Summarizing

When you summarize a passage, you restate the main ideas of the text in as few words as possible. Your goal is to give the general idea of a text in a brief form.

In order to summarize a text, you must:

1. Read a text closely.

2. Determine the central or main idea.

3. Find some supporting details that support the main idea.

4. Ignore any irrelevant information.

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When summarizing a text:

• Pull out the main ideas

• Focus on key words or phrases from the passage

• Consolidate only the important details that support the main idea