Writing Summaries

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In the example summary of Jaime O'Neill's "No Illusions in the Classroom," the student writing the summary has re-organized O'Neill's information to highlight the main point. In the original article, O'Neill begins with a description about the test of general knowledge, moves to descriptions of the answers students provided, cites other polls and teachers' experiences, and finally discusses how this lack of knowledge leads to a communication problem between students and teachers and members of the same culture.

• Example Summary

Restating the main idea in an essay requires careful reading as well as repeated revision. Writers often misrepresent an article's main idea by not capturing the overall point clearly or by including irrelevant detail. To test your ability to judge conciseness and accuracy, click below:

• Test Your Ability