Writing Summaries

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A detailed summary can be up to 30% the length of the original piece, though it rarely is that long unless the piece is extremely complex in connecting ideas and presenting proof or evidence. Most often, a detailed summary begins with the author and title of the piece followed by a concise restatement of the main idea. The detailed summary can then summarize the original piece point-by-point or it can present a more synthetic recap of major supporting points and types of proof. A detailed summary will also typically include key examples or details, as well as some quotations to capture the style and tone of the original piece. Particularly because a detailed summary will fill one or more long paragraphs, writers remind readers that the material is being summarized by using frequent author tags.

• Example Article
• Example Detailed Summary