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ELA 3: How to write an effective summary 950 Views
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Description:
Today we've got a great summary of all the things you'll need to know to write a great summary. Trust us, we're great at this stuff. Just look at this great summary we wrote about our great summary about teaching you to write great summaries.
Transcript
- 00:04
[Coop and Dino singing]
- 00:13
When you write a summary, you shouldn’t just write every single detail of what happened [Pages turning]
- 00:17
in a story, word-for-word.
- 00:19
If you do that…you’re going to need a summary for your summary.
- 00:22
While it’s true that summaries are supposed to be about relaying events from a story in [Coop discussing summaries]
Full Transcript
- 00:25
your own words… …there’s more to it than that.
- 00:28
An effective summary only covers the main ideas of a story or event.
- 00:32
Which means that when you summarize a story… …you have to choose which main points of [Woman wearing red cape walking]
- 00:36
the story are important enough to be included in the summary. [Woman walks into a bedroom and a wolf is in the bed]
- 00:39
You have to pick and choose.
- 00:40
Keep the juicy bits, and run the rest of it down the garbage disposal.
- 00:44
Otherwise, your summary will go on forever… …which would really defeat the purpose of
- 00:48
giving a short and to-the-point overview of a story’s main events. [Students sitting in a classroom]
- 00:51
“Forever” is definitely too long for a summary.
- 00:54
When you’re picking the main events of a story to include in your summary…
- 00:57
…make sure you pick elements that add to the overall plot, theme, or main idea of the [Coop discussing elements of a summary]
- 01:01
story.
- 01:02
Some random tangent about how a particular cloud looks something like two grizzly bears [A cloud depicting two grizzly bears]
- 01:05
slow-dancing the waltz… …while an entertaining image, can probably
- 01:09
be left on the cutting room floor.
- 01:11
But if an event is totally necessary to the plot’s development, add it to the summary.
- 01:15
Like…if you’re summarizing a love story…mentioning how and when the two lovebirds met is going [Boy holding ice cream walks into girl]
- 01:19
to be prime summary material.
- 01:21
If an event is necessary for you to understand the main theme of the story, then add that
- 01:25
to the summary, too.
- 01:27
If a story’s theme is “forgiveness,” and there’s a bit in the story about how [Door opens and man holding flowers appears]
- 01:30
one character overlooks a past indiscretion and allows someone else back into their life…
- 01:34
…definitely throw it in there.
- 01:36
Especially if that past indiscretion involves eating the last slice of our character’s [Man's face changes shape]
- 01:40
birthday cake.
- 01:41
Because it doesn’t get more scandalous than that.
- 01:44
Writing effective summaries is only partly about retelling events.
- 01:47
It’s also about having a keen eye for the details that matter.
- 01:50
And if you happen to have two keen eyes? [Girl and boy in class]
- 01:52
Even better.
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