a reason for using
the original words, for example because the choice of words is significant, or because the original is so well
expressed.
Characteristics of a Good Summary
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Proper Citation
The summary begins by citing the title, author, source, and, in the case of a magazine or journal article,
the date of publication and the text.
• Thesis Statement
The overall thesis of the text selection is the author’s central theme. There are several aspects to an
effective thesis statement.
• Supporting Ideas
The author supports his/her thesis with supporting ideas.
Use the following basic guidelines when summarizing supporting ideas:
• Cover all of the author’s major supporting ideas.
• Show the relationships among these ideas.
• Omit specifics, such as illustrations, descriptions, and detailed explanations.
• Indicate the author’s purpose in writing: to inform, to persuade, or to entertain. If the passage is 
a persuasive piece, report the author’s bias or position on the issue.
• Omit all personal opinions, ideas, and inferences. Let the reader know that you are reporting the 
author’s ideas.
• Grammar and the Mechanics of Writing
Grammar and related concerns: ensure that, as a writer, you communicate clearly to your reader. The
following are particularly important:
• Restate the ideas in your own words as much as possible. Avoid direct quotations. Use 
transitional words for a smooth and logical flow of ideas.
• Edit and re-write your work.
• Check your grammar, punctuation, and spelling.
• Length
The length of a summary depends on how long the original document is.
Steps in Writing a Summary: Initially, summary writing can seem like a challenging task. It requires
careful reading and reflective thinking about the article. Most of us, however, tend to skim read without
focused reflection, but with time and effort, the steps listed here can help you become an effective
summary writer.
How to Write a Summary of a Short Piece of Writing?
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Read the article and reread the Article. Divide it into segments or sections of ideas. Each segment deals with one
aspect of the central theme. Label each segment.
Use a general phrase that captures the subject matter of the segment. Write the label in the margin next to the
segment. Highlight or underline the main points and key phrases.
As you read, underline all the important points and all the important evidence. For example, you could look for
all the topic sentences.
List or cluster the main idea of the whole piece, the main supporting ideas, and the main evidence for each idea.
Be careful to use your own words rather than copying or just rearranging.
Do not include too much detail. Change the order if necessary, so that the main idea comes first and is followed
by the supporting ideas and evidence in a logical sequence. Omit any repetitions.
If the original uses 'I' replace this with the writer's actual surname, "the writer", or "he/she". If the original uses
'you', substitute "people" or "they".
Write a first draft. Begin with a proper citation of the title, author, source, and date of publication of the article
summarized. Eliminate all unnecessary words and repetitions. Personal ideas and inferences should be
eliminated as well.
Edit Your Draft. Check yoursummary by asking the following questions:
• Have I answered the who, what, when, why, and how questions?
• Is my grammar, punctuation, and spelling correct?
• Have I left out my personal views and ideas?
• Does my summary “hang together”? Does it flow when I read it aloud?
• Have someone else read it. Does the summary give them the central ideas of the article?
Click to read the Text 1 and think about what you have just learned about writing summaries: 
http://estaciodocente.webaula.com.br/cursos/gon221/pdf/a08_t13.pdf
Study More
Click to read two summaries and choose the best of them. Take into consideration what you have just learned
about summaries: http://estaciodocente.webaula.com.br/cursos/gon221/pdf/a08_t14.pdf
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http://estaciodocente.webaula.com.br/cursos/gon221/pdf/a08_t13.pdf
http://estaciodocente.webaula.com.br/cursos/gon221/pdf/a08_t14.pdf
	Olá!
	
	Proper Citation
	Thesis Statement
	Supporting Ideas
	Grammar and the Mechanics of Writing
	Length