This document provides guidance on how to write a summary of an article in 500 words or less. It outlines a 4-step process: 1) Read the article thoroughly to understand the key ideas and take notes, 2) Identify the main ideas and supporting points in your own words, 3) Construct sentences that concisely summarize each main point without adding your own opinions, and 4) Clearly reference the article by mentioning the type of work, title, author(s), and main point. Following these steps will help produce a brief yet accurate summary of the essential information from the original article.

1. Assessment Part B:
Summary of an article
by Louise Douse
Week
6
Understanding
Performance

2. Assessment 1 - Portfolio
 Summary of an article
 Write a 500 word summary of the following article, available on
BREO:
 Dance:Au, S. (2012) ‘Ascent and Descent’ in Ballet and Modern and Dance.
3rd edn. London:Thames & Hudson, pp. 45-59.
 Acting: Silvani,G. (2014) ‘MathewG. Lewis’Theatre: Fear on stage’, in
Crisafulli, L and Liberto, F. (ed.)The Romantic Stage: A Many-Sided Mirror.
NewYork: Rodopi, pp185-197.
 [AvailableOnline – see BREO Guided Learning]
Understanding Performance Week 6

3. Summary of an Article
 What is a summary?
 A brief statement or account of the main points of something
 How do I go about it?
 Read
 Key Ideas
 Construct
 Reference
Understanding Performance Week 6

4. 1. Read
 Understand what you are reading
 Use a dictionary or context clues to figure out the
meaning of important words that you don’t know
 Take notes as you read
 Highlight key ideas
 Note down any sub-sections
Understanding Performance Week 6

5. 2. Key Ideas
 Write in your own words
 Broad to specific
 Identify the main chunks of ideas
 Flesh them out
 Specific to broad
 Write a sentence per paragraph
 Group the sentences into related chunks
 Repetition, repetition, repetition
Understanding Performance Week 6

6. 3. Construct
 Use the key terms to form sentences that
summarise the main ideas of the text, using your
own words
 Never put your own ideas or opinions in
 Check your outline to include all the important
points
 Use “summarizing language”
• The article claims
• The authors suggest
 Write a final statement about what the author(s)
wanted to get across
Understanding Performance Week 6

7. 4. Reference
 Start with a clear identification of the work
 Type of work
 Title
 Author(s)
 Main point
 Example: In the featured article Five Kinds of
Learning, the author, Holland Oates, justifies his
opinion on the topic of learning styles, and
contributes to them himself.
Understanding Performance Week 6