When to Summarize
Summarize when your reader needs to know only the main points of the source you are consulting and doesn't need to know your source's supporting details and evidence or how the points are made. You may want to summarize from a single chapter or article you have read; however, the best essays rely on material from more than one source. Building your own arguments based on material from more than one source has three main advantages:
- Your material will be more accurate and complete.
- You will avoid repeating the bias of just one author.
- You will be less likely to copy directly, which will help you to avoid plagiarism.
Read a number of books and articles on your topic, make sense of what is being said, and rewrite that information in your own words. In most cases, you won't need to give all the details included in the originals. There may be too many facts or examples and you will just want to give the main points. Even if you have taken detailed notes, summarize them if that is the most effective way to use them. Be aware, however, that too much summarizing will make your essay too general. Summary should be complemented with more specific evidence and examples.
How to Summarize
When summarizing from more than one source, your summary should be a synthesis of the various sources and not simply an alternating series of points from first one text, and then another. Following these steps will help you to write a good summary of material from more than one original text:
1. Read a variety of sources on your topic, take point-form notes, and be sure to document where your notes have come from.
2. Read over your notes from these different sources, and decide which are the main ideas, which ideas you need to include, and which ideas can be omitted.
3. Think about the order in which you will present the ideas, grouping similar ideas together
4. Write a first draft of your summary and check that you have included all the ideas you identified as being important.
5. Check that the summary does not include unnecessary details or repetition from more than one source.
6. Make sure you have documented the sources of the original material. If you rewrite someone else's material in your own words without saying where you found it, you are still plagiarizing.
7. Read through your summary. Edit it and make changes and corrections where necessary to make the ideas and text flow smoothly.