A presentation of paraphrase and summary strategies for COMM1003/1007. Presentation created and shared by K. Seip.

1. In Summary…
A lesson in being
brief!
A lesson provided by Katye Seip

2. What is a summary?
 A summary is an overview of any given source
material, i.e. article, book, film, etc.
 It is short! (25% - 30% of the original).
 It captures the main ideas of a source.
 Contains only the crucial details.
 Is always written in your own words.
 It is always shorter than the original.
 Does NOT include direct quotes.

3. A summary is NOT…
 Creative. Summaries are prescriptive & formulaic.
 Your opinion. Summarizes are an overview of a
source, not your opinion.
 Vague. They are general statements, but not
vague or indirect.
 A series of direct quotes. No quotes should be
used.

4. Know the Ground Rules
O If you MUST use your own words, you
CAN’T use the author’s words…
O So, let’s practice PARAPHRASING!
(That’s using your words to express
someone else’s idea)

5. Paraphrase Taboo
Grab a partner and try to guess the words in
RED. You cannot say the words in BLUE in
your description. Give it a try. Only one of
you can look at the cards. First group done
wins!

6. Paraphrase Practice (use your words!)
Try to describe the word in RED.
You are NOT allowed to use the
BLUE words.
http://taboogame.net/

7. Paraphrase Practice… again
(Use your words – again!)
http://taboogame.net/

8. Paraphrase Practice… again
(Use your words – again!)
http://taboogame.net/
Note: Some terms
you can’t change…

9. The Summary
Stage One
Locate, Replicate, and Reduce
Facts

10. You tell me:
Suggest how
summary and
paraphrasing could
be used by you both
professionally and
personally.

11. Annotation Skills
How do you know what is an important
fact?
 Who, what, where, when, & how
 May be repeated often
 May indicate expert opinion
 May be supported by evidence
 …?
Hispanic businesswoman looking at wall of sticky notes. [Photography].
Retrieved from Encyclopædia Britannica ImageQuest.
http://quest.eb.com/search/154_2896193/1/154_2896193/cite

12. Think like detective:
Find the (5 W/H) the who, what, where, when, why
& how.
Write like a reporter:
Include the who, what, where, when, why & how in
your summary.
Summarizing Recap:
3Steps:
1. Locate 5W and H
1. Replicate
2. Reduce facts
3Rules:
1. No quotes
2. No opinions
3. Don’t be vague

13. 3Steps
1. Locate 5W and H
2. Replicate
3. Reduce facts
Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall.
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
All the King’s horses and all the King’s men, couldn’t
put Humpty together again.
WHO
WHA
T
WHERE
WHO
WHY/HOW
Try typing your summary

14. Be VERY careful NOT to
USE the WORDS from the ORIGINAL!
Summary: Humpty Dumpty tumbled off a wall.
Despite all the effort of King’s servants, the fall
proved fatal.
Replacing phrases
and words is
TRICKY and hard
work…
What is another way
to represent a WALL
I bet your summary is better.
Let’s hear yours!
Is poor Humpty
dead?

15. Compare the summaries below:
3 Basic Rules:
1. No quotes
2. No opinions
3. Don’t be vague.
Summary Two:
This thing was sitting on a wall and fell down, which is frankly
ridiculous. A bunch of people came to help “put Humpty together
again”, but that didn’t work, I guess.
Summary One: Humpty Dumpty fell off a wall. Despite all the
effort of King’s servants, the fall proved fatal.

16. 3Steps - You TRY!
1. Read
2. Locate 5W and H
3. Replicate & Reduce facts
Mary had a little lamb,
Its fleece was white as snow;
And everywhere that Mary went
The lamb was sure to go.
It followed her to school one day,
Which was against the rule;
It made the children laugh and play
To see a lamb at school.
1
4
6
5
3

17. 3Steps - You TRY!
1. Read
2. Locate 5W and H
3. Replicate & Reduce facts
Mary had a little lamb,
Its fleece was white as snow;
And everywhere that Mary went
The lamb was sure to go.
It followed her to school one day,
Which was against the rule;
It made the children laugh and play
To see a lamb at school.
WHO
WHA
T
WHERE
WHO
WHY/HOW

18. Think like detective:
Find the (5 W/H) the who, what, where, when, why
& how.
Write like a reporter:
Include the who, what, where, when, why & how in
your summary.
Summarizing Recap:
3Steps:
1. Locate 5W and H
1. Replicate
2. Reduce facts
3Rules:
1. No quotes
2. No opinions
3. Don’t be vague

19. The Summary –
Stage Two
The Nitty-gritty!
Choosing or Using Words

20. Words, Words, Words
O Look for the key terms (repeated words)
O Look up the words you don’t know
O Paraphrase words that can be changed
O Keep words that are so technical they
cannot be changed
O Use transitional words to keep you on
track

21. Make a list of all of the
transitional words you can
think of!

22. The Summary –
Stage Three
The Summary Creation:
Level 1 and Level 2

23. Level One!
O Locate the who, what, where, when and why of the
source.
O You will always include, in the first sentence of your
summary, the who, what, where and when of the
article…who wrote it, the title of the article, and where and
when it was published.
Level 1
You need to be able to fill out the template below:
The article [title] was written by [author’s name] and
published in [journal or magazine name] on [date of
publication].

24. Level Two
O Level Two: Locate the actual facts in the article.
O This is the meat of the article and will be the meat of
the summary.
Level 2
You need to be able to fill out the template below:
In this article, the author describes [insert WHAT/WHO
here] and/ or argues [another example of WHAT, or
the where and the how]. Next the article describes the
[WHAT]…etc. In addition, it states….

25. Level One & Two
Together, the Level 1 & 2 will look like this:
AIM:
The article [title] was written by [author’s name] and
published in [journal or magazine name] on [date of
publication]. In this article, the author describes
[insert WHAT/WHO here] and/ or argues [another
example of WHAT, or the where and the how]. Next
the article describes the [WHAT]…etc.
Be sure to use
“TRANSITIONAL” words.
Find a list of these words
on Blackboard

26. Example: Summarize this!
Meteorite chunks from Mars fell over Morocco last summer — the
first time in 50 years such an event has occurred, scientists
confirmed Tuesday.
It is only the fifth time newly fallen Martian rocks have been
confirmed chemically by experts. Known Martian meteorite falls have
happened only once every 50 years or so — 1815 in France, 1865 in
India, 1911 in Egypt and the last in 1962 in Nigeria.
Scientists and collectors were celebrating the find.
"It's Christmas in January," said former NASA sciences chief Alan
Stern, director of the Florida Space Institute at the University of
Central Florida. "It's nice to have Mars sending samples to Earth,
particularly when our pockets are too empty to go get them
ourselves.”
Mars meteorite chunks fall to Earth
Joe Sands, CBC Website. Jan. 17 2012, paragraphs 1-3.

27. The article “Mars Meteorite Chunks Fall to Earth”
was written by Joe Sands and published on the
CBC website on Jan. 17, 2012. In this article, the
CBC reports that the meteors that landed in
Morocco last summer are Martian, making them
the fifth sample to ever land on Earth.
Furthermore, the CBC notes how exciting this
discovery is for the science community, as it will
allow them to continue their research without a
costly trip to Mars. Prior samples have been found
in France, India, Egypt and Nigeria.My summary is NOT
perfect. How can you
improve it?

28. The article “Mars Meteorite Chunks Fall to Earth”
was written by Joe Sands and published on the
CBC website on Jan. 17, 2012. In this article, The
CBC reports that the meteor that landed in
Morocco last summer are Martian, making them
the fifth sample to ever land on Earth.
Furthermore, the CBC notes how exciting this
discovery is exciting for the science community, as
it will allow them to continue their research without
a costly trip to Mars. Prior samples have been
found worldwide. in France, India, Egypt and
Nigeria.
My summary is NOT
perfect. How can you
improve it?
Add in something
about every 50 yrs

29. What works? What is missing?
OIs it important to name the WHO,
or does it work to say “science
community”?
ODo we REALLY need the
countries? Is there a way to
generalize?
OShould we note the timeline?
Every 50 years?

30. Question: What about
Plagiarism?
Wait a minute…if I am summarizing someone else’s
ideas, don’t I have to cite them?
Yes!
Why: Remember plagiarism occurs when you
take someone’s ideas, words, images, other
general intellectual property and do NOT cite where
you got the information.

31. Citation Minute:
Summaries/Paraphrase
When you write anything, we assume it is your
opinion. If you borrow words or ideas, you have to
cite them, or I assume they are yours…which is
bad, if they are NOT.
APA and MLA are two different ways to
“CITE” the sources you use in your academic
papers.

32. APA Minute:
Summaries/Paraphrase
Very basic APA rules:
O For an idea (NOT a quote), that you are
borrowing, you MUST list the author’s LAST
NAME and the YEAR.
Example:
Your citation should appear at the end of the
text like so (Sands, 2012).
*No author? List the corporations name
• (CBC, 2012)

33. The article “Mars Meteorite Chunks Fall to Earth”
was written by Joe Sands and published on the
CBC website on Jan. 17, 2012. In this article, the
CBC reports that the meteors that landed in
Morocco last summer are Martian, making them
the fifth sample to ever land on Earth.
Furthermore, the CBC notes how exciting this
discovery is for the science community as it will
allow them to continue their research without a
costly trip to Mars. Prior samples have been found
in France, India, Egypt and Nigeria (Sands, 2012).

34. Homework – 10%
Write a summary for the article provided in class.
Submit this summary online through the Dropbox.
Use the instructions attached online & provided in
class, as well as your knowledge of APA. Please
ensure that your name is on the document you
submit.
This assignment is worth 10%