Table of Contents
What is a summary?
A summary identifies and presents the main points of an article or essay.Summary length will largely depend on the text it is summarizing. A thesis will have a longer summary than a high school essay, for example.
The number of sentences in any summary will be directly related to the reading level and the amount of information being summarized. Sentence length tends to be longer with a more complex structure for scientific papers.
The average sentence length is between 15 to 20 words, and a good summary length should be between 5 to 8 sentences.
How many sentences in a summary?
The average number of sentences in an article or essay summary if between 5 and 8 sentences. Academic and science papers will have longer summaries with longer sentences, although the summary should still target under 8 sentences. The summary should present the main points of the article in direct, clear, unambiguous sentences.
Video – How To Write An Article Summary
Can a summary be 3 sentences?
A summary can be just 3 sentences, if the text being summarized can be represented effectively within 50 to 60 words.
This can be difficult if the author’s arguments and conclusions are complex, or if there are many of them. A group of paragraphs forming a main argument can be difficult to encapsulate in one sentence.
If there more than 3 main arguments in an essay, then it will be very difficult to summarize the text in just 3 sentences.
Book blurbs are actually great training for writing summaries, often covering all the salient plot points of a novel within 5 or 6 sentences.
How to write a 3 sentence summary
Is a summary a 5 sentence?
5 sentences are often cited as the ideal length for a summary but this depends on a couple of things. Some sentences are much longer than others and can give more information, particularly if they are complex in structure and describe academic works.
A 3 page high school essay can easily be summarized in 5 sentences, but anything longer may be troublesome. The best way is to write a summary that adequately presents all the main points of the text in question.
If this means writing more than 5 sentences, then so be it. The important thing is to write a good summary.
How do you write a 5 sentence summary?
Can a summary be 4 sentences?
Don’t stress too much about summary length. Try to focus on the intent of a summary, which is to recap the major points of the text preceding it.
A major work of several pages cannot hope to be summarized within 4 sentences and may cover 1 or 2 pages itself! For longer academic works, the summary must cover the material presented in the text.
Although a summary needs to be short by definition, it needs to be as long as is need to do the job. Someone reading your summary should have a good grasp of what the main text is all about and what it’s going to cover.
4 Tips for Writing a Good Summary
How do you summarize without plagiarizing?
This is a good question. A longish summary could well be 500 words long, so how do you guard against plagiarism?
The answer is simple – don’t use the same words or sentence structure that exists in the essay or article text. It’s very tempting to use whole sentences from the text, but this isn’t a good idea.
If your summary is being assessed by a teacher, he will take a dim view of any kind of cut/paste job. It also shows that you’re not creative enough to come up with your own words.
Simply read a section or argument from the article text and re-write it in you own words. This is important for internet publishing as well – a blog post with duplicate sections will be seen as low-quality content.
How to summarize without plagiarizing
Is synopsis and summary the same?
Synopsis and summary are very similar, but no, they are not the same thing.
A synopsis is longer than a summary as it includes a bit more meat. A synopsis presents the major points of a written piece work and can be presented as ordinary prose or in the form of a table.
While a summary is limited to an almost bullet-point-like structure, a synopsis condenses an article, so it’s like a mini version, for quicker and easier reading.
Difference Between Summary and Synopsis
What is a quick summary?
People often say ‘quick summary’ when they actually just mean a summary. After all, a summary is a brief resume of a longer text and attempts to present all the important points.
I can’t really see how a summary could be compressed even more to create a quick summary? It’s more something would say during a speech, as a way of summing up what was said before.
What are 5 key features of summary writing?
A summary is a brief description or explanation of the main thought, key themes, or important facts that are presented in the text. A summation is an act of summarizing (summating) something, typically by giving its main points.
- One central idea: This is the one most important thing you want the reader to know.
- Supporting details: Put in any details that add to and expand on your central idea.
- Clear transitions: Use connectors such as “First,” “Second,” and “Next”
- Transition words when needed: These include words such as when, although, also, nevertheless, for this reason
- A clear ending: End with a summary of the main points and restate your central idea.
What is a summary example?
Examples of summaries are the following:
-A summary of a video script outline is to provide a brief overview of the storyboard. It provides an idea of what to expect when watching the final product.
-A summary of a book, for instance, is to inform readers about the author’s purpose for writing the piece, its main ideas, and the strong and weak points of the author’s arguments.
-A summary of an article is to provide a brief description of its content or main ideas.
-A summary of a poem is to explain in short what it is about in relation to the title. It should explain its meaning, in general terms.
How do you start a summary example?
A summary is one of the most important aspects of your essay. It gives the reader an overview of what the essay is about, and serves as a detailed reminder for what you have written in your essay.
The summary is usually placed at the end of your paper, but it may also be featured at the beginning or in paragraph form within your paper. Some students find that attaching their own personal statement onto it is helpful, too.
Begin your summary with a topic sentence, which briefly but concisely summarizes the most important point you are making.
Follow it with 5 to 8 more sentences, each presenting an important idea in the paper. A good rule of thumb (no pun intended) is that each sentence’s content is roughly equivalent to one page of writing.
Summary sentences don’t have to be in any particular order; however, they do need to be grouped according to subject matter.
It helps if you divide your essay into sections, and begin your summary with a general overview of the ideas presented in each section. Then proceed to present the most important aspects of each paragraph or idea within each section.
How do you write a short summary of yourself?
Summarizing yourself is a hard task, simply because it’s often difficult to be objective about who we are, what we have accomplished and what our true potential is.
If a personal summary is in the form of a profile or bio, perhaps for a job application or to show authority online, it needs to be quite formal and short.
Start with obvious facts, such physical attributes and personality. What have you achieved in the past and what are your hopes for the future?
Try to be balanced without exaggerating your strong points while minimizing or hiding you failings.
Above all, be honest!
Resources relating to sentences used in a summary:
How many sentences are in a summary – HowToDiscuss
How many sentences is a summary?
Guidelines for Writing a Summary – Hunter College
How many paragraphs should a summary have?
What is a Summary in Writing | Length & Examples – Study.com
