Key Point Summary

This type of summary will have all the same features as a main point summary, but also include the reasons and evidence (key points) the author uses to support the text’s main idea. This type of summary would also use direct quotes of key words, phrases, or sentences from the text. This summary is used when it is necessary for the summary writer to fully explain an author’s idea to the reader. The key point summary involves a full accounting and complete representation of the author's entire set of ideas. One reason to use this sort of summary would be if the writer intended to respond to the author’s argument using an agree/disagree response model. In such a case, there may be some of the author’s ideas that the writer agrees with, but others with which the writer disagrees.

Outline Summary

This type of summary mimics the structure of the text being summarized. It includes the main points and argument in the same order they appear in the original text. This is an especially effective technique to use when the accompanying response will be analytic, such as an evaluation of the logic or evidence used in a text.

How to write a summary

Summaries can range in length from two sentences to several pages.

In any case, use complete sentences to describe an author’s general points to your reader.

Don’t quote extensively. If you quote, use quotation marks and document the quotation. If you fail to document the quotation, even one word that the author used, you are plagiarizing material (presenting another person’s information as if it were your own).

Use the author’s last name as a tag to introduce information: “Smith argues that population growth and environmental degradation are causally related.” “Brown notes that education in the U.S. has undergone major revolutions in the past 20 years.”

Use the present tense (often called the historical present tense) to summarize the author’s argument. “Green contends that the Republican and Democratic parties are funded by the same major corporations.”

5. Writing an abstract

An abstract is a self-contained, short, and powerful statement that describes a larger work. Components vary according to discipline. An abstract of a social science or scientific work may contain the scope, purpose, results, and contents of the work. An abstract of a humanities work may contain the thesis, background, and conclusion of the larger work. An abstract is not a review, nor does it evaluate the work being abstracted. While it contains key words found in the larger work, the abstract is an original document rather than an excerpted passage.

You may write an abstract for various reasons. The two most important are selection and indexing. Abstracts allow readers who may be interested in a longer work to quickly decide whether it is worth their time to read it. Also, many online databases use abstracts to index larger works. Therefore, abstracts should contain keywords and phrases that allow for easy searching.

There are two types of abstracts: descriptive and informative. They have different aims, so as a consequence they have different components and styles.