The document provides instructions for writing a precis, which is a summary of a passage in 3 sentences or less using one's own words. It discusses reading the passage multiple times to understand it fully, extracting main ideas and points, writing the precis without referring back to the passage, and then checking it against the original for accuracy. Sample passages are also included that discuss Winston Churchill's contention that World War II was more tragic than World War I.

1. PRECIS WRITING
Ansa Ahsan

2.  Read the passage carefully and try to
understand it. In practice sessions you
may consult a dictionary for the meanings
of unfamiliar words and idioms, but in an
examination you can only resort to
deduction.
 A second reading in necessary, and a third
is often advisable for a deeper
understanding of the material.
Steps to Follow

3.  Summarize the passage in the form of
headings or points. This enables you to
draw out the main ideas of the passage
and omit the less important details and
merely illustrative material.
 Read the passage again, as some of
the details may be required to enable you
to form complete sentences.
Steps to Follow

4.  Turn over or put aside the book or
sheet which contains the passage.
Then write the précis, basing it on the
points you have already extracted. The
précis must be in complete sentences
which follow one another in logical
sequences, and as far as possible in your
own words. Do not look at the passage as
you write your précis.
Steps to Follow

5.  A précis is usually written in reported
speech, and therefore in the third
person. Unless required, do not use the
first pronoun “I” and “we”.
 When you have completed the précis, and
not before, study the passage again
for the purpose of correcting any
factual errors.
Steps to Follow

6.  Sir Winston Churchill, in his book The
Gathering Storm, claimed the Second
World War was far more tragic and much
more far-reaching in its consequences
than the First World War. He provides
several reasons to support his
contention….
Sample Passage

7.  Although there was a great deal of
slaughter in the First World War, most of
the people who lost their lives were
combatants: the soldiers, sailors and
airmen who fought each other. There was
also a great deal of financial waste. But
western civilization was not badly
affected….
Sample Passage

8.  And the countries which have participated
in the war remained to a large extent
intact, and did not lose their separate
identities. Both sides had generally
observed the traditional laws of warfare.
The countries which had won and those
which had lost remained civilized states….
Sample Passage

9.  And the countries which have participated
in the war remained to a large extent
intact, and did not lose their separate
identities. Both sides had generally
observed the traditional laws of warfare.
The countries which had won and those
which had lost remained civilized
states…..
Sample Passage

10.  The peace treaty which was signed was
based on the principles of civilized
behavior: its main fault lay in the
enormous reparations which the losers
were required to pay, and which could not
in practice enforced. The League of
Nations was formed in due course to try
to maintain international peace and
prevent another conflagration….
Sample Passage

11.  In the Second World War, on the other
hand, all rules of civilized behavior were
cast aside. The crimes committed by the
regime of Adolph Hitler exceeded in the
wickedness and scale anything that had
ever happened in history. For
example, millions of people were thrown
into concentration camps to die of
starvation, disease or execution in the gas
chambers….
Sample Passage

12.  Beside these cruelties, the massacres of
Genghis khan seem almost petty. The
Germans started the bombardment of
open cities from the air when the allied
defenses were still weak, and the allies
later retaliated on a scale twenty times as
treat. The climax to this horrible practice
was the complete destruction of
Hiroshima and Nagasaki by atomic
bombs…
Sample Passage

13.  The end of this most destructive war in
history brought neither the restoration of
civilized life nor lasting peace. Instead,
the world was faced with greater problem
than ever.
Sample Passage

14.  Churchill: Second World War exceeded First
in tragedy.
 First World War
i. People killed were combatants.
ii. Western civilization and warring countries
remained intact.
iii. Laws of /warfare observed.
iv. Peace treaty based on civilized principles.
v. League of Nations formed to maintain peace.
SUMMARY OF THE PASSAGE IN
HEADINGS

15.  Second World War
i. Rules of civilized behavior ignored.
ii. Crimes of Hitler’s regime greatest in history.
iii. Bombing of open cities climaxed by atomic
bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
iv. Greater problems followed at the end of the
war.
SUMMARY OF THE PASSAGE IN
HEADINGS

16.  Notice that a number of repetitions found
in the passage have been eliminated in
the above summary. As the author was
trying to prove that the Second World War
was much worse than the First.
 Certain details regarding the First World
War which do not support his contention
have been omitted. Illustrative material,
too, such as the mention of Genghis
Khan’s massacres, has been ignored.
IMPORTANT POINTS

17.  Sir Winston Churchill contended that the
Second World War exceeded the First in
tragedy. In the First World War the killing
was confined to combatants. Western
civilization and the warring nations
remained intact at the end of the war, in
which the laws of warfare were
respected…
PRECIS BASED ON THE ABOVE
HEADINGS

18.  A peace treaty based on civilized
principles was signed and the League of
Nations was formed to prevent another
war. During the Second World War the
rules of civilized behavior were ignored;
unprecedented crimes were committed by
Hitler’s regime…
PRECIS BASED ON THE ABOVE
HEADINGS

19.  The horrible bombing of open cities was
climaxed by the atomic bombing of
Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The end of the
war brought, not lasting peace, but far
greater problems…
PRECIS BASED ON THE ABOVE
HEADINGS

20. THE END