Name & Section: _______________________________________________________________________ 

 
What is Summarizing? 
● Summarizing is how we take larger selections of text and reduce them to their bare essentials: the gist, the key
ideas, the main points that are worth noting and remembering. 
● Webster’s calls a summary the ‘general idea in brief form’; it’s the distillation, condensation, or reduction of a
larger work into its primary notions. 
● Summarizing involves putting the main idea(s) into your own words, including only the main point(s). 
 
When to summarize? 
● You want to identify only the main ideas of the writer. 
● You want to give an overview of the topic (from several sources). 
● You want to simplify a complex argument 
● You want to condense the matter to suit your requirement. 
 
How to summarize? 
● Pull out the main ideas 
● Focus on key details 
● Use key words and phrases 
● Break down the larger ideas 
● Write only enough to convey the gist 
● Take succinct but complete notes 
● Provide your readers with a condensed version of an author’s key points 
● Write as short as a few sentences or much longer, depending on the complexity of the text and the level of
detail you wish to provide your reader. 
 Note that summary is one third of the original text of your paper. 
 
Consider this example: 
 
Sample Article  Summary 

     Stanley Milgram (1974) reports that ordinarily      The problem of obedience is not wholly
compassionate people will be cruel to each other if they are psychological. The form and shape of society and the
commanded to be by an authority figure. In his experiment,  way it is developing have much to do with it. There
a group of participants  were asked to administer electric  was a time, perhaps, when people are able to give a
shocks to people who made errors on a simple test. In spite of fully human response to any situation because they
signs that those receiving shock were experiencing great were fully absorbed in it as human beings. But as
physical pain, 25 of 40 subjects continued to administer soon as there was division of labor things changed.  
electric shocks. These results held up for each group of people
tested, no matter the demographic. The transcripts of  
conversations from the experiment reveal that although many
of the participants felt increasingly uncomfortable, they  
continued to obey the experimenter, often showing
great deference for the experimenter. Millgram suggests that ● Stanley Milgram, ‘The Perils of Obedience 
when people feel responsible for carrying out the wishes of an
authority figure, they do not feel responsible for the actual  
actions they are performing. He concludes that the increasing
division of labor in society encourages people to focus on small
task and eschew responsibility for anything they do not

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 directly control. 

 
 
What is Paraphrasing?  
● Paraphrasing is a restatement in your own words of the main idea and supporting details of a text. 
● It may match the length of the original work.
● It allows little opportunities for misinterpretation on the part of the reader as you account for both major and
minor points.  
 
When to paraphrase? 
● You want to use another writer’s words without plagiarizing. 
● You want to use another writer’s words without the use of quotes. 
● The ideas of the other writer are more important than his/her style. 
● You think that the words of the other writer are too difficult to your readers. 
 How to paraphrase? 
● Literal paraphrasing – only replaces vocabulary terms from the original text 
● Structural paraphrasing – changes the sentence structure as well as the word class of key words of the original
text 
● Alternative paraphrasing – In this type, the writer first poses questions such as: What is the text about? How the
main idea is supported? What is the stand of the author about the topic? Then, the writer answers these questions
using his/her own words after reading the text, making sure that all these ideas are connected. 
 
Consider this example: 
 
         (Original passage)         (Paraphrased) 

          The problem of obedience is not wholly       Millgram (1974) claims that people’s willingness to obey
psychological. The form and shape of society and the authority figures cannot be explained by psychological
way it is developing have much to do with it. There was factors alone. In an earlier era, people might have had the
time, perhaps, when people were able to give a fully ability to invest in social situations to a greater extent.
human response to any situation because they were However, as society has become increasingly structured by
fully absorbed in it as human beings, but as soon as a division of labor, people have become more alienated
there was a division of labor, things changed.  from situations over which they do not have control of (p.
737). 
 

Stanley Millgram, “The Perils of Obedience” (1974).

 
 
Given the following  example, recognize the difference between summary and paraphrase. 
 
Mobile and computer technology may also affect children’s sociability. The use of this technology may take
away hours from children’s social and playing time. However, from another perspective, it can help cultivate their
communicative and social skills through using different platform and sharing apps with friends (Subia & Tatel, 2014). 

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Look at the difference: 
Summary  Paraphrase 

Subia and Tatel (2014) view technology as Subia and Tatel (2014) points out that though

something that may affect the social lives of technology may have a negative impact in
children in a negative and a positive way.  children’s ability to socialize since it minimizes
chances of real life interaction with others, they
assume that through their interactive features of
technology such as sharing apps and varying
platforms for exchange, technology can enhance
social skills among its young users. 

 
Application Exercise 1. 
Directions: Synthesize the given selection by summarizing and paraphrasing (use alternative paraphrasing).  
 
Enjoying  Life Up to the Sweet Healthy C   
 
  An Excerpt 
  by  Noel F. de Jesus. 
 
1. The swelling population of people who age 100 and over has given researchers an opportunity to answer some
of the most fundamental questions about human health and longevity. What does it take to live a long life? How much
do diet, exercise, and other lifestyle factors matter compared with ‘good’ genes? Furthermore, most significant, what is
the quality of life among the ‘old’ old? Does getting older invariably mean getting sticker, or can people remain
productive, social, and independent on their 100 th birthday and beyond?  
 
Summary:
________DONE__________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
_____
Paraphrase: 
_____________DONE_____________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
_____ 
 
2. There are a dozen or so centenarian studies. A health-advice book has been published based on findings from
the centenarian study in Okinawa, where the average life expectancy 81.2 is the highest in the world. There, active
centenarian studies in Italy, Sweden, and Denmark. For most parts, results from these studies belie the myth that
the oldest are doddering and dependent. Some harsh demographic selection may come into play. Frail individuals

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 die sooner, leaving only relatively robust group still alive. In fact, one of the rewards of living a long life is that, for
the most part, the ‘extra years’ are healthy years. 
 
Summary: 
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________DONE_________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
__ 
 
Paraphrase: 
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________DONE_________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
___ 
 
 
Application Exercise 2: 
Directions: Summarize the following text. Be sure to include appropriate citations. 
 
Studies have found that paper bags have a larger carbon footprint compared to plastic bags because of the
amount of energy, water, and chemicals the production of paper bags consume. In a briefing note prepared
by Kirstie Bell and Suzie Cave (2011) for the Northern Island Assembly, it is reported that manufacturing paper bags
requires above four times the amount of energy plastic bags do. Also, the production of paper bags contributes more air
and water pollution compared to plastic bags. Other than high energy consumption during processing, it also requires
paper bags more energy to be transported. This is because compared to plastic bags, paper bags weigh more and take
up more space, resulting in the need for more resources to transport them (Chua-Unsu, 2014). 

Kristie Bell and Suzie Cave (2011) Observed that other than high energy consumption during processing, it also
requires paper bags more energy to be transported.

 
Application Exercise 3: 
Directions: Use the different techniques in paraphrasing the text below. Be sure to include the appropriate citations. 
 
College admissions officers all advise against writing a college admission essay about something that an
applicant learned while stoned or drunk. “But we still get a few of those essays,” a college admissions officer tells me.
“We even got the classic one about how the student, while stoned, realized that the solar system is an atom and the
earth is an electron. You’ll remember that conversation occurred in the movie Animal House.” 

Over here XDXD

 
We even got the classic one about how the student, while stoned, realized that the solar system is an atom
and the earth is an electron. You’ll remember that conversation occurred in the movie Animal House

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`What is Précis/Abstract Writing? 
● The word précis is derived from French that means summary, and precis writing means the art of summarizing. 
● It involves summarizing a document to extract the maximum amount of information then conveying this
information to a reader in minimum words. 
● It is a compact, logical summary of a passage. It preserves only the essential or important ideas of the original. 
 

Rules of Making Précis  
● Omit unnecessary details  
● Eliminate wordy expressions 
● Include only relevant material 
● Avoid unnecessary repetition 
● Should be one third of the original 
● Should be in indirect speech 
● Should be in the third person, past tense 
● Abstain from borrowing original words from the original text  
● Express in narrative form 
● Try it in only one paragraph 
● Follow logical order; personal ideas not allowed 
 
Sample 1. 
It is impossible for a well-educated, intellectual, or brave man to make money the chief object of his thoughts
just as it is for him to make his dinner the principal object of them. All healthy people like their dinners, but their dinner
is not the main object of their lives. Thus, all healthy minded people like making money ought to like it and enjoy the
sensation of winning it; it is something better than money.   
A good soldier, for instance, mainly wishes to do his fighting well. He is glad of his pay -   very properly so and
justly grumbles when you keep him ten years without it – till, his mission of life is to win battles, not to be paid for
winning them. So of clergymen. The clergyman’s object is essentially baptized and preach not to be paid for
preaching. So of doctors. They like fees no doubt – ought to like them; yet if they are brave and well-educated the entire
object to their lives is not fees. They, on the whole desire, to cure the sick; and if they are good doctors and the choice
were fairly to them, would rather cure their patient and lose their fee than kill him and get it. Hence, with all the other
brave and rightly trained men: their work is first, their fee second – very important always but still second. 
 
Precis: 
Money-making is a common attraction in life. However, it cannot be the principal aim of a well-educated,
cultured, and brave man. A brave soldier prizes honour and victory more than his pay. A good  clergyman is more
interested in the moral welfare of his people than his returns. A doctor (good) values the care of his patient far more
than his fees. This with all the well-educated, intellectual persons: their work is first, money next. 
 
Sample 2. 
Teaching is the noblest of professions. A teacher has a scary duty to perform. It is he on whom rests the
responsibility of moulding the character of young children. Apart from developing their intellect, he can inculcate in
them qualities of good citizenship, remaining neat and clean, talking decently and sitting properly. These virtues are not

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easy to be imbibed. Only he who himself leads a life of simplicity, purity and rigid discipline can successfully cultivate
these habits in his pupils.  
Besides, a teacher always remains young. He may grow old in age but not in spite. Perpetual budding youth
keeps him happy and cheerful. There are moments when domestic worries weigh heavily on his mind, but the delightful
company of innocent children makes him overcome his transient moods of despair. 
 
Precis: 
Teaching is the noblest profession. A teacher himself leading a simple, pure and disciplined life can mold the
character of the young children and make them neat and good-mannered citizens. Besides, he remains ever  young,
forgetting his own domestic worries in the constant company of the young.  
 

Application Exercise 4. 

Try this! 
Justice is a broad concept which encompasses a wide set of ideas, most of which also branch out into smaller
notions. For instance, it can refer to the sentencing of a criminal based on due process. When an individual gets what he
deserves, even outside the hands of the law, it is also considered justice in some contexts. This may come in the form of
vigilante justice, in which a person dissatisfied with the system doles out punishment to wrongdoers. Poetic justice is also
another related concept which is used in literature to show how the good is always rewarded while bad forces always
meet a grin end. In the context of this paper, justice will be clearly delineated into any instance in which the law is
successfully and fairly applied to an individual, resulting in either an arrest or a release. To illustrate, if   a thief is caught
and tried in  court through due process, and is found to be guilty and then sentenced accordingly, it can be said that
justice was served. However, if the same thief is caught in the act by a band of villagers and is beaten right then and
there, it will be considered justice in the context of the paper as the process has not undergone due process. 

Precis:  
 Justice should be used in a good way not for money because most of the lawyers do it for the money causing the law to
be bent. When an individual gets what he deserves, even outside the hands of the law, it is also considered
justice in some contexts. This may come in the form of vigilante justice, in which a person dissatisfied with the
system doles out punishment to wrongdoers.

 
References: 
 
Tandoc, S. (2016). Applied English for Academic and Professional Purposes.  Manila: Mindshapes Inc. 
Valdez, P. (2016). English for the Globalized Classroom Series. Quezon City: Phoenix Publishing House. 
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