The purpose of the summary essay is to convey to others an understanding of a text you have read without their having to read it themselves. You cannot write a good summary of a text that you do not understand.

An Introduction to Summary

• A summary is a shorter version of a longer piece of writing. The summary captures all the most important parts of the original, but expresses them in a [much] shorter space.
• Summarising exercises are usually set to test your understanding of the original, and your ability to re-state its main purpose.

Some Tips to Remember

• Read the piece for understanding first. Never summarise as you read the article for the first time.
• Keep the relevant details, remove the irrelevant ones.
• You may use a highlighter to underline key ideas if it makes things clearer for you.
• You need to use your own words to re-write a sentence or paragraph without changing its meaning. This is called paraphrasing.

Steps to Follow

1. Read the instructions
2. Read the text to get the general idea.
3. Underline the major points / keywords.
4. Look for specific details.
5. Leave our unnecessary examples, illustrations & repetitions.
6. Include definitions of key terms and concepts (if any).
7. Prepare an outline. List the main points in order.
8. Write a draft of the summary.
9. Paraphrase as you write the draft.
10. Write in one paragraph.
11. Be concise / brief.
12. Don’t add your own opinion.
13. Use transition words.
14. Check the number of words as stated in the instructions.
15. Read through to check for errors.

In school when your teacher asked you to write an essay, you’d dread writing it because you don’t know how to begin and how to end it. This blog attempts to assist you in the process of writing a good essay. The focus of this blog is on essay writing for university students (which is also applicable to high school students). Here are some tips:

Tip 1

The first thing is you should read and understand the topic that is given to you. At higher levels, you’ll be given a situation or a scenario before the actual topic is revealed at the end.

Tip 2

Prepare an outline. Many students fail to do this. As a result, they will shift focus on some other irrelevant points, thus losing precious marks in the exam. An outline is meant to assist students in organising their essays so that they write within the topic.

Tip 3

If your teacher requires you to write a 5-paragraph essay, make sure that you have five paragraphs – the introduction, 3 body paragraphs and the conclusion. The introduction should begin with a general statement for the topic, more specific statement, and finally the thesis statement.

Tip 4

Each body paragraph should begin with a topic sentence which is derived from the thesis statement. A topic sentence informs the reader what the paragraph is all about. This is then followed by between 2-3 supporting details that should include explanations and examples related to the topic sentence. You must also have a concluding sentence to mark the end of the paragraph. A concluding sentence concludes the paragraph not the essay.

Tip 5

Once you’re done with the introduction and the 3 paragraphs, you need to write a conclusion for the whole essay. A conclusion could be a summary of the points that you have made, an comment or even a suggestion. Don’t repeat word-for-word the points that you made earlier. Instead, restate (in another way) what you have discussed in your essay. This makes a good conclusion.

Tip 6

Check for grammar and spelling errors. Every mark counts. Even if the essay is merely a classroom assignment, take serious note of grammar and spelling. It will do you good.

Tip 7

Don’t be over confident. One of my students got a mere “C” grade in the exam because the points he wrote were out of focus. His language proficiency is very good, so it’s a sheer waste. He was the first to leave the exam hall in the exam with a broad smile on his face.  So the more you think you’re good, the higher the possibility of making silly mistakes.

Tip 8

Use cohesive devices in your essay. Words like however, on the contrary, as a result and so on are cohesive devices that are used to show a smooth flow of thought from one sentence to another. Without these cohesive devices, your sentences would appear to be chunky.

Writing an outline is one of the pre-writing activities before you write the first draft of an essay. In this lesson, you will see an example of an outline. Take note of how an outline is prepared (there are other ways to do an outline, too):

Topic: What are the causes of dropout at tertiary level?

OUTLINE

* Introduction

- education is important, thus many enrol in courses in tertiary education institutions
- not every one is able to sustain their studies in these institutions
- There are three possible reasons why college and university students drop out of their studies. (thesis statement)

* Body paragraph 1

• Topic sentence: …the first reason is their inability to take the pressure of studying in college or university
• Supporting detail 1 – pressure to keep up with deadlines
• Supporting detail 2 – pressure from their parents to do well
• Concluding sentence

* Body paragraph 2

• Topic sentence: …students do not know what they want
• Supporting detail 1 – register for a course to follow their friends
• Supporting detail 2 - no proper guidance, so they go to college and university first and see how things work
• Concluding sentence

* Body paragraph 3

• Topic sentence: ... students face problems paying their fees
• Supporting detail 1 - cost of studying is too high
• Supporting detail 2 – loans are not available to all
• Concluding sentence

*Conclusion

- though tertiary education is important, students drop out
- studying is just too much for them
- follow their friends blindly
- face difficulty in paying the fees
- these students should be sent to counsellors for advise, loans be flexible

There are other pre-writing activities like brainstorming and freewriting. You can choose whichever way you like to plan your points. From the outline above, try to write a complete 5-paragraph essay.

You know by now that in a 5-paragraph essay, you need to have an introduction, 3 body paragraphs and a conclusion. You also know that in each of the body paragraphs, you need to have the topic sentence, supporting details and closing sentence. There are ways to write good body paragraphs, so in this lesson, you are going to learn how to write a paragraph. After this lesson, you should be able to write all the 3 body paragraphs of your essay.

You have already learnt in the previous lesson the writing process. It gives you an idea of what it takes to write an essay. In this lesson, you will start writing a paragraph, but before that, let’s take a look at what a paragraph entails:

Tips on Writing a Good Paragraph

A good paragraph must have the following characteristics:

• Unity
• Coherence
• Good opening statement / topic sentence

(a) Unity

It means that all the sentences refer to the main idea, or the topic of the paragraph. Here is bad example which you should not follow:

Description of My House

• I live in a beautiful house with my family. We have two bedrooms and a living room. We have a garden and we have some flowers there. In weekdays I arrive home at five o’clock and I have lunch. Then I do my homework and go to bed. I had a computer but now it doesn’t work. I have a brother and a sister and I think I am very lucky to live with them. Sometimes our relatives visit us. Our flat becomes very crowded sometimes but I like it.

In the example above, how many sentences actually describe your house? Two.

1. We have two bedrooms and a living room.
2. We have a garden and we have some flowers there.

All other sentences are NOT RELATED to the main idea.  However, if the topic of the paragraph is changed to “My Life at Home”, then the sentences become more related.

(b) Coherence

It means that the sentences should be organized in a logical manner and should follow a definite plan of development. Here’s an example of an incoherent paragraph:

• I live in a house in Melaka. It isn’t old or modern. It’s a normal Malaysian house. We can say it is near the sea. It takes about 10 minutes to go to the sea side on foot. We have one bedroom, one living room. We also have two other rooms, too. We use them as a dining room. Naturally, we have a kitchen, a bathroom, and a toilet. I live with my parents. In addition, our house has a little garden; my parents spend their time there to grow vegetables and fruit.

First, let’s see the order of the ideas:

1. Where the house is ….(in Melaka)
2. Type of the house ….(normal Malaysian house)
3. The location …. (near the sea)
4. The rooms in the house …. (one bedroom, one living room)
5. The fact that he lives with his parents
6. The garden

Thus, you notice that “I live with my parents” appears to interrupt the description of the house. It does not tell you about the house. Therefore, take that sentence out of the paragraph. Here is a BETTER version of that paragraph:

• I live in a house in Melaka. It isn’t old or modern; it is a normal Malaysian house. It is near the sea; it takes about ten minutes to go to the seaside. In the house, there are two bedrooms, one living room and two other rooms that we use as dining rooms. Naturally, we have a kitchen, a bathroom, a toilet, and a little garden. My parents spend their time growing vegetables and fruit there.

(c) A good opening statement

Each of the body paragraph must begin with a good statement. It is inappropriate to start a paragraph by saying “One of the reasons is….” and so on. A new paragraph must contain a new topic sentence that tells the reader what the whole paragraph is about. That means each body paragraph must have a topic sentence as the first sentence of the paragraph.

What is a thesis statement?

A thesis statement is a sentence that contains the main idea or the central idea of the whole essay.

Why is it important to learn to write a thesis statement?

• It informs the reader what the whole essay is about
• It helps the writer to see what points should be included in the essay

Where do I write the thesis statement?

The thesis statement is generally written on the last line of the introductory paragraph. Nevertheless, there are occasions when the thesis statement is written in the middle, too.

How is a thesis statement written?

There are two concepts that you need to know before you write a thesis statement: topic and controlling ideas (CI). A thesis statement normally has three controlling ideas. There are two ways of writing it.

Examples:

Look at the following examples about the advantages of using handphone. Observe how the thesis statement is written. There are two ways to write a thesis statement. See how it is related to the topic The Advantages of Handphones.

• There are three (CI)  possible advantages of using handphones (Topic).
• Convenience (CI-1), special features (CI-2) and global connectivity (CI-3) are some of the advantages of using handphones (Topic).