Sum it up!!

     Grab your sneakers. We're going on a three-day run on the summary-writing trail.  Today's easy jog will cover the basics.  Tomorrow, we'll enhance your writing workout with some summary endurance tips.  After that, you will cross the finish line with my complete summary of Edgar Allen Poe's MS in a Bottle.  Ready?  Ok, let's go!
     The main goal of writing a summary is to describe a reading selection, e.g., article, short story, or book, and give your audience a general idea of what the text is about. Rather than retell the story, the focus is on telling about the story in a way that demonstrates your understanding of the original author’s work. Your summary must highlight the main points found at the beginning, middle, and end, and provide supporting details to back up your summation.
     A summary is a concentrated version of an original presentation. The first rule of summary writing calls for brevity. Following that rule forces you to curtail any inclination that you may have towards adding too much detail or personal opinion. Because most summaries are bound to a single paragraph or page, including extra "writing fluff" will not be a luxury that you can enjoy. If you know the difference between a summary and other descriptive shorts, such as a paraphrase or review, you will learn how to target your focus and stay within your limited boundaries.
     While you need to know what a summary is, to avoid confusion, let me also share with you what a summary is not:

• abstract: professionals often include an abstract in their reports because it is more results oriented. An abstract is a more specialized summary that concentrates on research findings and conclusions.
• analysis: when writing an analysis, the focus is on the original author's meaning. 
• annotation: although similar to a summary, an annotation describes the written work in a way that helps someone decide whether to read the book or article, etc. or not.
• book report: a summary on steroids. A book report summarizes written text and includes details such as background information, plot, setting, climax, and main characters. 
• critique: a critique requires your opinion about the text. It includes a brief summary along with analysis, personal reaction, and detail that supports the two. Summary precedes the critique. Do not mix your analysis within the summary portion of your critique.
• gut reaction: reveals your own experiences, and how the text affects you personally.
• paraphrase: a paraphrase retells the author's original essay in your own words. In a paraphrase, you do not refer to the original text.
• response: a response is based on facts, not hearsay, or opinion. A response includes the author's original audience and intent, and ends with factual interpretation of the text.
• review: a commentary about a book, article, or other text. A review is an analysis of the text that includes the author's intent, thematic elements and symbols used (if any). A review takes details such as historical setting or region, into consideration and analyzes whether or not the author stayed true to form. A review often describes the original author's bias, position, and/or prejudice, and compares such to accepted norms. Last, a review often describes whether the book will have a lasting effect or not.
• synopsis: a brief summary that's written in present tense.

     Now that you know what not to do, here are a few words and definitions that you need to know:

• main idea: what all of the sentences in a single paragraph are about.
• style: expression of the writer’s distinct personality and voice. Edgar Allan Poe often wrote with a personal style that placed him in the center of the narrative.
• succinct: synonomous with short and snappy, brief, terse, and to the point. Edgar Allan Poe captivated his audience because he choose one word, the exact word, to illustrate his idea.
• supporting detail: while it's never appropriate to fill your summary with quotes from the text that you're summarizing, it is fine to refer to a word or two only as it is necessary to support your idea.
• thesis statement: contains the focus of the essay, and gives the reader an idea of what the essay is going to be about. 
• tone: like scented candles around your bathtub, the tone sets the mood of a story.
• topic sentence: this is usually (but not always) the first sentence in the paragraph. Done effectively, a good topic sentence keeps the writer in control, and will make the reader feel or think exactly what the writer intends.

     Tomorrow, I will post the 1833 short story MS in a Bottle by Edgar Allen Poe, along with my first draft.  Be forewarned: you will see my actual rough notes complete with questions, definitions, and scribbles.  See you then...

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