What is an objective summary?
Objective means "not influenced by personal feelings or interpretation."
A summary is a short statement that gives the main points or ideas of something.
So an objective summary is a short statement or paragraph that tells what something is about but does not include irrelevant details or your opinions.
Hint: An objective summary should not be written in the first person ("I") voice.
How to Summarize
Step 1 - Identify the topic.
- Ask, Whom or what is this about?
- The answer should be 2 or 3 words.
Step 2 - Identify the main/central idea.
- Ask, What is the main thing the writer is saying about the topic?
- Often, the main/central idea is one of the first or last sentences.
Sometimes the main idea isn't stated and you will need to figure it out.
Step 3 - Identify the important details.
- Details explain or add information about something.
- Ask, What details are needed to understand the main/central idea?
Step 4 - Use the main/central idea and important details to summarize.
- Ask, What would I tell a friend about what I just read?
- Briefly state the main/central idea and important details of the paragraph or passage in your own
words.
Tips:
- Know your purpose for reading. Preview the text for clues. to help set your goal.
- Use titles and headings to help you find topics, main ideas, and important details.
- Make notes of main/central ideas. Under them write the important details.
- Generalize from lists in the text.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-ki6TP4EYs - How to Write a Summary in 5 Minutes
https://wvde.state.wv.us/strategybank/GraphicOrganizersforSummarization.html - Tools for Summarizing
http://bcms.spps.org/summary_graphic_organizers - Summary Applications
http://www.gcasd.org/Downloads/Summarizing_Strategies.pdf - Summarizing Strategies
https://wvde.state.wv.us/strategybank/summarization.html - Summarizing Techniques
https://www.quia.com/rr/86000.html - Summary Interactive - QUIA
https://reading.ecb.org/student/summarizing/monsters/ - Monsters to the Rescue