

Précis writing
The proper use of the colon and semicolon in punctuation is an aid to good precis writing.
 Generally a precis should be written in reported or indirect speech. This means a precis will be in third person, in the past tense. Exercises will involve the change of
direct speech to indirect speech.
 A precis title must be cold and matter of fact, not attractive to the imaginative mind. It is a precis of the precis.
 First Reading:
1. Read every word slowly and carefully until you clearly understand the sense of the passage.
2. Look up all unfamiliar words, phrases, and allusions
3. Identify the dominating idea, the essential thought, of the passage. Ask if this idea were omitted, would the fundamental meaning of the passage be changed?
4. Determine what emphasis and space to give the thought in each section; write a heading for each section.
 Second Reading:
1. Underscore with a pencil the important facts containing the essential thoughts. This is a process of differentiation between what is essential and what is not.
Generally you will omit examples, illustrations, conversations, and repetitions.
2. Reread your selections to see that they are wise and adequate.
3. Determine if your underscoring expresses the main ideas. Final Reading: Rapidly and intensely reread the origin, dwelling on the important facts selected for a
precis.
 First Copy:
1. Close the book/original.
2. Write a summary of the thoughts as you remember them.
3. Compare with the original and correct, asking:
Did you retain the logical order and development of these thoughts?
Did you emphasize the dominant thought or erroneously emphasize a minor thought?
Did you omit any necessary facts? names? dates? places?
Is your precis clear to one who has not seen the original?
Are your sentences clear and well-constructed?
Did you use third person and the past tense?
Did you punctuate and spell correctly?
Did you make any grammatical or rhetorical errors?
Final Copy:
1. Read your first copy through carefully.
2. Condense wherever you can, substituting single words for phrases and phrases for longer clauses.
3. Use only simple figures of speech.
4. Clearly and concisely express the essential points.
5. Reduce verbiage while still making the point and retaining some of the flavor and spirit of the original.
6. Be fair to the sentiments expressed, even if you don't agree with them.
7. Rewrite neatly.

 Read the given passage carefully at least three times in order to be able to grasp what the writer has said or grasp the main idea.
 Underline the important points to be included in your precis.A point is important if it is intimately conneted with the main subject and if it is essential for a clear
exposition of the theme.
 Use your own language in the precis.While words and phrases from the original may be used in the precis,Wjole sentences should never be liften out of the original
to be included in it.
 The precis should be roughly one-third of the original passage.Always prepare a rough draft first and count the words.If you find that it is too long,Shorten it by
removing what seems inessential and by condensing phraseology.If it turns out to be too shorten,Read the original to see what more can be added to the precis.
 Examples,illustrations and comparison should be left out of the precis. Figure of speech should be removed and the ideas expressed in clear,direct language
 You own comments on the ideas of the precis are absolutely forbidden.Do not express any oppinion,favourale or unfavourable ,about the ideas in the original
passage.
 Be very careful about the language you write.Mistakes of grammar and spelling are penalized as much in the precis as in other forms of composition.
 See that your precis is a piece of readable english and that its ideas can be understood even by a person who has not gone through the original.This is very
important.
 Do not use the direct form of speech in the precis.If the author has written in the first person pronound using "I" and "my", you should write in the third person
pronoun : "he" and "his".The precis may in such cases begin thus : "the author says............",or"according to author......".In case the name of the author,Chesterton
or Johnson , is given at the end of the passage ,The preis should begin thus : "According to Chesterton.........",or "Macaulay says......" or "Johnson expresses the
view........".
 Think of a suitable title for the precis. The title should ordinarily not be a complete sentence.A title must be supplied even though it may not have been asked for.
 Indicate the number of words in your precis at its end.

 it is generally accepted that a precis should be a third of the passage given. If the original passage has 300 words, the precis should not be more than 110 words in
length.
 A precis should be in the language of the precis-writer. The original passage is not to be reduced in length by just removing unimportant or unnecessary sentences
and by reproducing the rest as the precis. It should be a brief gist or summary of the passage expressed in the writer’s own words.
 A precis should be full i.e. it should contain all the essential thoughts, ideas or fact in the original passage. It should not contain repetitions or observations that are
not relevant to the main theme of the original.
 A precis is always written in Reported Speech. The passage given may be a speech made by a person inDirect Speech, but the precis is to be in Reported Speech and
in the Third Person and in the Past tense.

Techniques of Precis – Writing

There three kinds of work to be done in producing a clear and successful precis. They are (1) Reading, (2) Writing and (3) Revision.
Reading
Read the passage carefully If one reading is not enough to give you a general idea of its meaning, then read it a second time. As you read, find out the subject or the
theme of the passage and what is said about the subject. It will be a good thing if you find out the lead or the topic sentence. The lead sentence will help you to see
the subject clearly. It will also help you to think of a title for the precis example. Further reading may be necessary at this stage to make sure that the details of the
 passage are also understood. Read the passage more slowly this time, even sentence by sentence, and make sure that everything in the passage is understood. If
this is not done, it is likely that you will miss something important, especially if it is expressed by a short phrase or a single word. Now comes the process of
selection. The writer of the precis writing passages has to decide what facts or ideas in the passage are essential and what are of secondary or no importance.
Taking the main ideas of the passages as your point of reference, it should not be too difficult to write out the important points in the original in a corner of your
writing work sheet.
Writing
You should first prepare a draft of the precis, keeping in mind, the need to reduce he original to one-third its length. The main thoughts expressed in the passage,
the ideas it contains, the opinions presented and the conclusion arrived at should figure in the rough draft. Unimportant things like the names of people and places
and dates should not figure in it.
It may so happen that your first draft is too long or that it sounds rather jerky. Shorten it if necessary and write out a careful second draft during college
preparation. Sometimes you may need to work out three or even four drafts, but with reasonable care and concentration, you should normally succeed in
producing a good precis writing by the second draft.
Remember that a precis or essay is a connected whole and that it should read smoothly and continuously,
Revision
When you have made your second (or final) draft, carefully revise it before writing out the fair copy. Look for many mistakes or slips in grammar or spelling and
correct them. Don’t forge to give your precis a title for precis writing examples

A good Precis:
is marked by clarity, brevity and precision.
is not just lifting of the sentences from the original.
It should be written in the precis writer's own words.
is a miniature version of the original passage.
must have a logical order and be well-knit and well connected.
must have coherence; must use linking devices such as so, therefore, and, because further etc. and must follow the order of ideas of the original.
must have a title. is written in reported speech.
must not contain any details not found in the original
Do's in a precis :
Start your précis by highlighting the main idea of the passage and you should create contextual environment where you can place the necessary points. Once the
main idea is established in the précis, you can present the methods, points, facts etc. used by the author of the passage.
Compress and clarify a lengthy passage, article, or book, while retaining important concepts, key words, and important data.
Remove what is superfluous and retain the core essence of the work
Always remember that mentions about history/writing about history should be advisably done in the past tense.
State the purpose of the research or piece of writing (why was it important to conduct this research or write on this topic?)
Don'ts in a précis:
Do not express your own opinion, wish, remark or criticism.
Do not insert any question in your précis. Its significance, if essential, may be expressed by a statement.
Do not use abbreviations or contractions.
Do not be jerky. This suggests that most probably, you have not understood the sense of the passage properly

Rules
I. Heading. Write at the top the words ' Precis of ', and below them write the title as given you,
e. g. Precis of
Minutes of proceedings of the Colonial Conference, 1907.

II. Beginning The opening sentence or sentences should state the main subject and, as a
.

rule, the date. These particulars will generally be found in the first letter or document.

III. Observe the dates of the various documents and describe circumstances in their
logical order. Do not proceed letter by letter; the documents are not necessarily arranged in chronological order, and the
chronological order is not always the best order:

e.g. in Exercise n, Enclosure 2 in No. 3 was written earlier than the preceding communications.

Notice specially (a) that an enclosure is likely to be of earlier date than the covering letter which accompanies it ; (b) that
sometimes the first communication of an event is telegraphic, and later on you find a letter of the same date as the telegram,
dealing, only, of course more fully, with the same event.

IV. In letters, not in telegrams, the opening and final paragraphs are sometimes purely formal. The important
information is in the body of the letter, very likely towards the end :

e. g. Exercise 10, No. 4 (dated January i, 1855).

V. Sometimes two or more subjects, more or less distinct, are discussed in the same correspondence. Keep them in
separate paragraphs ; and start with a new paragraph when you enter on a new phase of the matter under discussion. It
will help you if when reading the correspondence you mark passages dealing with one subject A, those dealing with a
second B, and so on.

VI. Omit matters that have no important

bearing on the leading topic.
(a) Some letters merely acknowledge the receipt of dis- patches.

(b) A date being given in your opening sentence the precise dates of subsequent events may be unimportant, though they
are not necessarily so.

(c) Details may be merely picturesque :

e. g. do not write ' The motor was brought round to the front door, Mr. X. said good-bye and was soon out of sight ', but say '
Mr. X. went away ', or ' Mr. X. started '.

In other cases a number of details, not sufficiently important for individual mention, require to be summed up in a single
phrase or sentence :

e. g. Introduction, p. 18. The punishments named in No. 6 of this correspondence only call for brief mention. To give the
details would, in a precis, be out of place.

(d) A topic mentioned only once can usually be disregarded : in itself it may be important, but it may be unimportant in its
relation to the main subject of the precis. A correspondence often contains such secondary matter :

e. g. see No. 9 in Exercise 9.

VII. Use the past tense and the third person. Do not write ' Mr. X. said to Mr. Z., "I will inform you if the disturbances
recur " ' ; but ' Mr. X. promised to inform Mr. Z. if the disturbances recurred.'

VIII. Be concise, simple, and direct. Do not repeat yourself.

(a) The phrase ' He wrote a dispatch in which he gave the Foreign Secretary information ' is not concise. Say ' He informed
the Foreign Secretary '.

(b) A metaphorical expression such as ' The witness drew the long bow ' is not simple. If it is necessary to mention the
matter at all, say quite plainly ' The witness exaggerated '. But usually a remark of this sort is better left out altogether (see
Rule X).

(c) ' China turned to England in the hope of procuring her good offices in bringing about a settlement of these difficulties ' is
an indirect and roundabout way of saying ' China requested the help of England in the settlement of these difficulties '.
Diplomatic language is apt to be verbose.

(d) In the documents presented to you one document may repeat information given in another :

e. g. in Exercise 17 compare No. 13 with Nos. 1 and 2.

IX. Use your own words as a rule. A Precis Exercise is commonly set as an exercise in English Composition ; and,
whether so designated or not, its composition must always be an important factor in determining its value. But it fails of its
purpose as a Composition test when it is largely a collection of phrases picked out from the documents treated. Moreover, it
commonly happens that when we have to summarize a number of facts in a single statement, there is no clause in the text
that does this in a sufficiently comprehensive manner. It will be noticed in the next section, ' Instructions given by Examining
' Bodies ', that the Civil Service Commissioners say the language of the original may sometimes be suitable for your
purpose, but it is more likely to be unsuitable ',

X. The information must be definite. Though you are concise, you must not be vague. Expressions like ' The political
situation '/an alarming state of affairs ', ' financial complications ', contain no definite information whatever.
XI Do not abbreviate words. Write ' on the 4th March, 1911 ', not ' 4. 3. 1911 ' nor ' March 4, 1911 '. ' British South
Africa', not ' B.S.A.' nor ' British S. Africa '.

XII. Do not call the same person or place by different names :

e. g. do not at one moment say, ' The Secretary of State for the Colonies ', at another ' The Colonial Secretary ', at another '
Mr. Joseph Chamberlain '.

XIII. As a general rule prefer official names to personal names :

e. g. say ' The Colonial Secretary ' rather than ' Mr. Joseph Chamberlain '. For the purposes of a precis the personal name is
frequently, though not always, quite unimportant:
e. g. in Exercise 10 it is important to realize that Lord Raglan is the Commander of the Forces, not that the Commander of
the Forces is Lord Raglan. Communications are made to him or orders given by him in virtue of his being Commander of the
Forces, not in virtue of his being Lord Raglan. It would have been quite possible for Lord Raglan to have been succeeded in
the command of the Forces by some one else during the course of this correspondence, but to mention the fact would be
superfluous and would complicate your narrative unnecessarily.
An exception, however, might have to be made to this rule, if (in the example given) Lord Raglan's orders were reversed or
modified by his successor.
This rule does not mean that personal names are never to be given. In writing a precis of Minutes of Evidence witnesses
must usually be mentioned by name. In a precis of a Corre- spondence personal names are sometimes required, but such
cases are not frequent.

XIV . It is usually unnecessary to name the medium of correspondence :

e. g. do not say, ' The British Consul at Nagasaki informed the Foreign Office ', but ' The British Foreign Office was informed
', or still better, ' The British Government was informed '.
There are stereotyped channels of communication for official dispatches, which are understood by all concerned, and would
certainly be understood by the superior for whose benefit the precis was being drawn up. Therefore, in most cases, they
need not be specified. Thus, in the above instance, ' The British Government ' is preferable to ' The British Foreign Office ',
or ' The British Minister for Foreign Affairs '. But when you are dealing with minutes of evidence or speeches at a
conference, the case may be different. It may be necessary to state that such and such a witness made such and such a
statement: e. g. Exercise 13

XV . Give no explanatory notes and make no comments of your own. A precis is not an essay. Do not even add an
epithet :
e. g. do not speak of ' This deplorable incident ' or ' An interesting communication '. The communication may be highly
interesting and the incident the most deplorable that has occurred for a century, but it is not your business to say so. Even if
the words ' deplorable ' and ' interesting * appeared in the original, they would probably be better left out, as being merely
ornamental epithets. Cf. Rule VI (c).
Anything in the shape of an explanatory note almost certainly means that you are disobeying one or more of these rules
(e.g. Ill, VIII, IX, X). A precis must be a consecutive narrative.

XVI . What should be the length of a Precis ? This must depend in some measure on the nature of the matter. In
some examinations no length is prescribed. Within certain limits the length is always prescribed in examinations held by the
Civil Service Commissioners. Thus, under the heading ' Instructions given by Examining Bodies ', pp. 14-15, it will be seen
that for an exercise occupying six to nine printed foolscap pages, a precis of 200 to 300 words is required, and i^ hours are
allowed.